Hi, This shrub is about 8 feet tall (and growing!), and is in flower now (late April, UK). The flowers are pale pink, about 2 cm, with four petals at the top, and one longer one at the bottom. My daughter says they are sticking their tongues out! I've never seen any berries or seed of any kind on it. Any ideas, anyone? Unknown pink-flowered shrub ( photo / image / picture from OrangeKing's Garden )
It looks kind of like a lonicera x bella "zabelii" -- a honeysuckle shrub. I have one in my yard in bloom now. The blooms attract bees and butterflies and it gets some berries later on that the birds like. Mine is prone to some sort of mildewy stuff in summer. You can prune it hard and it comes back nicely. I've cut mine down to a foot and it comes back looking even prettier. I'm trying to find you a good link with a pic so you can see if it is what you have. The 1st link shows a bright red blossom. The one I have is lighter in color, somewhere between the color shown here and the one you have. What do you think? http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=12689273 http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 59&bih=566
I think you're right, Daisybeans - it's a Lonicera x bella, but not 'Zabelii'. The flowers on the first picture look exactly right, except for the colour. I'd seen the second picture on this site earlier, and dismissed it.I'd also dismissed the idea of a lonicera, because it has no scent. As for the berries, I've not seen any, but perhaps the birds got there first! There are lots of pix on the web, though (apparently this shrub is an invasive pest in large parts of the USA), and it is obviously fairly variable in colour. Thanks a lot!
Unfortunately, Carolyn, it has no scent at all. Which is sad, really, because as you say most honeysuckles smell divine. I also have a Lonicera fragrantissima that I bought because of the scent - it stopped me in my tracks in the Garden centre! This year it was in flower from just after Xmas until early March. And that, of course, is what I expected a shrubby honeysuckle to be like!
Mine doesn't have much scent either. I don't find it to be invasive, I was surprised it was on that site. When I lived in Chicago, some form of lonicera bush grew in a hedge in the backyard of a house we bought -- they were 20 feet high, and 6 feet deep overgrown and horrible. We cut each and every one down to the ground and then they came back, they were so beautiful.... The one that I have now, I find easy to keep under control.
Yes, it does look like tatarica, too, which is not surprising since 'x bella' is a cross between tatarica and morrowii. I looked for all three of these on the web, and while morrowii is white or pale yellow both tatarica and bella seem to be pretty variable, with flowers ranging from white to dark red. My pink shrub could be either! I'm happy just knowing it's a lonicera!
