PlantFiles: Cape Honeysuckle
Tecomaria capensis

Greetings,
I now have two of these and both in pots (big ones!), with trellis to train them to. Although I may shape them into small trees. It gets up to 110 here and they have done well, the first one did well during our mild winter frost. They are a lovely addition to my collection of hummingbirds plants....they both have excellent drainage, but I have them on large saucers with lots of rounded stones to keep it from sitting in water. I have over 150 potted plants of all varieties, most can handle being in one spot. I do have to switch several to better spots according to the season. The Cape Honeysuckles remain in their spots and doing fine. This is how I deal with plants that tend to be invasive. In time I will redress them with fresh soil and trim their roots. So you may consider doing the same....they are worth the flowers and "hummers" love them.

Lovely blooms but this plant is very invasive! We spent weeks trying to eradicate it from our backyard. It was climbing high into the trees and traveling along the ground and taking over everything in sight! We thought we got it all but it is back and growing everywhere once again.

Southern Gardeners ... beware of this one!

This plant grows well in Las Vegas! Provides good color for desert landscape. May need protection from frost. Usually will grow back from roots if damaged by cold. Would recommend:)

Great plant for winter color here in Nevada. It starts to bloom right now in early September and continues through March. It may freeze back in winter. I have about 10 of these planted, and last winter some died back and some didn't. With an eastern exposure catching the early morning sun, they will survive the cold better, also helps if they are planted close to the house. With the eastern exposure they will also avoid the hot pm sun in summer which can burn the leaves here.

I love this plant but have no luck with it. I can't tell if I'm over or under watering it - if I need a different fertilizer...please see my plants photo under "GoLonnyCA"...HELP!

This is a beautiful plant and grows extremely well, however the roots are extremely invasive. Give it lots of room and don't allow any valuable deep rooting plants or trees near it. I had to remove one that was planted approximately five feet from a young but tall Ash tree because it was choking it out.
I live in Henderson, NV, and this shrub, if left unchecked, will grow 6 to 8 feet tall and 5 feet wide... however mine was not that big. I pruned it on a regular basis, and kept it at a stable 3 feet. The roots, however, were uncontrollable.

One beautiful plant that help creates an exotic landscape, when mixed with various drought tolerant species. A good portion of San Diego is decorated with these. Grows extremely fast and needs pruning to gain spread control. Will spread like wild fire If not.

It did great in a very big container, but when put in the ground has been hard to get it to bloom. A nursery person told me to not water it much because it blooms when stressed.

You will need an entire yard for this plant in Gibsonton, FL!
I let it just grow for about a year without pruning and it had claimed it's own large area of the backyard. It sends out runners underground that will pop up with more sections of the plant far away from the main plant. The flowers are beautiful though and they were attracting alot of different butterflies. I painstakingly removed mine and hope I got it all.
In my opinion, it would require too much management to keep under control in my area.

This dark green with bright orange flowers looks terrific around the koi fish pond. We enclosed 10 of the 1 gallon plants within a root barrier because of the invasive root system and am glad we did so. After fertilizing with fish emulsion to encourage growth, they took off! Alternating the Cape Honeysuckle with the 10 Mexican Marigolds creates a colorful and cheerful area.

This plant roots freely at any point where the cascading limbs touch the soil, but I would not call it "invasive." The new plants can be easily dug up and transplanted (or traded in plant swaps!)

It is a mistake, I think, to believe that this plant (Tecomaria sp.) is truly a honeysuckle (Lonicera sp.). It has the common name of Cape Honeysuckle only because the flowers somewhat resemble a honeysuckle blossom, but the Cape Honesuckle is more of a hard stemmed, non-twining shrub. It can be pruned to a tree-like shape as it matures.

In my Zone 8b/9a garden, it has survived winter temperatures as low as 28 F on a few nights with no freeze damage. It begins blooming around November and continues flowering through about March. I have it interplanted with Winter Cassia (Senna bicapsularis) because the Winter Cassia blooms about the same time as the Cape Honeysuckle and I enjoy the interplay of cadmium orange flowers of the Cape Honeysuckle with the cadmium yellow of the Cassia.

Jeremy

So far its doing well. Its a rampant bloomer through my Houston winters when not much else is blooming. It has a beautiful color.

Although the foliage is very beautiful and useful in flower arrangements, note that the flowers themselves do not seem to do well in floral arrangements. Once cut, the flowers fall off the spikes very quickly (within a few days). This is a very aggressive, fast growing plant in warmer areas.

They are very popular in Corpus Christi, TX, and south to the border. Solid blooms right now and all summer. Blooms all year. Not invasive here. Beautiful foliage for cut flower arrangements!

This grows in Zone 7b, in West Texas heat and blooms in mid summer to late autumn. It dies back each year and reemerges in late spring. It is not invasive here.

I've just planted two 3-gallon plants in two different locations...one in full sun against a wood fence, and the other in part sun against the same wood fence, but surrounding by more foliage (full sun for 11a-2pm only). The one in full sun is doing significantly better. Its already grown about 8-10" tall and about the same wide, while the other has grown 2". I'm still optimistic for the second one, as its planted near some other bushes that were recently transplanted and havent been doing too well so maybe there is just more transplant shock as a result of this area's dirt (there was more milorganite in the soil there as well, so maybe it was over fertilized?)...so maybe its just the soil, but at least its holding its own. Maybe by fall, I'll have a picture of them both up on the site!

Also, about 1 month after planting, seed pods were evident, which I collected. I was able to germinate half of them quite successfully.

This plant is a lovely addition to a hedge line between neighbors on Longboat Key, Florida. It does get a bit woody as it ages, and needs to be pruned semi-annually so that it does not overtake the area.

Beautiful blooms arrive in summer and continue throughout the fall. It makes a lovely carpet as the blooms fall to the ground.

It blooms in fall and winter for me...humming birds love it and it is drought and poor soil tollorent. Will die if frezes so it needs protection.

This honeysuckle is an evergreen and grows moderately fast. It prefers well-drained soil. Prune after flowering is done.