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Meet honeysuckle

Gardens should smell like a garden. Unfortunately, too many of our summer blooms have little or no scent. Honeysuckle comes to the rescue. Honeysuckle can be either a shrub or a vine. Colour ranges from cool pastels to hot yellows, oranges and reds.

Gardens should smell like a garden. Unfortunately, too many of our summer blooms have little or no scent. Honeysuckle comes to the rescue.

Honeysuckle can be either a shrub or a vine. Colour ranges from cool pastels to hot yellows, oranges and reds.

You can grow honeysuckle easily in a large pot on your patio or balcony.

Let it climb up a trellis, weave over the railing or drape over the edge if two levels.

In the ground they become large, from 3 m/3yd to 6m/7' long, but you can keep them at a manageable size if you prune. Prune when they finish flowering, or in late spring for shape.

The pot should be about 40cm/16" wide by 30 cm/12" deep. Use potting soil because it has a lighter weight and usually contains slow-release fertilizer to feed the plant over the summer.

Honeysuckle survives our winter in the pot. Just put it under the eaves or in a sheltered spot for the winter. Feed it regular fertilizer the following years and top up the soil in the pot with a bagged compost.