Meet the Trumpet Vine
Trumpet Vine / Campsis radicans
How do you know it’s me?:
I am a quick-growing deciduous woody vine.
My leaves are compound leaves, which means many leaflets make up each leaf.
My leaf edges are serrated and shiny green on top.
My orangey-pink flowers are hard to miss, trumpet-shaped, 2"-4" long, and clustered together.
After flowering, my fruit will appear - large bean-like pods up to 7" long. They emerge green and turn a brown color.
My bark is a light brown color, with somewhat peely bark.
I attach myself to trees and structures and climb with “rootlets.”
How big do I grow?: Up to 40’ in height, 5’-10’ spread.
Sun-seeker or shade-lover: Full sun to part shade.
Where I prefer to put my roots: I have a high drought tolerance and am adapted to a wide range of soils.
Hardiness: Zone 4-9
Original home: I am native to the southeastern United States.
Colors: Orange, red, or yellow flowers, and light yellow fall color.
When I bloom: Mid-summer into fall.
Wildlife friends: Hummingbirds and bees are highly attracted to my flowers.
Flora Fun Facts: Many gardeners consider me to be aggressive, and it is true that I grow very quickly and can take over a space if not controlled by frequent pruning. These qualities have earned me the nicknames “Hellvine” and “Devil’s Shoestring,” but I prefer to just consider myself highly competitive. I cling to vertical structures through the use of “rootlets” or roots off of my stem (the meaning of “radicans”).
More Info: The showy pink-orange Campsis radicans blooms serve as nature's drinking straw for pollinators like the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. The vibrant flowers and glossy leaves lend a tropical feel to many cooler-climate landscapes. It’s a fairly unassuming vine until it bursts with juicy color through summer and into fall.
A member of the Bignoniaceae (Bignonia) family, which consists of primarily tropical species generally having large, tubular flowers.
Gardeners often struggle to control this vine. It grows rapidly both vertically and horizontally, and can spread through suckering - sending shoots up from its root system.
Frequent pruning and mowing along the base of this vine help to control it.
It is best planted either in a contained space, along a designated vertical plane (such as an arbor, wall, or trellis), or where it can go wild - like a native or pollinator garden.
When pruning, beware of the stem sap, which can cause minor skin irritation.
