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Diervilla sessilifolia

This plant is not currently for sale.  This is an archive page preserved for informational use.

Southern Bush Honeysuckle is a low-growing (3′-5′) deciduous shrub native to the Southern Appalachians and Great Smokey Mountains. Its arching stems are square in outline, its leaves opposite, lustrous, medium green, and lance-shaped, with serrated margins. Although it shows only so-so fall coloration, it has other valuable traits: It is attractive for its clean foliage and its sweet, yellow blooms in high summer. It is rhizomatous, fast-growing and very tough. It can take both very cold and hot/dry/sunny conditions in stride as well as a wide range of soil pH. Thus it is an ideal groundcover for difficult locations such as stabilizing a steep, sunny bank, attracting butterflies and hummingbirds and bees and providing cover for small animals and birds.

Key Info

Scientific Name: Diervilla sessilifolia Buckley
Common Names: Bush Honeysuckle, Southern Bush Honeysuckle
Family Names:
Plant Type:
Light Requirement: , ,
Moisture Requirement: ,
Leaf Retention:
Flower Color: Yellow
Special Characteristics: , , , , ,

Additional Info

Habit: A low, spreading shrub with stems almost square, striped, reddish; colonial.
Height: 3'-5'
Spread: 3'-5'
Soil Conditions: Tolerates a wide range of pH and soil textures, as long as it is well drained.
Leaves: Simple, opposite, lanceolate to narrow ovate leaves (up to 6” long), with rounded or cordate bases and toothed margins; are sessile and glabrous. New growth is bronze, and fall color is purplish and not spectacular.
Flowers (or reproductive structures: Soft yellow 0.5-inch tubular flowers in cymes typical of the Honeysuckle genus, on ends of branches (new growth). Flowering occurs all summer, but heavily in June and July.
Fruit: Dry capsules, not ornamental, in fall. Diervillas have dry seed capsules, whereas their cousins the Loniceras have fleshy, berry-like fruits (wildseedproject.net).
Natural Distribution: Dry, exposed mountain and piedmont sites in the Southern Appalachians.
USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-8
Pollination: Bees, butterflies, moths and hummingbirds
Wildlife Connections: Flowers attract bees, butterflies, moths and hummingbirds.
Propagation: By seed or cuttings. Both softwood and semi-hardwoods cuttings root readily.