Honeysuckle Flower

Honeysuckle Flower

Uncover Hidden Flowers meanings

The honeysuckle flower has a very straightforward meaning. 

It signifies happiness.  Beyond the Victoria interpretation of the honeysuckle flower, it also means sweet disposition which might relate to the sweet smelling aroma that the flowers have.  It can also be because of the sweet nectar that hummingbirds love so much.  Honeysuckle also means fraternal affection or devoted affection.

It symbolizes devoted affection in the form of a lover’s embrace.  If you look at the way the honeysuckle clings to its habitat like a post or a wall, it looks very much like a love bind.

One cannot help but be happy with a well protected garden where the honeysuckle grows.  It attracts the most interesting of creatures, the humming bird.  The idea of pending nuptials in a home is also a cause for celebration.  Honeysuckle flower also symbolizes happiness and living a sweet life – without too much squabbles in between.

  • Name:  Honeysuckle Flower
  • Color:  Depending on the honeysuckle variety, you can find these flowers in white and yellow, pink and red.
  • Shape:  The honeysuckle flower takes on a tubular shape particularly when it hasn’t bloomed yet but when it does, it looks like a bell.
  • Fact:  Because the flowers of the honeysuckle smell so sweet, hummingbirds are attracted to it.  Nectar of the honeysuckle are one of hummingbird’s favorite.
  • Poisonous:  If it’s safe for the hummingbirds, it’s safe for humans.  Honeysuckle plants are nontoxic.
  • Number of Petals:  Because the petals of the honeysuckle flower are fused so closely together, it can be difficult to learn the actual number of petals.  Based on what curls out when the flowers bloom, you can say that the honeysuckle has five petals.
  • Victorian Interpretation:  Happiness, plain and simple is what the honeysuckle stands for in the Victorian interpretation.
  • Blossom Time:  Honeysuckle flowers bloom somewhere in May to June

Superstitions: 

When you have a honeysuckle plant growing in your garden, this works to protect your garden from evil.  Essentially, because of the sweet smelling blossoms of this plant, they’re believed to induce dreams particularly about love and passion.  People also used to believe that if honeysuckle is brought into the house when it’s in bloom, a wedding will soon take place in that household. 

  • The Shape:  Honeysuckle flowers from the Amur variety look like tubes.  For the Morrow’s honeysuckle, it’s a little bit bigger in diameter which gives it the appearance of bells.  As for the Tatarian honeysuckle, the flowers bloom in pairs.  The Japanese honeysuckle flowers look tubular and elongated when closed but bell shaped when it blooms.
  • Petals:  Honeysuckle flower petals are long and elongated.  Sometimes it looks like there are only two petals on a honeysuckle flower but at other times it looks like there are more.  With the petals following the shape of a bell, there isn’t really a demarcation to where one petal starts and another ends.
  • Numerology:  Honeysuckle flowers have the characteristics of the number 3.  In relation to happiness, it symbolizes the joy of living.  It’s also about verbalization and expression.
  • Color:  There are white honeysuckle flowers and there are more creamy and yellow colored varieties.  There are also pink honeysuckle flowers and brighter colored flowers like red.

Herbalism and Medicine:  

For the sweet nectar in the honeysuckle flowers, it’s also a popular remedy for cough.  Many herbal based cough medications today have honeysuckle ingredients mixed in them.  As a natural antibiotic, this can also be used for curing staph infections.  Taken in as tea, honeysuckle can also treat mild asthma symptoms.

This plant is also used for treating skin disease and also infections from poison oak.  Wounds and abrasions are disinfected with the use of a honeysuckle infusion.

By Flo Saul
Aug 20, 2012