Bush honeysuckle Kodiak Black
* Common name: Bush honeysuckle Kodiak Black
Credit: Proven Winners
* Botanical name: Diervilla rivularis Kodiak Black
* What it is: This is a new variety of the bushy, native shrub commonly known as bush honeysuckle. The interesting twist is that the foliage has dark tones to the leaves to go with the yellow flowers that last for weeks in early summer.
Kodiak Black isn’t a true honeysuckle or even a vine. The common name comes from the honeysuckle-like flowers.
* Size: 4 feet tall and wide.
* Where to use: Bush honeysuckle is a trouble-free, deer-resistant, pollinator-attracting, adaptable flowering shrub that grows in sun or shade and damp or dry soil. Kodiak Black’s flowers are best and the leaf color is darkest in full sun.
The habit is somewhat loose and upright, so it works best as a border shrub or grouped in a woodland or informal garden.
* Care: To keep plants compact, cut all shoots back as far as ankle high at the end of winter. Bush honeysuckle blooms on wood that grows in spring. Pruning not needed if size is OK.
An annual spring scattering of a balanced, organic granular fertilizer is helpful but usually not necessary. Keep the soil consistently damp the first year, then water is needed only in a drought.
* Great partners: Gold or gold-variegated Japanese forest grass or golden sedge make a nice grassy texture contrast to the wider, darker leaves. Golden Hinoki cypress makes a good evergreen backdrop.