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Diervilla sessilifolia
Bush Honeysuckle, Southern Bush Honeysuckle

Photo by Cure Nursery

This plant is not currently for sale.  This is an archive page preserved for informational use.

Southern Bush Honeysuckle is a low-growing (3′-5′) deciduous shrub native to the Southern Appalachians and Great Smokey Mountains. Its arching stems are square in outline, its leaves opposite, lustrous, medium green, and lance-shaped, with serrated margins. Although it shows only so-so fall coloration, it has other valuable traits: It is attractive for its clean foliage and its sweet, yellow blooms in high summer. It is rhizomatous, fast-growing and very tough. It can take both very cold and hot/dry/sunny conditions in stride as well as a wide range of soil pH. Thus it is an ideal groundcover for difficult locations such as stabilizing a steep, sunny bank, attracting butterflies and hummingbirds and bees and providing cover for small animals and birds.

Last Updated: November 27, 2021

Key Info

Scientific Name: Diervilla sessilifolia Buckley
Common Names: Bush Honeysuckle, Southern Bush Honeysuckle
Family Name: Caprifoliaceae (Honeysuckle Family)
Plant Type: Tree / Shrub
Uses: Naturalizing, Hedge, Butterfly garden, Groundcover shrub for sunny, harsh slopes
Light Requirement: Full sun, Partial/sunny, Partial/shady
Moisture Requirement: Dry, Medium
Leaf Retention: Deciduous
Flower Color: Yellow
Special Characteristics: Attracts bees, Attracts butterflies, Attracts Hummingbirds, Drought tolerant, Rhizomatous, Reported to be deer resistant.

Additional Info

Habit: A low, spreading shrub with stems almost square, striped, reddish; colonial.
Height: 3'-5'
Spread: 3'-5'
Growth Rate: Moderate to fast
Soil Conditions: Tolerates a wide range of pH and soil textures, as long as it is well drained.
Leaves: Simple, opposite, lanceolate to narrow ovate leaves (up to 6” long), with rounded or cordate bases and toothed margins; are sessile and glabrous. New growth is bronze, and fall color is purplish and not spectacular.
Flowers (or reproductive structures): Soft yellow 0.5-inch tubular flowers in cymes typical of the Honeysuckle genus, on ends of branches (new growth). Flowering occurs all summer, but heavily in June and July.
Fruit: Dry capsules, not ornamental, in fall. Diervillas have dry seed capsules, whereas their cousins the Loniceras have fleshy, berry-like fruits (wildseedproject.net).
Natural Distribution: Dry, exposed mountain and piedmont sites in the Southern Appalachians.
USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-8
Pollination: Bees, butterflies, moths and hummingbirds
Wildlife Connections: Flowers attract bees, butterflies, moths and hummingbirds.
Cultural Notes: Prune in spring.
Downside: No serious insect or disease problems.
Propagation: By seed or cuttings. Both softwood and semi-hardwoods cuttings root readily.
Other Notes: rhizomatous, tolerant of hot dry wind and dry soil
USDA/NRCS Plant Distribution Map: View Map at USDA.gov
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Cure Nursery is a small nursery propagating and selling native plants for the Southeastern U.S. We are located near the town of Pittsboro, Chatham County, in central NC.

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