Nanking Cherry vs Northern Bush Honeysuckle - TreeTime.ca

Nanking Cherry vs Northern Bush Honeysuckle

Prunus tomentosa

Diervilla lonicera

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON

Nanking Cherry
Northern Bush Honeysuckle

Nanking Cherry is a small deciduous shrub known for its attractive white blossoms and edible fruit. Its dark red berries are excellent for pies, jellies, and even fresh eating.

Nanking Cherry is highly regarded as a shade tolerant fruit. We often see it planted as a hedge on the north side of a house where few other plants will survive, let alone thrive.

Expect fruit mid to late July. The fruit can vary in sweetness and size considerably. We often hear that people prefer it to sour cherries. Perhaps this is because Nanking Cherry is more closely related to plums. In fact, it is sometimes used as a dwarfing rootstock for plums.

Note: This species is currently unavailable. Grow your own using Nanking Cherry seeds at SeedTime.ca.

The Northern Bush Honeysuckle is a small, dense, deciduous shrub. The trumpet-like yellow flowers bloom late spring to early summer. Dark green leaves turn yellow then red in the fall. The flower nectar has a sweet honey taste that can be sucked out of the flower.

Because of its aggressive suckering habit, the Northern Bush Honeysuckle makes a great hedge, shrub border, or thicket in a woodland garden.

Nanking Cherry Quick Facts

Northern Bush Honeysuckle Quick Facts

Zone: 2a
Zone: 3a
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 2.1 m (7 ft)
Spread: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Moisture: normal
Moisture: dry, normal
Light: full sun
Light: shade, partial shade
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no
Berries: scarlet sweet but slightly tart cherries, 8-12 mm diameter
Flowers: white, early spring
Flowers: yellow to red
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: very fast
Life span: short
Life span: short
Suckering: low
Suckering: high




Other Names: ando cherry, chinese bush cherry, chinese dwarf cherry, downy cherry, hansens bush cherry, korean cherry, manchu cherry, mountain cherry, shanghai cherry
Other Names: low bush honeysuckle