I'm looking to get some rooted cuttings or small plant to attract hummingbirds. Have lots of fresh Hibiscus seeds (white flower-red at the center) to trade or I can pay for postage. Thank you. Natalia

thanks for the answer - I ordered them. Guess I think of it as needing shade due to all of the Japanese stuff growing just great in the woods.

ALL vining honeysuckles are twiners - that is, they attach themselves to supports by twining stems, not by holdfasts or rootlets. It's my experience that when well established, they grow very vigorously and will easily produce long stems that could have the ability to reach around a telephone pole. But you will have better luck initially if you provide some sort of support system to get the vine started - chicken wire, fishing line, any sort of twine or wire that will give the twining stems a place to start to hold and climb. You might want to check with your phone company about allowing a vine to climb on their poles - here it is prohibited, as it could interfer with maintenance/service. Lonicera sempervirens is also a bit of a misnomer. Only in the very mildest of winter areas will it remain evergreen - it is NOT in my zone 8 climate! And it has no scent, either.

I have ordered a single plant of Lonicera sempervirens "Alabama Crimson" this spring. I'm trying to decide where to put it. I have a 7 ft metal arch-shaped trellis that I'm considering putting over our front walk. There is at least 6 hours of sun there, and the soil is good. What I can't decide is which of the several vines that I'll be growing will be best for the location. It would be nice to have something showy, that doesn't look ratty when it is out of bloom. Do you think Lonicera sempervirens "Alabama Crimson" would look good in a prominent location like that? Are the blooms conspicuous and pretty? Does it twine and climb in an attractive way? Does the foliage stay reasonably attractive in the heat of summer when the plant might not be blooming all that much? This will be an arch over our main walk leading to the house, so I want it to look nice. Other candidates for the arch are all annuals or tender perennials like Mina lobata (which might be too big a vine), Eccremocarpus scaber (the leaves might be too sparse on this one), Manettia bicolor, Cardinal vine or Cypress vine, or Scarlet Runner Bean. I suppose I might grow the Lonicera on one side of the arch and one of these on the other, but am not sure what the most compatible pairing might be. If I pick the wrong two, one might overwhelm the other. What do you think, guys?