Honeysuckle (Lonicera × italica 'Sherlite' HARLEQUIN)
Discover Lonicera × italica 'Sherlite' HARLEQUIN Honeysuckle, a vigorous, fragrant vine boasting rose and yellow blooms in USDA Zones 4-9.
Complete Plant Information
Overview
The Lonicera × italica ‘Sherlite’ HARLEQUIN Honeysuckle is a highly valued, vigorous twining deciduous vine known for its stunning visual appeal and intense fragrance. This cultivar stands out due to its distinct coloration, featuring pale rose and yellow tubular flowers that emerge in May. Beyond its beautiful blooms, the HARLEQUIN variety offers variegated foliage often flushed with pink margins, providing interest even outside the flowering window.
As a low-maintenance specimen, this Honeysuckle thrives across a broad climatic range in USDA Zones 4 through 9. It delivers significant aesthetic payoffs, whether scaling a support or sprawling along the ground, making it a versatile addition to many garden plans. Gardeners particularly appreciate its ability to attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees to the patio space where its extremely fragrant flowers can be best enjoyed.
This specific Honeysuckle variety offers a manageable size, typically reaching 10 to 12 feet in length, supported by an easygoing nature that tolerates heat and humidity once established. Planting Lonicera × italica ‘Sherlite’ HARLEQUIN ensures a vertical element packed with color and scent, requiring only average care for spectacular results.
Fast Facts
- Plant Family: Caprifoliaceae
- Plant Type: Vine
- Hardiness Zones: USDA Zones 4-9
- Size at Maturity:
- Height: 10-12 ft
- Spread: 3-6 ft
- Bloom Time: May
- Bloom Description: Pale rose and yellow
- Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade
- Water Needs: Medium
- Maintenance Level: Low
How to Grow
Planting Lonicera × italica ‘Sherlite’ HARLEQUIN is best achieved in the spring or fall, ensuring the plant has time to establish roots before extreme weather hits. Aim for a location that receives full sun, as this maximizes flowering potential, although the vine tolerates partial shade. The best growth occurs in humusy, organically rich soils that drain well, but this Honeysuckle is adaptable to average, medium-moisture settings once established.
Routine care is minimal, aligning with its low maintenance rating. Water requirements are medium; ensure consistent moisture during the growing season, especially while young. Once established, this vigorous Honeysuckle shows good tolerance for dry soil conditions, heat, and humidity. Fertilization is generally unnecessary if the soil is rich.
Pruning should be timed carefully. Perform necessary shaping or cleanup cuts immediately after the primary flowering period concludes in early summer. Avoid major pruning later in the season, as this can remove next year’s flower buds. The plant can be easily managed as a dense vine on a trellis or structure, or allowed to sprawl as a ground cover, offering layout flexibility.
Landscape Uses
Lonicera × italica ‘Sherlequin’ Honeysuckle excels as a vertical accent plant, making it an excellent choice for trellises, robust arbors, and covering unsightly fences. Placing this fragrant vine near seating areas, decks, or patios leverages the powerful scent of its blooms during warm evenings. Its vigorous habit ensures quick coverage for screening or softening hard architectural lines.
For a dynamic garden border, consider pairing this large vine with supporting, lower-growing shrubs that appreciate similar sun and soil conditions. Because it is deer resistant, it blends well into naturalized settings or cottage gardens where wildlife pressure is a concern. Furthermore, gardeners can intentionally prune the Lonicera × italica ‘Sherlite’ HARLEQUIN to maintain a formal, small spreading shrub shape if vertical support isn’t desired.
This variety is specifically recommended for bird gardens due to the attraction its flowers hold for hummingbirds and its general appeal to various pollinators like bees and butterflies. Its versatility allows it to anchor a structure or serve as living mulch across a slope.
Standout Features
Flower Qualities
- Showy
- Fragrant
Noteworthy Characteristics
Lonicera × italica is a large, vigorous twining deciduous vine with broad, elliptic leaves. HARLEQUIN is noted for its interesting colors: rose and yellow flowers, green leaves with creamy white margins and interesting fall foliage color. Tubular pale rose and yellow flowers (to 2” long) bloom in clusters, the first bloom appearing in May with sporadic additional bloom continuing throughout summer into fall, and the flowers are extremely fragrant.
Tolerances
- Deer
- Black Walnut
Potential Problems
The Lonicera × italica ‘Sherlite’ HARLEQUIN generally displays impressive resistance to serious insect or disease issues under ideal conditions. However, gardeners in hot, humid climates should remain observant for common fungal issues such as powdery mildew, leaf spots, and blights. Regularly inspect the undersides of leaves for early signs of aphid infestation, which, when present, can be treated with horticultural soap or judicious pruning. Excellent air circulation, achieved by properly training the vine, is the best preventative measure against mildew.
Frequently Asked Questions
What hardiness zones is Honeysuckle suitable for?
This specific Honeysuckle cultivar is hardy and suitable for growing in USDA Hardiness Zones 4 through 9.
How large does Lonicera × italica ‘Sherlite’ HARLEQUIN grow?
When grown as a vine, this plant typically reaches a mature height between 10 to 12 feet long, with a manageable spread of 3 to 6 feet.
When does Honeysuckle bloom?
The primary bloom period for the Lonicera × italica ‘Sherlite’ HARLEQUIN begins in May, displaying pale rose and yellow flowers, with sporadic reblooming continuing into the late summer or fall.
What sun exposure does Honeysuckle need?
For the best and most prolific flowering, plant this specimen where it can receive full sun, though it will successfully tolerate partial shade conditions.
Conclusion
The Lonicera × italica ‘Sherlite’ HARLEQUIN offers exceptional value, combining vigorous vining growth, low maintenance requirements, and spectacularly fragrant, uniquely colored flowers. If you seek a dependable climbing plant that delights wildlife and provides variegated foliage interest, this Honeysuckle is an outstanding choice. Evaluate your local USDA zone compatibility and plan for a sunny, supported location for planting this spring.
Wildlife Benefits
The floral display of the Lonicera × italica ‘Sherlequin’ Honeysuckle is a significant attractant for local fauna. The tubular shape of the blossoms is perfectly adapted for hummingbirds, whose long bills allow them to easily access the nectar deep within the flower structure. This vine also serves as an important nectar source for local butterfly populations during its extended bloom cycle.
In addition to avian and insect attraction, the presence of this fragrant vine enhances the sensory experience of any garden space. Placing it near windows or seating allows gardeners to fully appreciate the powerful perfume emanating from the pale rose and yellow flowers, particularly in the evening hours as various night-flying pollinators pass through.
The foliage provides useful, dense cover, offering shelter for small birds and beneficial insects throughout the growing season. This multi-faceted support makes the decision to grow this easy-care Honeysuckle a positive contribution to local biodiversity.
Companion Planting
When integrating Lonicera × italica ‘Sherlite’ HARLEQUIN into your landscape, select companions that share its preference for well-drained soil and its robust growth habit. Consider pairing it with climbing roses or Clematis on the same arbor; ensure adequate spacing so that competition for soil nutrients does not overly stress the Honeysuckle.
For lower-level plantings near the base, choose perennials that provide contrasting foliage texture and do not require heavy, constant watering, respecting the established vine’s medium water needs. Hostas or ferns work well in partial shade areas if the vine is trained up a wall or fence that casts afternoon shadows.
Since this plant tolerates Black Walnut roots (unlike many susceptible garden species), you can confidently use it in areas where that imposing tree dominates the canopy. Always remember that mature Honeysuckle requires strong physical support, so companion plants should not obstruct access to the trellis or wires.
