This climbing honeysuckle, which has decorated the grey log walls of so many Finnish homes, is still probably the most popular of all our flowering woody climbers. Reddish on first opening but changing to creamy-white, the scent of the flowers is inseparably associated with light summer nights.
The honeysuckles (Lonicera) – which Linné named after the German doctor and naturalist Lonitzer (1528-1586) or Lonicerus - include several climbing species. They curl round a support, but can also be grown as ground cover, as at Mustila, on the Kahvila (Café) slope. This species flowers best in full sun, but the foliage, blue-green below, has its own beauty even when out of flower.
The flowers appear in pairs at the ends of shoots, reclining on the top two leaves, which grow together into a cup shape. After flowering, the round orange berries decorate the vines well into the autumn.