Click below to lsiten to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: The Dropmore Scarlet Saga
Last weekend I culled my out of control honeysuckle vine ‘Dropmore Scarlet’.
Planted in 2014, this vine was a haven to hummingbirds but hid my view after all these years. Gorgeous but overgrown and the plant looked to be weakening.
Ideally Honeysuckle vine ‘Dropmore Scarlet’ will live up to 20 years but underneath, even after trimming it back multiple times, it just got to be more than what I want for that space.
I got a lot of enjoyment out of this vine. Below is the year the Cedar Waxwings stopped by!
The vines grew thick and twisted tight around the pergola but most weren’t that hard to untangle as many of them just busted.
The roots were pretty thick too but fairly easy to get out after I’d watered the area and let it soak for about 30 minutes.
I’m a firm believer in doing what you want in your garden. While I tend to steer to natives and/or pollinator friendly, that doesn’t mean I don’t like to change it up.
Lawns are probably the only “plant” I really don’t like much. And it’s not the plants’ fault! It’s those manicured expanses of pristine green that is only produced by additional water and chemicals. I’m not judging! Just sayin’!
Back to the Scarlet Saga, while I did take her out to the city compost site, I have planted two of another cultivar next to a lilac that has died but has beautifully structured branches I want them to grow up and over on.
‘Peaches and Cream’ are only supposed to grow up to 7 ft. while the ‘Dropmore Scarlet’ grows to 20 ft. I also did some dormant seeding of some native plants.
Now what will I put in that spot? I had a lot of great suggestions on my Garden Bite facebook page but I’m really looking for a shrub growing maybe to 4 ft tall.
Ah, winter will be fun as I ponder what to put there!!