Growing to 7 m (23 ft) or more in height, it is a vigorous deciduous twining climber, occasionally keeping its old leaves over winter.

The tubular, two-lipped flowers,[4] creamy white or yellowish in colour, may be flushed with pink or red on the outside and in bud, and are carried in showy clusters at the ends of the shoots.

Dormice make summer nests for their young from honeysuckle bark; they also eat the flowers, which are a good source of energy-rich nectar.

Night-flying moths such as the hummingbird hawk-moth can detect the scent of honeysuckle flowers up to a quarter of a mile away.

[5] Lonicera periclymenum is one of several honeysuckle species valued in the garden, for its ability to twine around other plants, or to cover unsightly walls or outbuildings; and for the intense fragrance of its profuse flowers in summer.