I would leave it until next spring when it starts to sprout since it blooms on new growth.

Thanks so much; I wasn't sure.

Hope yours didn't get as much powdery mildew as mine did. I tried that one twice and both times it was just awful. I have a coral honeysuckle this year and the PM wasn't so bad on that one in the same spot. My mandarin honeysuckle never got PM.

Good luck!! It's a beautiful flower!

I have been growing Goldflame honeysuckle for about 7 years. I have never cut it down, I only prune the ends of the vine in the spring. Its completly covering my arched trellis and is doing great. I get powdery mildew each and every year, its rampant here as we are so very hot and humid. Its really doesn't hurt the vine, it just causes it to look pretty yucky and it loses its leaves. But this happens after it has finished blooming and by this time I always have a second or third annual vine going, like MG's, Hyacinth vine, spanish flag, moonflowers etc. This covers the bare honeysuckle.
And it comes back healthy and happy the next spring. I just adore this particular honeysuckle.
Deb

Good to hear that mandarin doesn't get PM. I purchased a large size one mid summer at 50% off. I planted it on a trellis by the swing on my front porch. That area gets unbearably hot from the western sun in the afternoon. It's flowering now.

I love mine, this is the third spring and it's finally growing well. The first year was plagued with a mildew on the leaves, and now suddenly it's leave are yellowed and spotted. I assumed at first it was the fungus again, but upon closer inspection saw there are 1/8 inch wide "trails" through the leaves, as if some kind of insect has tunneled through them. But when I looked on the backside of the leaves there's no evidence of the trails.
Anyone have a clue what kind of bug would do this and what to do to control them?

BTW, I read somewhere that spraying a solution of 50% water with 50% non-fat milk would control powdery mildew and it worked like a miracle!

A milk solution of 10% milk to 90% water will work just as well. I also put a squirt of dawn in it to help it stick.

What does powdery mildew look like? I don't have any flower buds on mine yet. On the ends of each branch, if you touch it, it kind of just falls apart. Is this the mildew? If I spray it, is there any hope for blooms this year?

Powdery mildew gives your leaves (whether rose or honeysuckle) a whitish, powdery look. Here's a pic of my Goldflame from last year, showing a tad bit of PM on the leaves-look in the upper right hand corner of this pic to see what I'm talking about-

{{gwi:1349348}}

I'm not sure what could be causing your problem..maybe a pic would help.

Oops-broke my link-here it is again. :)

How offen should I spray it with milk and water mixture?? should it be done before mildrew starts or can it be done after you see some on the vine? How offen??

Good question (from long ago). Anybody answer this?

Here is a link that might be useful: My garden lanscaping blog!

I get a bit of powdery mildew every year on mine but it doesn't seem to hurt anything. Make sure you clean the debris away from the plant in the fall and spring. Another issue I have is aphid infestation which I try to control with beneficial insects. The honeydew secreted by the aphids might have something to do with the powdery mildew on my plant. Even with the occasional powdery mildew and aphid infestations that plant grows and blooms like crazy and has done so for the past 10 years so I'm not concerned.

Are Gold Flame and Mandarin the same Honeysuckle?

The link seems to go back and forth as if they are the same.

Thank you.

Mine has been in place for at least 10 years with NO trimming. At first it bloomed beautifuly, no powderly mildew--stil none on that. However, there is now so much lush foliage, I assume if has not energy to make blooms, I am assuming I should have been cuting it back all the years, huh. Think it is too late? Or should I wait until next spring and beginning cutting it back by a third each spring? It is a really healthy looking vine, it has just almost quit blooming. Any suggestions would be appreciated

Mine has been in the same area for about 15 years. I've never cut it back and it blooms like crazy. I pretty much ignore it, no fertilizer and no supplemental water.

I planted a gold flame honeysuckle fall 2012 zone 7. I used mild neem oil/horticulture soap and had minimal problems w aphids. It bloomed nicely this spring but the blooms were short lived and all fell off. Otherwise plant looks healthy. Any ideas?

Hey folks,

I just posted a picture of my newly acquired Goldflame. Is the fragrance strong in the evening?

How long can it grow? 15 ft? 20ft?

Should I block sun so it doesn't heat up the roots? I haven't planted it yet.

I have both Goldflame honeysuckle as well as Major Wheeler's and out of the 6 plants that I have, only ONE of the Goldflame has only a couple of blooms on it. I just planted them all in pots w/trellises this spring. They get mostly sun and some shade, but all are covering the trellises, but no blooms! The Goldflame that is not blooming looks VERY healthy...thick stems and lots of big leaves. No blooms! ;-( Why? Can someone help? Want them to bloom for the hummers that are visiting my yard. Any suggestions would be helpful. I've never grown honeysuckle so not sure what's going on.

I have a gold flame honeysuckle vine and a lot of it is dead only got blooms on very top of vine can I cut it all back to like a foot tall and when should I cut it back I don't want to kill it but all is dead only getting leaves and blooms on very top any they've already died off I live in Chicago area central time. Please help!!!!! Also have rose bush full of foliage but only bloomed early now just green no buds can I cut it down come end of spring and let it start fresh ?