I planted this vine three years ago, and it has been a NIGHTMARE ever since, I never have had flowers but the sucker vines have spread everywhere and I can't get rid of them, my advice is stay clear of these unless you just want climers all over the place
Trumpet Vine: Invasive or Wonderful
I planted trumpet vines in Ga. They never bloomed and became very invasive. For three years I have been trying to get rid of them. Don't know if I will succeed. I have seen blooming vines and they were pretty, but even if mine bloomed, I think that I would still try to get rid of it because of the invasiveness.
Those monsters are coming up all over our 70 acres of pastures and pulpwood pine trees. If there is a way to kill it, we have been unable to find it.
We are in zone 8 in Mississippi.....hot and either very wet or very dry, depending on what year we are in.
Hey Nowheat! I actually grew up in Midland (well, from 8th grade on). We had it growing up the lattice wall of our deck and over the top. It was gorgeous and we didn't have "suckers" come up anywhere. In fact, I have lots of seeds I just got from my best friend, who still lives in Midland, and she absolutley loves hers! I have honeysuckle trumpet vine growing up a lattice wall right now and want to mix in some of the regular trumpet vine. My friend doesn't even cut hers back each year. She just prunes it throughout the growing season and it's fine. She said the only place it even reseeded was where SHE took seeds from one vine and scattered them somewhere else. I don't know why it seems to be an invasive weed for some and not others. I wonder if the dryness of West Texas keeps it in check? Come to think of it, I am in a more humid climate than y'all so maybe it will be an issue for me.... sure hope not!
Jamie
Sorry, one more thing. I have found that most people who can't get them to bloom are just fussing with it too much. Trumpet vine does NOT need to be cut back to the ground each winter, and most people do that. It does lose all it's leaves, but they (and the flowers) will grow back on the old wood the following spring if you just leave it alone. We had one plant cover a very large deck wall and "roof" in about 2 seasons and that bad boy was loaded with huge red blooms from late spring until frost. We never fertilized it either, which is another place people make a mistake... don't feed them! Actually, the only water it got was when it rained. I would say plant it and forget about it... well, except for checking for unwanted suckers and cutting growth back from areas you don't want the fine running on. We did the later, but never had "suckers." This is just based on living in a house for many years that had this vine- had it there 13 years with no problems. Now the canas are another story! We couldn't kill those things even with Round Up! :) Jamie
You might try planting a multiflora rose. They get HUGE and there's no toxicidity issues. We have bunchs of them in my yard and they really fill out nicely and need no care at all even when the ground gets dusty and dry and it's about 100 degrees outside. Planting a tenacious japanese honeysuckle along with it makes for a very pretty setting. Between the two, you'll have that fence covered with lush green and fragrant flowers that put out blooms whenever you have a slight drop in temperatures. Besides, fragrance and beauty, you'll attract birds b/c they love the berries.
I forgot to say that the multiflora rose will climb. Just make sure to keep both off the tree. Both of these plants will form dense woody growth (the rose in particular with the honeysuckle twining around it) but it's very easy to control if you get a few seedlings b/c of the birds.
If you'd like, I have bunches of cuttings of both that I could send. But none are rooted.
I'd like to suggest a different trumpet vine that grows very fast so long as it has something for the tendrils to grab onto. It's Pyrostegia venusta. We have it all along our front fence and it has grown phenominally since we put it in (July 2003...just 15 months ago). When it was just next to the metal fence (large smooth posts) it didn't grow fast at all. We had put up thin bamboo privacy matting along only part of the fence and the trumpet vines just SHOT up since the aerial roots had something with a rough surface to cling onto, but the part that only had the metal fence to grow next to didn't grow fast at all. Once we added the bamboo matting to that area as well, those vines also started growign very fast.
It's not invasive at all as far as sending out runners across the garden...as far as we can tell and as far as the garden center and my plant encyclopedia claim at least LOL. And it's very manageable even around trees. It does try to climb into the trees nearby, but not quickly ...so it's very easy to pull the odd vine out of a tree. About once a month I go around the perimeter of the garden in search of vines in the trees. It usually takes me about 5 minutes to completely rid any trees of vines...so obviously NOT a problem. This is a winter flowering vine too, so it gives great color in a dreary season.
Here's a pic of it when we first planted them (alternating every other vine with arabic jasmine) the vine in the pot to the left of the tree is the one I'm talking about.
-Julie
Here's a pic of it today (15 months later). This fence is 2 1/2 meters tall. The vine has actually grown to 5 meters because it grew to the top of the fence and then over to the other side and is now down to ground level on the other side. This all in one year.
Julie-
Cute little girl!
Looks like you are training her up to like pots and dirt, already! lol...
-seedpicker_TX
Hi Seedpicker, thanks for the compliment for my little Maggie May. Yep she's a dirt lover. Didn't need any training though...she LOVES to play in dirt....her favorite pass-time.
Taylor is absolutely right about Campsus radicans. It is a terrible invasive vine which can devastate a garden in no time. I have read many sad stories over at Garden Web about people who planted it and have never been able to get rid of it.
When I was new to gardening and didn't know much, I wanted it for the hummingbirds. I sowed the seeds in a five-gallon container. A year later, the roots were growing out of the container's drainage holes and into the ground, and new shoots were already popping up nearby. After reading so many horror stories, I got rid of it -- at least I hope it's all gone. Taylor is right that any tiny piece of root will sprout a new shoot. If you plant this vine, I'm sure that you will end up regretting it in no time. Even in a large pot, the large roots will find a way out. A cement planter with no drainage holes might be the only acceptable alternative.
Here, Ipomoea indica, the perenniel Morning Glory vine is very aggressive and invasive as well, and Lonicera japonica, Honeysuckle, will also spread like mad. Please do yourself, your neighbors, and your state a favor and don't plant it. Taylor is right that there are many other wonderful choices which will be better for you and the area.
Bignonia capreolata, crossvine, is a gorgeous vine which looks similar to the trumpet vine. Many passifloras are wonderful too, but avoid the invasive ones like Passiflora Incarnata and Passiflora Caerulea. Logee's has a nice selections of vines if you are interested: http://www.logees.com/store/ Good luck!
This message was edited Oct 23, 2004 10:44 PM
It's hard to tell with some species whether they'll be invasive or not. Planting for an area that is so dry and is prone to very cold temps during the winter seems very difficult.
I use the water crystals in my larger planters so that don't have to be watered as frequently. Also, I plants my vines like snail vine and passifloras in the large rubbermaid storage totes. I cut a drainage hole in the bottom and put in a trellis. Works well for me.
Jan.
Clare_CA-Thanks for the support! I feel like I am now on a mission to save people from the nightmare I created for myself years ago, (when I planted a dozen of them)...it was/is the bane of my gardening career! lol...
-T
Taylor, you are quite welcome. You are doing a great service letting people know about this terrible weed. Fortunately, it is not sold here, and better alternatives are like Distictis buccinatoria, Blood-red Trumpet Vine, are sold here instead. I sure hope people will learn from other's experiences in this case.
Also -- something for home owners to think about if and when they decide to sell -- if I were looking to purchase a house, I would never buy one which had invasive vines or ivy in the garden.