Although often cultivated, this largely southeastern vine does not generally seem to escape in Ky. Yet it is regarded as partly adventive in most states across its northern margins, from Mo. to New England (Y, D, K). Plants are often evergreen further south, but the species has been considered largely deciduous in Ky. until recent warmer winters. In central Ky. wild plants flower mostly during mid-May to June, but occasionally as late as Aug to early Nov. (Some cultivars flower earlier.) It is known mostly from regions of the state with medium-acid to somewhat base-rich soils, and with an ancient history of woodland disturbance that produces the thickets where it thrives. However, sempervirens often suffers from diverse consumers, from mammals to aphids; the species appears to have low levels of defensive chemicals, especially on more fertile soils (Lieurance et al. 2015). When cultivated in FAYE, plants are sometimes overwhelmed by aphids.Unfortunately, most colls. at KY were mislaid in the 1990s. As in some other members of subgenus Caprifolium (Periclymenum), tetraploids are known (2n = 36) as well as diploids, but no association of ploidy with morphology has been established. Typical plants in Ky. have largely scarlet flowers, or somewhat yellowish on inner surface of lobes, and deep reddish to blackish stamens.