Not sure about Texas but I have one here in Delaware and it in morning shade and afternoon sun and it does great. Never watered it other than first summer and the hummingbirds live it.

The species - Lonicera sempervirens - has a native range that extends at least into eastern TX, so no reason to believe it would not thrive in your area.

this link says its deciduous: http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=d990

so im not sure his goal of evergreen fits ...

heat alone is usually not an issue .. short of the surface of the sun ... usually a little supplemental watering can do wonders ...

but then i wonder about whether there would be a requisite dormancy period in too warn a winter area .. i have no clue if that would be an issue with this plant ... just throwing it out there ....

ken

It is fully evergreen in warmer climates. And since it IS native, any dormancy requirements will be fully met.

Comments made by those who have no personal experience growing the vine seem to be a tad egregious and rather unnecessary and unhelpful in this instance...........

Talk about your "egregious and rather unnecessary and unhelpful" comments. Feeling ornery are you gardengal?

Here in a NC zone 6a the Lonicera sempervirens cultivars can be semi to fully deciduous winter depending. They are also prone to very disfiguring powdery mildew and aphids. Gardy don't spray for that kind of crap when he can rip it out and plant something else. Just not the big flowered clematis cause we got the wilt here bad.

What you want of course is a central Texas opinion. Call a good local nursey and ask. It certainly seems worth a try if you are in the zone 4 to 8 range it is listed for.

Can’t we all just get along??

Thanks all for the responses. I think I’ll just take the simple path and go with the hyacinth bean vine again. Hummingbirds loved it and it was covered in flowers all summer long. Just gonna look kinda bare in winter.

Slightly off topic but I got excited by the name Bob Strauss from Texas...but then confirmed that he in fact died a few years ago. Any relation??

I have no idea what zone central Texas is, but two evergreen vines for warmer and hot are Cross Vine, Bignonia capreolata and Star jasmine, Trachelospermum jasminoides. Those may be worth having a look at as possibilities.

"Here in a NC zone 6a the Lonicera sempervirens cultivars can be semi to fully deciduous winter depending. They are also prone to very disfiguring powdery mildew and aphids."

Have you seen mildew on 'Major Wheeler' specifically? One of that cultivar's main selling points is its resistance to PM.

I'm farther west than NC, but I've never seen PM on lonicera sempervirens (any cv), and if there were, this year would certainly have it (droughty). I love Major Wheeler, because in my climate it will tend to have at least one cluster of flowers open every month of the year and is semi-evergreen.
I also have Blanche Sandman, but much prefer the Major to any other CV I've seen.

Interesting to hear people's experiences with this vine! I saw several for sale about a year ago but didn't jump on them, and haven't seen them since.

FWIW I have a ton of the Star Jasmine vines (probably ~ 20) and several Evergreen Wisterias (millettia reticulata). I love crossvine but the foliage/texture doesn't really fit in with my space.

Have you seen mildew on 'Major Wheeler' specifically? One of that cultivar's main selling points is its resistance to PM.

I'd have to pay more attention to say it was 'Major Wheeler'. I also live in the wet wet mountains. The last two years have been even more wet. Dry is much better for less powdery mildew. The conditions and location in the particular garden they are in may not help either.

Actually in my climate, drought stresses are usually what bring on PM for lots of things here. If I keep evenly moist they resist the PM.

If you are interested in a seedling that is 4 ft tall I have one that has come up where it shouldn't be but didn't have the heart to pull it up. I would cut it back but it should have great roots.

No advice for TX, but just wanted to say mim88, yours is so pretty! Like yours, mine gets afternoon sun, but it's nowhere near that size. I can see why your hummers love it!