What is the most fragrant, noninvasive Honeysuckle vine for Toronto?
I have a (non-fragrant) coral honeysuckle, which is long-blooming and a colourful addition to our garden.
Regarding your question, a good place to start is a prior post concerning honeysuckles generally, see Honeysuckle, which sets out a number of invasive honeysuckles as well as native or non-invasive options. Below I’ve built on the list provided in that post, to indicate whether the flowers are fragrant:
- Dropmore Scarlet honeysuckle (vine) Lonicera x brownii ‘Dropmore Scarlet’ – not fragrant
- Goldflame honeysuckle (vine) L. x heckrottii ‘Gold Flame’ – fragrant
- Dutch honeysuckle (vine) L. periclymenum – extremely fragrant
- Coral honeysuckle (vine, also called trumpet honeysuckle) L. sempervirens – not fragrant
- Bush honeysuckle (bush) Diervilla lonicera [native to Ontario, and many cultivars exist] – fragrant
- Fly honeysuckle (bush) Lonicera canadensis – fragrant
From the above list the two most likely candidates for your garden seem to be the gold flame honeysuckle and the Dutch honeysuckle, both of which are fragrant vines. I found no literature comparing non-invasive honeysuckle vines with respect to fragrance. I suggest that you research each on-line – see which one most suits your garden, not just for fragrance but for siting (sunny vs shady spot), type of soil needed, pest resistance, etcetera. As well, flower colour is often an important consideration.
Good luck in your hunt for the best-scented honeysuckle vine for your garden.