Bignonia Species, Cross Vine, Crossvine, Trumpet Flower

I planted one at the base of a 6ft tall, 16 ft long trellis covered support about 20 years ago in my 7b garden where it receives full sun...Read More. The vines have completely blanketed the support underneath.
It has thrived and is not invasive (though after about 15 years, the vines started climbing into nearby trees so I have to cut them back).

I have a row of 20 ft tall thinnjng Leyland cypress along a driveway that used to beautifully screen the view of neighbors. I am wondering about planting seeds from my Bignonia between the Leylands this fall in hopes that the vines will screen in the lower bare branches of the Leylands. Has anyone tried this?

Beautiful flowers, highly variable. Can be scarlet, orange, or maroon on the outside. Blooms for a couple of weeks in June, and some clon...Read Morees rebloom in late summer.

Climbs by tendrils which end in adhesive disks like those on Boston ivy or Virginia creeper. This can damage the finish on painted wooden surfaces.

Very slow to establish here in Z6a. I plant in spring and give winter protection for the first several winters. Tends to die back to the ground till well established.

Can be semievergreen here in mild winters. When evergreen, the leaves turn deep purple in winter. Even when the leaves die, they do not abscise and have a nice tan winter presence.

The native range extends from southern MD and the north shore of the Ohio River south to eastern TX and the gulf coast.

I first bought this vine four years ago to cover my first 2500 gallon rain harvesting tank. According to the nursery tag it was the Tang...Read Moreerine Beauty varietal. I wanted the tank to be covered in leaves figuring it would help the tank last longer if it had the added protection from the sun.

I wrapped some black plastic deer fence I had left over around the tank and also over the top leaving a hole for the manhole cover at the top of the tank. I planted four of these around this tank in soil that was not very rich in nutrients. I did water it well the first summer but since then I have not watered it much - a couple times a week in the early spring (if it is a dry spring) to help encourage the spring bloom period then after the spring bloom ends I water it once or twice a month - once a week in August if the Death Star is in full force in the sky giving us back to back 100 degree days.

So the instruction on this web page that you should always keep the soil moist is not what I have seen in my experience. Yes it will put on more growth after a period of heavy or continuous rain but it definitely seems to be drought tolerant at my house. The main thing I like is it is evergreen at least here in the 8B growing zone. It dropped a few leaves in the harsh 2014 winter were it dropped to the 15 degree range several times but still kept plenty of leaves so it was not even noticable unless you looked at the leaves on the ground.

My first rainwater tank is completly covered and it is quite a show during the spring flowering period but I wish the flowers would last a bit longer. It blooms again in the fall but not near the quantity of blooms as you see in Spring. Just bought three more to cover a couple of new tanks I purchased. I have not noticed it being invasive at all. Even though it had thousands of flowers in the spring I only find a few seed pods and I have never tried to collect and plant the seeds. Probably the fastest way to get a new start would be to lay a vine across some soil in a pot and after you see it root from that spot cut it from the mother plant.

Bignonia species can become very invasive after a few years. Underground runners or suckers can come up 30+ feet or more from the origina...Read Morel root ball. Once this happens, there will be cross vine suckers coming up all over the place. At that stage, it is very difficult to completely eradicate. The short bloom period did not prove to be very good at attracting hummingbirds.
I have found that the variety 'Tangerine Beauty' is comparatively tame and non-invasive. I hope it stays that way. Even the hummingbirds seem to prefer this variety over the species.

I live in Central Ohio and have a weekend getaway in SE Ohio. I noticed this orange trumpet flower in the spring. It was growing wild u...Read Morep two of my fence posts. Back in Yellow Springs, OH I've noticed the same plant growing up trees and covering the base of the tree. Birds must be spreading the seeds. I love Hummingbirds so now that I know the Cross vine attracts them, I'll grow them closer to the house. I was wondering how to grow them so now I look for the seed pods. Thanks to the info on this website.

I live in east central Florida and I planted my cross vine about 2 years ago. Both years we had a few 32 degree nights; it seemed to bar...Read Moreely notice and is blooming like mad this year...it's early March and it is lovely! I haven't given it much food or water and it's in on a south wall;lots of sun. To disguise the leggy lower portion, I planted passiflora at the base, fully prepared to prune!

Had a Crossvine on a heavily sunlit 6-foot trellis for 8 years--finally gave up on it this spring--it was definitely not evergreen, thoug...Read Moreh gorgeous when in full leaf and flower. It just started looking ratty and stringy from about November to May, with dead (or no) leaves and grey tendrils and a few spent blossoms still hanging on. After two years of that, we decided the bare arbor looked better! Anybody else have that problem--or have a replacement suggestion that won't eat the house?

Rock Hill, SC

This is by far the nicest vine in my yard and I have many, many vines. In my OKC, zone 7 garden, Tangerine Crossvine is evergreen, altho...Read Moreugh the blooms are so numerous off and on throughout the summer and into fall that the foliage seems to disappear! My three-year-old crossvine has nearly covered a metal shed, something no other vine I've tried has been able to do, probably because of the intense heat. It seems to like half day, afternoon sun, deep watering in especially hot weather, compost mulch, and both Miracid and Holly Tone organic fertilizer. Hummingbirds love it. Oddly enough, it also attracted a rare (for this area) painted bunting that stripped off all the petals and ate the sweet centers of the flowers during one spring flush of bloom this year! It is a nice, tidy vine that can easily be shaped to fit its location. I work at a nursery and highly recommend this plant to customers who want a vine that looks good in the landscape all year round.

Wow! My husband planted this in FULL shade on the northside of our house, it is in full bloom and it is the fastest growing vine I have ever seen.

I found this plant growing in the woods along a dirt road in Lumberton, Mississippi -- that is southern Mississippi. It is extremely be...Read Moreautiful and was growing wild on stumps and in trees and bushes. It receives no care and lives in hot wet weather. I hope to get some seeds next time I go by. Lumberton is in zip code 39455.

I, too, worried about the effects of the freeze on the Crossvine. There is a huge stand of it growing along a roadside near me, and in p...Read Moreassing, it looks okay. I haven't had a chance to stop and inspect it closely but plan to do so soon.

This is newly planted in my garden, a large two gallon plant and is thriving, already showing blooms until a very late frost last night. ...Read MoreDoes anyone know if this late frost will damage the plant and what might I expect in length of time for it to recover.

Crossvine, Cross-Vine, Trumpet Flower Bignonia capreolata is Native to Texas and other States.

while this plant might LIKE moist soil it grows in my garden that i named THE GARDEN THAT TEXAS CAN'T KILL. no water, no fertilizer, al...Read Morel day complete west side texas sun and has been there for over 5 years. 'nuff said. i like this plant.

growing this year, will see how it takes the winters here in my 5b gardens with some protection.

We planted the coral crossvine on our 6 ft. wooden fence 5 years ago. It is leafy and dark green year round and slopes over the fence ma...Read Moreking it nice to look at during our "winter" in Austin, TX. When blooming, it is very thickly covered in orangey/pinkish colored blooms. My husband once accidentally cut it to the ground with the weed wacker, and it came back. We have never had a problem with it being invasive. It does spread but doesn't pop up everywhere. Also, we have never watered it, and it still thrives. It was planted on the shady side of the fence and slopes over the sunny side.

I started 2 plants from seed this year so this is my first year with this plant. It did take a while for the seeds to germinate but the ...Read Moreplants have continued to grow and thrive all summer long. I will be anxious to see how they fair over the winter and how much growth they put on next year here in western NY.

It is now 2012, My crossvine from seed bloomed for the first time this year. The flowers were yellow on the inside with a deep red or burgundy throat abd burgundy or dusty brownish red on the outside. The blooms didn't last long which was the first disappointment and I noticed that the more moature vine in front is beginning to send up shoots 3 or 4 ft from the main trunk. I believe it was Jim in Ga. who said that the species can be invasive so as much as I wanted a crossvine, these two will be dug out in the fall. If I do replace one or both it will be the the hybrid Tangerine Beauty.

It is very hot and dry in West Texas. The crossvine is great. My vines are less than 2 years old and are pest-free. They were complete...Read Morely covered with blooms in April and now in August have a few blooms again. The leaves are glossy and green and have not burned like so many plants do in our 100+ degree weather.

This is a fast-growing,high-climbing woody vine with opposite,compound leaves having just two leaflets that are 3"-5" long with a long sl...Read Moreender tendril between them.The trumpet-shaped,fragrant flowers,are red-brown on the outside and yellow-orange on the inside.They are 2-3 inches long and in clusters of 2-5.You can plant at the base of trees as it searches for the sunlight.It spreads by root sprouting and can become invasive.The vines name comes from the fact that if you cut a stem you will see a cross in the cut stem.Hummingbirds love this vine.