Honeysuckle ‘Major Wheeler’

* Common name: Honeysuckle ‘Major Wheeler’

* Botanical name: Lonicera sempervirens ‘Major Wheeler’

* What it is: A winter-hardy, U.S.-native vine with hummingbird-attracting, tubular coral-red flowers. Very heavy bloomer that produces flowers in late spring and often keeps producing through summer. Mildew-resistant, too, unlike many honeysuckles.

* Size: 6 to 8 feet tall when trained to twine up a support.

* Where to use: Flowers best in full sun, but also does well in part shade. Ideal for growing up a trellis in a skinny, sunny area to add color to a bare wall. Also a good choice for arbors and pergolas or for growing as a specimen up an obelisk in a mixed garden.

* Care: Water to establish the first year, then no water or fertilizer usually needed. Prune only as needed to control size. Excess branches can be thinned out after initial bloom. Long branches can be shortened at the same time. Blooms on both old and new wood, so you’ll get some flowers no matter whether you prune heavily at end of winter or right after the first flowering.

* Great partner: Flank with abelia ‘Kaleidoscope,’ a low shrub with white flowers and cream, green and burgundy foliage. Black-eyed susans and yellow mums are good perennial partners.

— George Weigel