Growing in The Hillier Arboretum in the 1990s was Lonicera prolifera.
It aroused my curiosity; this climbing honeysuckle had leaves looking just like a perfoliate Eucalyptus, intensely glaucous and forming a rounded disk with yellow flowers. Lonicera prolifera comes from North America.
Lonicera ‘Fire Cracker‘ has retained the intensely glaucous leaves of prolifera, but with red flowers.
- Very hardy twining deciduous shrub
- Growing in any well drained soil
- Tolerates all conditions from full sun to an east facing fence
- Leaves glaucous grey-green
- Upper leaves perfoliate and intensely glaucous forming a rounded disk
- Flowers red with protruding yellow anthers
- Flowers in the spring followed by bright red berries in the autumn
| Genus | Lonicera |
| Species | prolifera x unnamed species |
| Cultivar | 'Firecracker' |
| Category | Deciduous shrub |
| Height & Spread | 200 cm x 250 cm along a fence or wall or supported as a shrub |
| Plant Breeders Rights | Exclusive to Newleaf Plants |
| Colours | Colours and sizes are approximate and are intended as a guideline and may vary according to local conditions. |
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Single flower of L Fire Cracker late May Longstock
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Lonicera Fire Cracker flowering on a east facing fence 2014 Peter Moore
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This is the original raised in 1997 planted in my garden 1998 photo 19th April 2018 East facing fence