Native Alternatives for Japanese Honeysuckle

For alternatives to these exotic or problem vines:
                        Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)
            As well as:
                        Porcelain vine (Ampelopis brevipedunculata)
                        Oriental bittersweet (Celatrus orbiculatus)

We recommend the following sites for control of Japanese honeysuckle:
            Missouri Vegetation Management Guides (Click on Japanese honeysuckle.)
            Illinois Weed Management Guides (Click on Japanese honeysuckle.)

Some recommended alternatives to Japanese Honeysuckle and Others:

	Aristolochia tomentosa Dutchman's pipe This rapidly growing deciduous woody vine can provide dense cover for sun porches, verandas, pillars, posts, trellises, arbors, fences or walls. It has been popularly used for many years to screen front porches and is an excellent selection for a butterfly garden. It features large, heart-shaped leaves and unusual, 2" long, curved flowers superficially resemble Dutch smoking pipes. Although the flowers make interesting conversation pieces, they are usually hidden by the dense foliage and are somewhat inconspicuous. This is a larval host plant for the beautiful pipe vine swallowtail butterfly.
	Berchemia scandens Supple-Jack This drought-tolerant woody vine is a good choice for woodland gardens, open woodland areas or native plant gardens. It features tough stems, greenish-white flowers in mid to late spring and blue fruits in autumn. The fruits are inedible (mildly toxic) for humans. Supple-jack is the name for a strong pliant walking stick made from a plant such as this vine. The stems can also be used to make wicker products, hence the additional common name of rattan vine.
	Bignonia capreolata Cross vine Used to cover fences, arbors, walls, pillars or large trellises, this vigorous, woody vine is grown primarily for its attractive flowers and its ability to rapidly cover structures with attractive foliage.  The foliage remains evergreen in the South, but in the colder winter areas of its range, it turns reddish-purple in fall with subsequent leaf drop. The fragrant, trumpet-shaped, orange-red flowers appear in spring and are attractive to hummingbirds. Bignonia capreolata 'Atrosanguinea' pictured.
	Celastrus scandens American bittersweet American bittersweet is a deciduous twining woody vine that is best known for its showy red berries that brighten up fall and winter landscapes. Berry-laden branches are prized for use as indoor decorations, but collection of the branches in the wild has significantly reduced the wild populations in some areas. Rapidly grows to 20’.  Fruits are poisonous if ingested by humans, but are considered to be quite tasty by many birds. Note, this is not the aggressive Oriental bittersweet, C. orbiculatus, which has escaped cultivation and is naturalizing in parts of eastern and central North America.
	Parthenocissus quinquefolia Virginia creeper This deciduous woody vine is a vigorous tendril-climber that needs no support and typically grows 30-50'. It can adhere to flat surfaces (e.g., brick, stone or wood walls) via adhesive disks at the tendril ends, and so is excellent for covering walls, trellises, arbors or fences. It may also be grown on the ground to cover old stumps, rock piles or other eyesores or for erosion control on slopes. The large compound-palmate leaves emerge purplish in spring, mature to dull green in summer and change to purple to crimson-red in autumn. Fall color can be quite attractive. The dark blue to black berries are attractive to birds. Tolerates full shade.
	Passiflora incarnata Wild passion flower The unique flower and edible fruit make this vine an extremely interesting plant for the garden. It is a rapid-growing, tendril-climbing vine that is woody in warm winter climates and herbaceous (dies to the ground) in cold winter climates. Flowers bloom in summer and are fragrant. The fleshy, egg-shaped, edible fruits, called maypops, appear in July and mature to a yellowish color in fall. Ripened maypops can be eaten fresh off the vine or made into jelly.
	Wisteria frutescens American wisteria American wisteria is a clockwise-twining deciduous woody vine that grows to 40’ or more. The drooping, fragrant, lilac-purple flowers bloom April-May after the leaves emerge but before they fully develop. Limited additional summer bloom may occur. Flowers give way to narrow, flattened, smooth seed pods in summer. Leaves are deep green. American wisteria is not as aggressive a spreader as Wisteria sinensis (Chinese wisteria).