Shrub · Caprifoliaceae
Northern bush honeysuckle
Diervilla lonicera
Northern bush honeysuckle is recorded as native to 21 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 449 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Northern bush honeysuckle at a glance
- Native in
- 449 counties, across 21 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a PLANTS minimum temperature −23°F
- Mature height
- 2.4 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 5a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −23°F; zone 5a winters bottom out at −20°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Northern bush honeysuckle is recorded as native to 21 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 449 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 449 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- Georgia 1 county
- Illinois 14 counties
- Indiana 11 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Massachusetts 11 counties
- Michigan 72 counties
- Minnesota 40 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 12 counties
- New York 43 counties
- North Carolina 4 counties
- Ohio 25 counties
- Pennsylvania 64 counties
- Rhode Island 1 county
- Tennessee 6 counties
- Vermont 13 counties
- Virginia 23 counties
- West Virginia 14 counties
- Wisconsin 68 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 2.4 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 32 to 50 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4.8 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 16 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −23°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 135
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Purple
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Dark Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Caprifoliaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- DILO
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Diervilla lonicera (PLANTS symbol DILO).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources