I believe there's a good chance these will come back as strong as ever - or stronger - in spring. If not, there's a silver lining: If these are/were the same shrub described in the attached article, then you have removed an invasive, non-native plant that adversely affects our environment and wildlife.

Missouri Dept. of Conservation on bush honeysuckle: http://plantsci.missouri.edu/deltaweeds/pdf/mdc/Bush_Honeysuckle.pdf

I don't think mine were of the same variety because we never saw berries after the flowers were done blooming. It just smelled so good!

nothing dies due improper pruning ...

google rejuvenation pruning of flowering shrubs ... so that in 2 or 3 years.. when they are flopping due to the haircut at height.. you can renovate them back into a nice shape ...

i hope these arent the honeysuckle that can be invasive in some areas ...

ken

Thanks, Ken!!!

There are several types of deciduous azaleas (Rhododendron canescens, R. periclymenoides and R. viscosum) that get referred to as honeysuckle in addition to Lonicera/honeysuckle.

Is there a chance that janicej03 could add some photos of the shrubs she is talking about so that we know which we are referring to? Both types will come back, but only one is an invasive problem plant. We don't need flower photos - just branches and leaves should be enough to ID Rhododendron vs. Lonicera/honeysuckle.

In the future, if you decide to prune spring-blooming shrubs, prune them right after bloom so that they have time to form their flowering buds for the next season over the summer and then you won't miss a season of bloom.

NHBAbs - I wondered the same thing. I've had this discussion with the OP over on their duplicate post on The Shrubs Forum but got no further information.

NHBabs and Floral - I accidently posted on both. Just realized as well that only one of the shrubs in question is Honeysuckle (larger one) - the others are Forsythia bushes.

The forsythia will come back very heartily. These are tough plants and have come back in my yard after all sorts of insults.

Thanks so much for your positivity!!!

In the future, the forsythia can have just the oldest few branches cut back every year. That way it will always have new branches (which have the most blooms) and you will never lose an entire chunk of your hedge and its blossoms.

Yes! Thanks!

I'd still love to see a photo of the "honeysuckle" as I am curious as to what it actually is.

I would send you one in the Spring, but it won't look as it should.

janice - it is quite possible we can id it from bare twigs. Any chance of a picture sooner than next spring.

Looks very sad, but will see if I can take pix over the weekend. Thanks!

I pruned back my 8ft forsythias to about 4 ft this week. I have a hedge of them, and every time my indoor cats sneaks outside, he runs straight to the forsythias because he knows they were so thick and overgrown, we couldn't get him out of there until he was good and ready. Will he be in for a surprise the next time he slips out the door!

Funny