Overview
Uses: Mass plantings, mixed borders, slopes, pollinator gardens, and tough shady spots.
Benefits: A native bush honeysuckle with bright lime-green foliage, orange new growth, and glowing orange fall color. Yellow flowers bloom through summer for hummingbirds and pollinators, and it grows in sun or shade, including dry shade.
USDA Hardiness Zones: 3–8
Sun: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Life Cycle: Deciduous Shrub
Growth Habit: Mounding, Spreading — dense and full.
Bloom Color: Yellow
Foliage Color: Orange new growth, Lime Green in summer, Orange in fall
Mature Height: 2–3 feet
Mature Width: 2–3 feet
Bloom Season: Summer
Growth Rate: Fast
Summary
Bright foliage that changes color three times a year, on a native shrub that thrives where others struggle.
Bush honeysuckle is a tough, native shrub of eastern North America, and Kodiak Fresh® turns up its color. New growth emerges a warm orange in spring, then settles into a bright lime green that lights up the garden all summer. In fall the leaves turn a glowing orange before they drop, so the plant changes its look across the whole season.
Clusters of small, tubular yellow flowers appear through summer. Bumblebees work them steadily, and hummingbirds visit as well. The blooms are modest on their own, but against the bright foliage they add another layer of color.
Where this plant really earns its place is in difficult sites. It grows in full sun or shade, including dry shade under trees, and handles clay, rocky, and poor soils. It spreads slowly by underground stems into a dense mound two to three feet tall, which makes it useful on slopes, in mass plantings, and anywhere you need a low shrub to fill and hold the ground.
Care
Kodiak Fresh® Bush Honeysuckle Care
Plant in full sun to partial shade. The brightest foliage color comes with a few hours of sun, but it grows well in shade and tolerates dry shade once established.
Bush honeysuckle adapts to nearly any soil that is not permanently waterlogged, including clay, sandy, rocky, and lean ground.
Water deeply once or twice a week through the first growing season. After that it handles dry spells well and needs extra water only during prolonged drought.
Feeding needs are light. One application of a slow release fertilizer in early spring is plenty, and plants in reasonable soil often need none.
Bush honeysuckle blooms on new wood, so prune in late winter or early spring. Cutting the plant back by about a third, or even close to the ground every few years, refreshes it and brings strong new growth with the best color. It spreads slowly by suckers; trim them back if you want a tighter footprint, or let them fill in a mass planting.
Size
What Size is the Kodiak Fresh® Bush Honeysuckle for Sale Online?
Our Kodiak Fresh® Bush Honeysuckle ships in a greenhouse-grade grow pot and is appropriately sized for its container at the time of shipment. Plants ship dormant or near dormant in the off-season, so they may arrive as bare stems with few or no leaves. If you have specific sizing or planting questions, please contact us.
How Large Does Kodiak Fresh® Bush Honeysuckle Grow?
Expect about 2 to 3 feet tall and 2 to 3 feet wide at maturity, in a dense, mounding shape that slowly widens over time. Space plants about 2 to 3 feet apart for a mass planting or slope cover.
Additional Information
What is the botanical name of Kodiak Fresh® Bush Honeysuckle?
The botanical name is Diervilla Kodiak Fresh®. It is a Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Flowering Shrub selected for bright foliage and adaptability.
Is Kodiak Fresh® Bush Honeysuckle a native plant?
It is a selection of Diervilla, a group of shrubs native to eastern North America. Selections like this one are often called nativars: they keep the toughness and pollinator value of the native shrubs while adding stronger foliage color. Browse more Native Plants of North America.
Is it related to the invasive bush honeysuckles?
No. The invasive bush honeysuckles that take over woodlands belong to a different genus, Lonicera, and come from Asia. Diervilla is a native, well-behaved shrub that spreads only slowly by suckers and does not seed aggressively into natural areas.
Will it grow in dry shade?
Yes, once it is established. Dry shade under trees is one of the hardest spots in a yard to plant, and bush honeysuckle is one of the few flowering shrubs that fills it well. Water regularly through the first season so roots can settle in. For more shrubs suited to tough spots, see our Shrubs & Bushes.
