Most obvious flowering shrub honeysuckles are considered invasive in large parts of this country. Rather than just cutting them back, you probably should have gone ahead with complete removal. However, if just cut back, even rather harshly, they should return next spring very well.

Invasive shrub honeysuckles.

Hi Gardengal - but do you think they will flower? I called the Botanic Garden info-line and they said it won't flower next year.

I understand that some native Rhododendrons are called Honeysuckle in some places. Is that what you had?

Can you look at some images of Loniceras and Rhododendrons and try to tell us what shrubs you have?

I can't really tell because I don't think I have any pictures of them in bloom. It was always bushy-like versus a tree or vine....and although it had pretty while flowers in the early spring, it was not covered in blooms either.

Janice, I meant for you to look at some pictures on the web and compare them with your recollection of your shrubs, not for you to find pictures of your own. Try googling Rhododenron canescens and see if it looks familiar.

The reason it is important to know which shrubs you have is the invasiveness issue which GG mentioned above.

Thanks, Floral. I didn't word my response accurately. I did Google per your suggestion but when I looked at the pictures online, I didn't really think the examples were true to what I remembered seeing in the Spring. My bushes did have hanging branches/vines - but they didn't invade the surrounding territory. They just became unsightly, and there was also a separate vine that crept up the bush over the summer and entangled itself within the bush.

Unless slow-growing like azaleas and needing a few years to start flowering again after being cut back much these should bloom again the next time it is their season after they have had a chance to make a flush of growth. If they are types that flower on the new growth they might start blooming again to some extent next year. If instead they are spring only bloomers they may need until 2018 to start doing much again.

And of course the sizes and shapes they had before being cut off is now gone, so that the same total effect at flowering time will not be reproduced until they have regained a semblance of their previous stature.

I am a bit confused. I have never seen honeysuckle shrubs.

See pix here of one in my woods that I asked for help in ID.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/4198235/what-is-this-please

There are several native species of azaleas, in some areas these are called honeysuckle. This is an example. My gut tells me that the op is talking about some Lonicera, easily distinguished by opposite leaves and colorful berries in the fall. If that's the case, its really not much of a loss, the size & shape of the Loniceras is usually monstrous, arching and tangled.

"I am a bit confused." Somehow that doesn't surprise me. "I have never seen honeysuckle shrubs."

There are a significant number of species of honeysuckle - Lonicera sp. - that grow as shrubs rather than vines. Several - L. tartarica, morrowii and maackii - are a serious invasive threat in many parts of the country. A couple of others - L. fragrantissima and standishii - have shown some invasive tendencies and could become problematic. Others like L. nitida and pileata are well-behaved evergreen ornamentals. There is even a very attractive and well-behaved, evergreen groundcover form, Lonicera crassifolia.

Huge mistake on the shrub! For some reason, my husband referred to all of the shrubs in question as Honeysuckle. Early this morning I realized only one was Honeysuckle - and the rest are Forsythia bushes. So sorry for the confusion. Now I wonder if they will come back and flower??

They will almost certainly come back but whether they flower or not depends on when they were cut back. If it was some time after last spring's flowers they are unlikely to flower next spring since they bloom on second year wood.

Cutting them back to 4 feet will make them a bit of a mess since they will throw out long growths from a twiggy 'table top' and they'll be as tall as ever pretty soon. It is better to cut a proportion of the stems right down to the base every few years. Or work more carefully over the whole plant and reduce stems back to a bud where you feel they need shortening or are getting old.

Thanks, Floral. First time we cut them way back....soooo strange, but hoping they will look pretty in their own way when Spring rolls around again.

Except for bloom from existing twigs left below the 4 ft. level you won't see any flowers next spring on the forsythias. As mentioned it would have been better if you cut them down lower if you were trying to force them to make new tops. Rather than have them sprout a bunch of new stems from the ends of 4-ft.-long existing canes. You could still do this, of course.

Embothrium - how low should be cut them?

Ground level. Mulching and fertilization may be needed to produce the best recovery.

Wow! thank you.

No fertilization will be needed unless there is a soil deficiency. I shear mine into formal shapes.

Logan is in a minority (probably of one) in considering sheared forsythia to be attractive. Other shrubs are more suited to shearing, but the forsythia do better with pruning as caning shrubs, that is cutting some or all of the branches to near ground level so they grow back up from the ground.

I never lose blooms on mine, because I shear properly. If you do it right, you only remove new growth.

==>>>https://caldwellhg.blogspot.com/2016/11/how-to-properly-shear-shrubs.html

Thanks everyone....I will truly miss their blooms in the Spring :-(.

An attractively pruned, natural habit Golden Bell is a Golden Belle. Whereas a tightly sheared one becomes a Golden Ball.

Other examples of golden balls are fat cells and butter balls.

Logan, here's a short Lonicera nitida hedge I have. There is a gold form that is preferred by some. Not much in the blossoming dept. Nothing special 'bout this one other than some sentimental value. I whack it down once in awhile so I can see the pond below it.

The translucent, violet colored berries can be a fascination when these appear. Not all plantings produce many of them. In fact one cultivar, known to be more likely to fruit than others is called 'Fertilis'. Others including 'Ernest Wilson', which is the common form in Britain, sold by nurseries there as the typical species. And may therefore be what you have also, as in addition to it being the "Lonicera nitida" of British commerce - and perhaps here also - it is spreading, arching or drooping and small-leaved.

I have the straight nitida and the berries are gorgeous...

The form of the lonicera nitida reminds me a lot of callicarpa japonica. I guess I just thought of this, because I am going to do a border planting with callicarpa japonica and pyracantha coccinea.

I remember trimming my Grandmother's Pyracantha every year. That's why I don't grow it now.

My Callicarpa is showing it's Fall colors this week. This area needs a little work.

callicarpa is still green here. I might plant a pyracantha out of the way just to see how it takes to formal shearing.

Fire-thorns have been used as sheared specimens for years.

There is some famous garden in England where I saw a topiary fence made out of Pyracantha - some orange berries, some yellow. I didn't want to have one, but it was pretty cool. Where I grew up in NJ just about everybody had espaliered Pyracantha on their chimneys. I was so surprised when I got to CA and found it growing in bush form.

I really like pyracantha, despite the thorns. I have about 20 roses (vines & shrubs, standards are too expensive) and they can get unruly without pruning (I have gloves).

Getting off the point somewhat but I spotted this gnarly, characterful, old tree-form Pyracantha last February. Still loaded with berries. The birds seem less attracted to the yellow forms.

That would be a fun one to prune a bit!

Thanks, floral

Looks like a barberry in bloom to me. Complete with spent petals on the ground beneath.

Fire-thorns do not branch in that manner, nor do the fruits tend to be borne in a down-facing orientation or out to the very tips of the shoots.