Lonicera japonica Aureoreticulata

Lonicera japonica Aureoreticulata is a variety of Japanese honeysuckle that is unknown to gardeners despite its many qualities: this climbing plant is interesting for its unique foliage, veined and reticulated with yellow on a bright green background, often evergreen, but also for its ability to wrap around very narrow supports, such as an unsightly iron bar, a pillar or a clothesline pole. Its summer flowering, with small pleasantly scented white flowers, adds to its charm. Like clematis, this climbing plant requires little maintenance: it thrives with its head in indirecdt sun and its base in the shade, in rather moist, ordinary soil.

Japanese honeysuckle is a climbing and woody plant of the Caprifoliaceae family, native to East Asia. In nature, this plant has vigorous growth, which is best suited for slightly wild open spaces. The 'Aureoreticulata' variety is a beautiful mutation of this wild species. It stands out with its foliage curiously marked with small yellow veins, creating a very unusual pattern on its light and vibrant green lamina. Its natural vigour, allowing it to launch branches over 10m (33ft) long, requires some control. Its long stems wrap around the supports they encounter, but can also crawl and form groundcover. They bear simple, ovate leaves.  From June onwards, a multitude of 3 cm (1in) tubular flowers appear and continue until the end of summer. Divided into two lips, they expose their prominent stamens and pastel shades: from white, they become cream yellow when ripe. This fragrant flowering attracts many pollinating insects. It is followed by the formation of small fleshy blackish-purple berries, which are not edible.

This superb Aureoreticulata honeysuckle can be planted in the ground, away from harsh sunlight, with its base shaded. It is naturally perfect for covering anything that needs to be hidden: fences, wire mesh or sheds, as long as it has a support available. It is less known for its ability to wrap around very narrow supports, turning even the smallest pole into a vegetated column. It can also be allowed to colonise the ground, in a slightly wild area of the garden. It forms a beautiful association with clematis. It also has its place in a hedge, alongside flowering shrubs like lilacs, mock oranges, deutzias, or even Ceanothus. Its evergreen foliage in a moderate to mild climate allows you to camouflage a wall or fence even in winter.