Discreet creamy white flowers open on bare winter branches and release a powerful jasmine-like perfume, drawing pollinators out to forage on sunny days. The Winter Beauty honeysuckle (Lonicera purpusii) is a bushy shrub for beds or pots; give it sun and well-drained soil that stays cool, and it will scent the garden from early winter to mid-spring.
Key facts for the Winter Beauty honeysuckle
Name
Lonicera purpusii
Family
Caprifoliaceae (honeysuckle family)
Type
shrub
Height
16 to 32 feet (2 to 3 m)
Exposure
full sun
Soil
ordinary
Foliage
deciduous or evergreen
Flowering
early winter to mid-spring
Caring for it is easy and both foliage and blooming are extremely ornamental.
Planting Lonicera purpusii, the Winter Beauty honeysuckle
Lonicera purpusii are planted in fall, but it’s also possible to plant them up to spring. Apart from these two ideal periods, avoid freezing and strong heat.
They also require well drained soil, so best avoid stagnant water.
The ground must stay cool, even in summer.
As for placing, favor any sunbathed exposure.
Part sun is also very suitable.
Pruning and caring for Lonicera purpusii, the Winter Beauty honeysuckle
Reshape only once the winter flowering is over
It isn’t really necessary to prune it: your Lonicera purpusii can do well without ever being pruned.
If you wish to reshape or your honeysuckle or balance the branches somewhat, wait for blooming to be over.
When your honeysuckle starts growing a bit sparse, it is also possible to trim it back severely, it will recover beautifully with renewed growth.
If pruning back severely, do this at the end of winter, after the blooming.
Learn more about Lonicera purpusii
Winter Beauty honeysuckles, or Lonicera purpusii, are bushy shrubs that produce delicately fragrant flowers in winter.
Winter flowers feed pollinators foraging on sunny days
For a few weeks somewhere between December and March, depending on the climate and the are, it bears creamy white colored discrete flowers, that free a powerful jasmine-like perfume.
Indeed, this plant boasts white flowers that will decorate our gardens in winter, either planted in the ground or in pots. Pollinators love it, since it provides food to forage on sunny winter days.
Although the foliage is evergreen, in colder climates it is only partially evergreen, and might lose some of its leaves.
Winter Beauty Lonicera purpusii are also perfectly suited to shaping into a hedge.
Image credits (edits Gaspard Lorthiois):
CC BY-SA 2.0: Megan Hansen
CC BY 2.0: Conall
Public Domain: De Tuin
Written by Gaspard Lorthiois | Loves helping out, especially when it comes to growing things. Worked in herbal medicine, runs a farm, and dabbles in tech. Master's degree and engineer.
