Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Other Names:  Tecomaria x capensis

Group/Class:  Cape Town™ Series

Brand:  Southern Living

Description:

A striking variety, producing clusters of showy, red trumpet flowers in summer, and all year in frost free areas; a stunning landscape or garden accent; plant in sun or light shade, needs little water; can be sheared for use as a screen or hedge

Ornamental Features

Cape Town™ Red Cape Honeysuckle features showy clusters of lightly-scented red trumpet-shaped flowers at the ends of the branches from mid spring to mid fall. Its attractive glossy pointy compound leaves emerge chartreuse in spring, turning dark green in colour the rest of the year.

Landscape Attributes

Cape Town™ Red Cape Honeysuckle is a multi-stemmed annual with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Cape Town™ Red Cape Honeysuckle is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Cape Town™ Red Cape Honeysuckle will grow to be about 4 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 5 feet. Although it's not a true annual, this fast-growing plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. To help this plant achive its best flowering performance, periodically apply a flower-boosting fertilizer from early spring through into the active growing season. It is not particular as to soil type or pH, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

Cape Town™ Red Cape Honeysuckle is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.