Lonicera x bella (Bell's Honeysuckle)

[Cypress]

So, was walking around my parent's property this past week and saw this stump in the yard:



Asked my mother if she knew what it was and she said it was a honeysuckle with pink flowers. I looked up honeysuckles that would have pink flowers and I think it would probably be L. tatarica or L. x bella. tatarica has darker pink flowers whereas bella has lighter pink flowers and is actually a hybrid of L. tatarica and L. morrowii. I showed my mother pictures of both flowers and she said it has the lighter pink flowers. So I just have what she knows to go by as there are no leaves or flowers on the plant right now and I'm no honeysuckle expert, but as of now it seems it's got to be Lonicera x bella.

As you can see my dad actually cut it back about two years ago, at a perfect height for bonsai. The stump is probably a foot or taller and it's put on a ton of growth in the last two years. The previous owners of the property must have planted it here and from that I'm guessing this plant has got to be 20-30 years old. It's going to be ripped out of the ground soon anyway since my parents will be building a garage here. has anyone worked with this hybrid or either of it's parent species?

P.S. Here's an info page on Lonicera x bella http://www.eddmaps.org/ipane/ipanespecies/shrubs/Lonicera_x_bella.htm

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I collected and worked with lots of honeysuckle when I lived back in Iowa. This doesn't look anything like those I've worked with. This reminds me more of a prunus of some kind, with rougher bark and bolting branches; starkly different than the honeysuckles I am familiar with; which have light, thin, shredding bark, opposed, angular growth, and hollow, skinny stems.

Whatever it is, it seems to be an intesting candidate.

 

[Cypress]

I collected and worked with lots of honeysuckle when I lived back in Iowa. This doesn't look anything like those I've worked with. This reminds me more of a prunus of some kind, with rougher bark and bolting branches; starkly different than the honeysuckles I am familiar with; which have light, thin, shredding bark, opposed, angular growth, and hollow, skinny stems.

Whatever it is, it seems to be an intesting candidate.

Yea, I mean all I have to go with is what my Mom told me haha. It could be something that's not even a honey suckle. I did try to break open some younger shoots to see if the pith was hollow and it didn't seem like they were. But it's going to get trashed anyway too, so might as well pull her out in the spring and see where it goes!