Common Name: bush honeysuckle
Type: Deciduous shrub
Family: Caprifoliaceae
Zone: 4 to 8
Height: 2.00 to 3.00 feet
Spread: 2.00 to 3.00 feet
Bloom Time: May to July
Bloom Description: Yellow
Sun: Full sun
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Hedge
Flower: Showy
Leaf: Colorful, Good Fall
Attracts: Butterflies
Tolerate: Deer, Clay Soil
Culture
Best grown in evenly moist, well-draining, humusy loams in full sun to part shade. Tolerant of a wide range of growing conditions including clay and drier soils as well as shade. Cultivars with colorful foliage are best grown with plenty of sun. Can spread through suckers. Hardy in Zones 4-8.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Diervilla splendens is a hybrid bush honeysuckle of cultivated origin that results from crossing D. sessilifolia and D. lonicera. It is a deciduous shrub that can reach 4-5' tall with a similar width and a rounded to spreading habit. Terminal clusters of yellow, tubular flowers bloom in summer. The foliage turns various shades of red and purple in the fall. Also seen in the literature written as D. × splendens.
Genus name honors a French surgeon named Dierville or Diereville who observed with great interest a North American native bush-honeysuckle growing in Canada during an extensive trip he took to that country in 1699-1700. Upon his return to France, he introduced the shrub to European culture, with the bush-honeysuckle genus eventually being named in memory of him. Linnaeus subsequently listed the observed Canadian plant as Diervilla lonicera.
The specific epithet splendens means "splendid".
The common name bush honeysuckle refers to the appearance of the flowers, which resemble those of plants in the genus Lonicera (honeysuckles). This species should not to be confused with Lonicera japonica, which shares the common name bush honeysuckle and is an exotic invasive species to Missouri and the Midwest.
'El Madrigal' is a compact, hybrid selection of bush honeysuckle that was discovered as a naturally occurring branch mutation on nursery stock. Mature plants will reach 2-3' tall with a similar spread and a mounding to upright habit. The ovate, 3.5" long and 1.5" wide foliage is dark green blushed with red-purple and turns fully red-purple in fall. Terminal clusters of yellow flowers bloom from late spring to summer. The blooms are attractive to butterflies and other insect pollinators. Commonly sold at nurseries and garden centers under the name NIGHTGLOW. This plant is protected by patent number PP28060.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Leaf spot and powdery mildew may occur.
Uses
Small hedge, foundation plantings, mixed shrub borders. Suitable for use in containers.