Any thoughts on why my trumpet vine never flowers? It's going into it's third year. Planted in full sun. I cut it back in the spring and lots of lush foliage comes forth but never a bloom. It is not on a trellis yet, just sprawls on the ground. I am considering moving it to grow up the pergola which has a southern exposure.
Appreciate any thoughts.
I don't use commercial fertilizers at all, just add compost every spring.
trumpet vine that grows and grows but never flowers
Hypatia,
Maybe try not adding compost at all this year.
If it blooms on old wood, then the cutting back in the spring may be robbing you of flowers? Did you plant it from seed? If so, it might just require a little maturity to bloom. Is this the trumpet vine Campsis radicans? If so, lots of people have expressed problems with it sending out underground runners and popping up everywhere in their gardens. Here is a link which has some prior Campsis radicans links which you might find helpful: http://davesgarden.com/forums/search.php?forum=&search_text=campsis&limit=climbers&limit_poster=&Search=Search
I just dug out my plant tags and it was a mature plant when I purchased it. It's Campsis x tagliabuana - Indian Summer. I've read that some trumpet vines are invasive. This one seems to behave itself, sending up new growth only from the plant base. Any books i've looked it up in suggest trimming back in spring so I was fairly certain it grows blooms on new growth. Some of this past summers new growth, grew to be 10 ft long.
Ah, that hybrid is supposed to be better mannered than its relative Campsis radicans. "Madam Galen" is a popular cultivar of this hybrid. See this link: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/57002/ It sounds like it has everything it needs to flower. This link indicates that it does flower on new growth but that the new growth has to be sufficiently ripe (whatever that means) and it should be pruned in late winter: http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/143.shtml Monrovia always has good growing information: http://www.monrovia.com/PlantInf.nsf/0/a2a2afb857c3f0c68825684d0070ce31?OpenDocument Maybe it needs to reach its full potential of 15 to 30 feet long in order to bloom well.
Hopefully, someone who actually grows this vine will come along to help since I'm just guessing here.
This message was edited Jan 27, 2005 5:10 PM
How about Roses (to state the obvious). Many now are rebloomers and can spend most of the summer in bloom. Then there are the Honeysuckles - there are a lot of colors and types. If you have a small space Halliana can be invasive but it smells the best. The new colors of dark pink and brighter yellows are great - and not invasive.
But please be very careful about a Campsis Radicans. They reproduce by underground runners - and are a problem once established. There are some better behaved cultivars though like "M. Galen" .
Your plant might be getting too much nitrogen, which makes things green and healthy - at the expense of blooms. Try using Bone Meal or other natural fertilizer that is about 6-10-10. (like Blooming Bulb)
The first number is nitrogen. The second number is phospherous and promotes bloom. The third number is Pottasium and helps the other two to work.
I actually dont't know the situation with manure. Maybe somebody else does?
Anyway, you've described perfectly a plant that is getting too much nitrogen.
Doss, Hypatia said that the vine is Campsis x tagliabuana, not Campsis radicans. That could very well be the case that the vine is getting too much nitrogen from the manure and is putting on growth at the expense of flowers. There is still time though, Hypatia. You may yet get flowers this year.
You are right of course about the Campsis, sorry for the misunderstanding. There is another beautiful new cultivar called Campsis Grandiflora "Morning Calm". I searched for it last year without success. I've seen a picture and it's really fabulous. I'm still on the hunt for this one. I'll probably have to mail order it.
Doss, you are right about Campsis radicans. I'm not growing it here for that reason. I did instead opt for Bignonia capreolata, Crossvine. There is a cultivar of B. capreolata called Tangerine Beauty, and it is gorgeous.
Your picture of Campsis grandiflora "Morning Calm" is gorgeous also. I did an Internet search for you and found it here: http://www.sunlightgardens.com/blist.html?find=hummingbird and here: http://nativeplants.net/catalog/vines.html if you need to order it online. I've noticed that the local nurseries I've visited don't seem to carry Campsis vines -- perhaps because of its invasiveness. I have found other ones here though like the lavender trumpet vine, Clytostoma callistegioides, and Blood Red Trumpet Vine, Distictis buccinatoria. Those two can be found at Home Depot.
This is my B. capreolata from last year, which is just starting to bloom now again.
Edited to fix accidental repeated phrase!
This message was edited Jan 28, 2005 1:20 PM
Your Bignonia is fabulous. I put in a Distictis Buccinatoria at the end last summer. I totally revamped my landscaping fall 2003 and I'm still filling in holes here and there. I'm looking forward to seeing it flower. I just need to be sure that the lawn fertilizer doesn't get on it. Speaking of Nitrogen. And thanks for the link. I appreciate it. I am growing a red passion vine and I wish my zone were just a little warmer (like yours) - but it's in a protected place - so far so good.
I will check out the link as well. But I suspect too much nitrogen as well. "morning calm" and Bignonia are fabulous. I can see I need to start checking out other nurseries on line. To date have been only purchasing what is more or less handy to me. I'm always disappointed that I don't see the things in local greenhouses that i see in mags.
Thanks all. It's -44 here this morning with the windchill. I'm going to check out the greenhouse forum sooner than later.
Cheers, H
Doss and Hypatia, Here are some wonderful online nurseries with great vines! Logee's in particular has a nice Passiflora selection:
Logee's: http://www.logees.com/store/
Almost Eden: http://almostedenplants.com/home.htm
Kartuz: http://www.kartuz.com/catalog.html
Grassy Knolls Exotics has a good selection of Passifloras, but I can't recommend them based on their customer service and the problems I had with my order last year: http://www.gkexoticplants.com/Passiflora.htm
Doss, how wonderful to revamp your landscaping! I've been doing that rather slowly over the past year or so, and it is a lot of work! Passifloras are one of my favorite so I wish you luck with yours. If you don't have, P. alata "Ruby Glow," it is a must for gorgeous flowers and a wonderful fragrance. I found mine at Home Depot, but Logee's carries it as well.
Hypatia, oh, my, gosh! Stay warm!
Thanks for the links. My passion flower is very simple - no purple center. Yours is amazing.
We had to redo our 30 year old swimming pool and all the surround, replace the retaining walls, put in a new irrigation system and put in new drainage - we are at the bottom of a hill. Our fence was also 50 years old and had to be replaced - so we did the whole think at the same time. Luckily, I have a lot of large trees and shrubs that could stay. But this picture was taken in July - about 9 months after the garden was put in. The pool was also there but the stone work is new. There is a Japanese Wisteria on the fence to the left of the picture - It's white, and a pink one on this side of the orange tree (you can't see it). I have a clematis Armandii (sp?) across the beam of the porch where this picture was taken. It should bloom some this year but has not made it all the way across the porch. There is a clematis on the structure up on the high part of the garden. I've planted several more clematis - but they have been struggling. I bought them too little from the wrong vendor. The last four were from Chalk Hill Clematis and are really lovely - they went in this fall and roses have been planted with them this spring. I have fallen in love with Clematis.
Wow, Doss, that is a truly beautiful and serene garden around the pool. Thanks for sharing that. I love Japanese wisteria and have a few different varieties myself, including a white one and a pink one. I am hoping for flowers any time now, but I only see some buds forming on my white one. I will definitely post pictures when and if they bloom. I used to have a few Clematis vines, but I took them out because they looked terrible half of the year and had no fragrance, and I'm a huge fragrance person. Your Clematis Armandii is the one which is supposed to have a lovely fragrance and is one that I wouldn't mind having if I had the room.
I get most of my fragrance from my honeysuckle vines. I also love fragrant Bearded Iris - thank goodness they've made some of them bloom a lot of the year. I have one with a fabulous fragrance blooming now named"Harvest of Memories". It's been blooming since the end of September. "Sugar Blues" is another one that reblooms and is heaven. And I have a shrub that smells heavenly in the spring when it blooms. One of my projects for the spring is to identify it. Oh, and lavender and a few roses of course. Roses are hard here - they tend to mildew because of our cool nights and hot days. Clematis do look horrible part of the year. The Armandii doesn't go dormant here in the winter which is good since it is growing on the beam holding up the patio - and it's right out the kitchen window.
If you hate the way clematis look, you can grow them up a shrub or up a tree. I have a Jackmanii that is virtually invisible all winter in it's shrub - then it blooms all summer. But you're right, no fragrance. It grows in the shrub against the fence at the right of the picture - right behind the heron. It's early November - and magic, no clematis!
I had the Jackmanii Clematis. That is a good idea about letting it intermix with a tree or shrub. I should have let it mix with one of my Passifloras.
Roses get the powdery mildew here too, but I just love them. I have two planted in the front -- Oklahoma and Mister Lincoln -- and they do okay because of the improved air circulation, but the ones in back against the house get the powdery mildew. I try to remember to spray with a fungicide and an oil-based Horticultural Oil pesticide/miticide. I love lavender and have lots of it too. My irises aren't fragrant! But I planted them anyway near the Cala Lilies. I love that red feather pampas grass; I have it also.
If you want to post a picture here of your unidentified shrub, maybe I can help you to identify it.
Thanks for the offer, I'll try that. If we can't figure it out, I can always put it on the plantfinder. The flowers are similar to horsechestnut flowers except a lot smaller, then it gets tiny black berries that the birds love. It's about 10' tall. Walking by it on a spring evening is heaven.
Speaking of fragrant, do you grow Brugmansias? I only grow a couple in the front of my house because I have little dogs. I'd love to do more.
Doss, yes, lots of Brugmansias. I've had two dogs for the last nine years, but my Great Dane just died a few weeks ago. My Great Dane liked to nibble on plants, but both dogs left the brugs alone for the most part. I think I caught Dutchess once nibbling a leaf, but she spit it out. The leaves taste really bad, and they would have to eat an awful lot of them to make them sick. I grow Daturas too, and the animals (including the cat) don't bother with them. They are as poisonous as tomato and potato leaves and are in fact in the same family.
I can't think what your 10' tall shrub might be, but I might be able to identify it from a picture. Those people over at the Identification Forum are pretty good and can probably tell you what it is if I can't identify it.
Doss, I was thinking of your description and what gets that tall. Could it be Wax Leaf Privet, Ligustrum japonicum? That has wonderful honey-smelling flowers and blue/black berries. Here's a link: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/51523/index.html
Wow! You are fabulous. The berries on mine are about a fourth of that size, the bush isn't so wide, and the flowers hang down. I can see that I didn't give you enough information.
LOL! Thanks for the compliment:-) Hmmm, maybe Murraya paniculata? Here's a link: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/55288/index.html But the flowers don't really hang down on that one. Right now, I have Buddleia asiatica blooming, which is a winter blooming Butterfly Bush.
The whole bush has a weeping appearance, and the flowers are intoxicating, but no berries afterward so it can't be that. See the picture below. We'll figure it out!
That Buddleia looks as if it's on steroids! This is an upright bush - I'll try to post pictures tomorrow. I had no idea that there was a buddleia that bloomed in the winter, or that there was one that is so vigorous. Learn something every minute here. Thanks for posting the picture.
Sure, Doss. Your bush might be a Pieris. I think Pieris japonica has berries following flowers, but only certain types are fragrant. I'll wait to have a look at your picture.
Thanks again Clare. Wish it was a Pieris. They are stunning. It's nothing half as lovely as that. Do Pieris get 8 feet tall? I'll have to go looking for the cultivar. I got out today looking for glasses and couldn't find any and got exhausted - so tomorrow with the camera.
Clare, you were right on the first time. Here is a photo of what I've got, and the first flowers are setting right now. Actually, these are on the neighbors side of the fence - but I get the pleasure all the same. I think that the berries looked different because of the telephoto. Now mine look big too :-). I was wrong about the size. These are well over 10 feet tall but they've never been trimmed on top. I'm so glad that the neighbors don't give them flattops. They wouldn't anyway - They are what separates our houses and the neighbors don't have drapes the whole length of their hall in their bedroom wing. (having No drapes is not unusual here) How many negatives is that? We are not surprised here when windows have no drapes.(not sure that the second attempt is better. )
So we grow bushes instead. :-> They smell better than drapes.
Doss, my guess would be Sarcococca orientalis.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/87775/index.html
I have one in a pot outside my kitchen door, the scent is truly amazing. Mine is just startign to bloom and should continue for several weeks now.
Marc
Thanks for the clue. I have a lot of shade and should put one in. It says that Sarcococcas are only 3 feet tall. Mine's way out of hand if that's what it is (10 feet). The Sarcococcoa (too many o's and c's) shrubs are a much more managable size. And I love things that are fragrant so I've got it on my list for the spring.
Wow it does say 3 ft doesn't it....that is WRONG. Mine is easily 5+ ft and would be larger still if I didn;t prune it frequantly.
You're in Seattle Washington where everything blooms big time. If the size is wrong, then they may very well be Sarcococcoa. Googled it - got wayside gardens. They agreed 3 and a half to four feet. It's not Sarcococca because of the way the blooms open down the stem. This plant flowers like a horse chestnut with stems of flowers hanging down. I think that the original diagnosis of Wax Leaf Privet is right on. But thanks for the new plant.
I forgot to mention - If you've got Mr. Lincoln, you have lovely fragrant roses - and so dark red. Great choice.
This message was edited Jan 31, 2005 6:20 PM
Hmmm.....maybe mine is a Privit too, as you say the bloom is not quit right. I'll have to research that a bit more myself.
No, the Sarcococca leaves do not have serrated edges like yours does, Doss. I would guess Osmanthus fragrans or perhaps another Sweet Olive. Only the very mature ones bear fruit. I'll have to compare your leaves to my Osmanthus, and I'll get back to you.
By the way, that link was to my plant, Sarcococca orientalis, which I ordered specially. Most people have Sarcococca ruscifolia or Sarcococca hookeriana, which are all bigger shrubs.
I thought that it was your plant photo. You are a fine shrub person. And I really appreciate all of your help. It's good to know that the smaller cultivar is available- and I won't make the mistake of buying a huge plant for a small space.
This is my Osmanthus fragrans "Fudingzhu," which is a more prolific bloomer than most Osmanthus fragrans. I'm not sure that the leaves are the same, but they do look slightly serrated. I'll do some more research. Does the fragrance have an apricot smell?
Doss, I posted that last post at the same time as you. I got my Sarcococca orientalis from Caroliniana Nursery at this link: http://www.nurcar.com/ I highly recommend them as their plants are large and very healthy-looking. Thanks for the compliment. If we can't figure it out for you, I'm sure the people over at the Identification Forum will get it in a minute!
I don't think it is an Osmanthus or a Wax Leaf Privet because the leaves of those shrubs are not serrated like yours. I don't know what it could be. Maybe the folks over at the Identification Forum will help us to figure it out.
It's on the ID forum now. Hopefully someone will recognize it. Thank you all for your help.
Doss, I couldn't find your post today over at the ID forum. I'm curious to see what the experts will say.
Thanks for letting me know. It's weird, I posted one picture, then went back and posted another. But there are NO new threads in my info. I'll hope it works this time.
Doss, they changed servers here at Dave's, and if you posted last night or early this morning, they were not saved. That's probably what happened.