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. It has attractive dark green evergreen foliage which emerges chartreuse in spring. The glossy pointy compound leaves are highly ornamental and remain dark green throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

Cape Town™ Red Cape Honeysuckle is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This shrub 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. It has a low canopy. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 20 years.

This shrub 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 makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use 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 grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.