Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Chinese Honeysuckle (Combretum indicum)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called Chinese Honeysuckle, Rangoon Creeper, Burma Creeper, Drunken Sailor.

More about chinese honeysuckle

About Chinese Honeysuckle

Combretum indicum · also called Chinese Honeysuckle, Rangoon Creeper · tropical

Chinese Honeysuckle (Combretum indicum, syn. Quisqualis indica) is a fast-growing tropical vine celebrated for fragrant flower spikes that open white, turn pink, then deepen to red — all colours visible simultaneously. It reaches 8–20 m on trellises or pergolas in USDA zones 9b–11 and flowers over a long season. Seeds contain quisqualic acid and should be kept away from pets and children.

Cold limit: USDA 9b-11 · RHS H1b (18–35°C)

What chinese honeysuckle's hardiness rating actually means

Chinese Honeysuckle is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Its RHS rating of H1b means: Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season. On the US scale that maps to USDA 9b-11 — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 10 °C (sustained cold below this is damaging). Chinese Honeysuckle has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

Concretely, for chinese honeysuckle as it gets too cold:

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches.
A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover.
Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.

Can chinese honeysuckle go outside or overwinter — and where?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually.
Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C.
It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when chinese honeysuckle can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H1b figure above.

Chinese Honeysuckle hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is chinese honeysuckle cold hardy?

Chinese Honeysuckle is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Indoor-only in almost every home. Chinese Honeysuckle can only live outside year-round in genuinely frost-free climates (roughly USDA 9b-11); everywhere else it is a houseplant that summers out at most.

What is the minimum temperature chinese honeysuckle can survive?

What hardiness zone is chinese honeysuckle?

Chinese Honeysuckle is rated USDA 9b-11 and RHS H1b — Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season.

Can chinese honeysuckle survive winter outside?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually. Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C. It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

What happens to chinese honeysuckle below its minimum temperature?

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches. A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover. Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.