Can you pair clematis with honeysuckle?

Pyra

I'm making a pollinator friendly flowerbed and was planning on having a honeysuckle at the back growing up the fence. I've realised most of the plants are spring and summer flowering so I was looking to get an evergreen clematis for winter flowering, something like jingle bells. Can I plant this near the honeysuckle, or is this a bad idea? 

Lizzie27

I'd think twice, honeysuckle can be very vigorous and would probably overwhelm the clematis.

rachelQrtJHBjb

Thorncroft Clematis recommend Clematis 'Blue Angel' (Blekitny Aniol) to grow through honeysuckle. The only issue is the clematis is not evergreen.

Pyra

Thanks, that's what I thought. I'll rethink this. 

The fence is east facing and gets sun in the morning, shade in the afternoon. Which one do you think would be better suited? Or is it 6 and half a dozen? 

Obelixx

If it's happy a Jingle Bells will get to 4 or 5m so should be vigorous enough to cope with scrambling thru a honeysuckle and give you a good display as long as you don't have harsh winters and it's not exposed to strong gales or "beasts from the east".

Don't plant it in the  same place as the honeysuckle - one at each end of the available climbing space would be better - so that you can give it a good deep planting hole with plenty of well-rotted manure worked into the soil around and under it.   Soak it before planting, place it a few inches deeper than it was in the pot and water thoroughly after planting and backfilling.   Give it a mulch of more well-rotted manure and keep it watered till the autumn rains set in.

As it grows, train it into the supports.  You'll need either tensioned wires stretched at 12"/30cm intervals between the fence posts or some very strong trellis to hold the weight of both plants as they grow and mingle.

If you only have one or two fence panels to cover I would suggest a plan B.

Fairygirl

There are literally hundreds of clematis which will grow there. 
Honeysuckle would probably be fine too, but it really depends on how much room you have.
I personally don't think honeysuckle works on a fence, unless you plan on just letting it grow over the other side. They're habit lends them to covering, and scrambling over,  buildings, or over hedges etc. They're not 'tidy' the way other climbers are. 

Omori

I have honeysuckle on a fence, and I agree, I wouldn't do it again. It's a bit messy looking. I have Serotina and Belgica. 

Pyra

Briliant, thanks everyone. It's a large space but that side borders neighbours,  I'll put it on the other side and stick to the clematis there. Nothing is planted or even bought yet, I'm just planning.

A house nearby has an absolutely magnificent honeysuckle climbing all over a pergola then up and over the fence. But they border the street, so don't have to worry about cutting it back. 

Fairygirl

Honeysuckles are particularly good growing through hedges. There's one here which is in the hawthorn hedge of a N.Trust property perimeter. It's probably covering about  forty feet of it just now, and smells lovely when I pass it each morning. 
You could probably have two or three clematis on your fence. An early one - alpina or similar, a Group 2 type to takeover from that, and a later viticella which would start into flower around now. Good succession of flowering for bees etc. I have 4 on a fence which is around 30 to 40  feet or so. An alpina at one end, a macropetala at the other end. A Group 2 which grows in with the macro, and a viticella which is in between those two and the alpina. 

Obelixx

Have a play on this website to identify which clematis will be happy with an east facing fence - http://clematisontheweb.org/new-clemlistsearch.cfm 

Then try and find them in your local GC or nursery or online from clematis specialists such as Hawthorne's, Taylors or Thorncroft. 

BobTheGardener

I have a honeysuckle and 'Jingle Bells' (another cirrhosa type) and they co-exist really well.  Both are very vigorous and need trimming back regularly througout the year to keep them in bounds.