Thursday, July 9, 2009

Coral honeysuckle


Coral honeysuckle, originally uploaded by Elizabeth Smith.

Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) is blooming right now here in Southwest Florida; we have two vines with exuberant foliage and flowers. Once of the things I love about this plant is that it’s relatively easy to maintain once established. The blooms attract ruby-throated hummingbirds as well as a large variety of butterflies!

6 comments:

  1. This is a wonderful journal page. Plus another great thing, if my Internet research is correct, Lonicera sempervirens is a non-invasive alternative to Japanese honeysuckle. Wonderful use of watercolor pencils.Kudos to you. Judy

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  2. This is a lovely spread showing the different stages of the plant. The colours of the flowers are very exuberant. You are very fortunate to see hummingbirds. I saw one once while on holidays in the USA. I was fascinated. I had only heard and read about them before that.

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  3. Beautiful illustration Elizabeth. I expect to always be thrilled by your interpretations and techniques. You are so gifted.

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  4. A wonderful native plant for hardiness and nectar. The fused leaves are interesting. Love your life-size drawings, shading and notes.

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  5. Wonderful study! The colour of the flowers seems to be glowing... beautiful. Is it as fragrant as the "normal" Lonicera?

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  6. Thanks everyone, for your wonderful comments. I'm so pleased to share this with you.

    Sigrid, this honeysuckle has very little fragrance - it must get by on its good looks!

    Alissa, I didn't know that Australia lacked for hummingbirds. Here in Florida we only have one species, but I understand that we do have two other species that show up from time to time and are probably visitors. They do seem like magical little birds; I wish I had one to share with you!

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