Trumpet Vine Care Must-Knows
Trumpet vine thrives on neglect, preferring poor soil to rich, organic soil. Planting in soil with excess nutrients tends to put on too much green leafy growth, and the vine won’t focus on flowering. For the best growth, plant trumpet vine in full sun. This encourages deep green foliage and an abundance of flowers. While trumpet vine can grow in part sun, it’s usually not recommended because it will use its energy to ramble instead of produce flowers. Once trumpet vine is established, it grows well and can even handle drought.
Vigorous Vines
Trumpet vine is vigorous, bordering on invasive. It climbs by way of aerial rootlets that cling to just about anything, including siding. It should not be allowed to climb on your home or any structure near a house. The stems can become very large and woody with age and crush and contort the base of anything they grow on. Trumpet vine also spreads with underground runners that spring up around the main plant. Be sure to keep the runners under control; otherwise, they can form dense thickets that choke out less vigorous plants in the garden. After trumpet vine finishes blooming, it grows large seed pods reminiscent of giant green beans that burst open and drop many seeds. Those seeds can spread trumpet vine all over your garden. Remove these pods before they fully ripen to reduce the chance of a trumpet vine takeover.
More Varieties of Trumpet Vine
Common trumpet vine
Campsis radicans is the wild form with orange flowers all summer and into fall. Zones 5-9
‘Mme. Galen’ trumpet vine
Campsis ‘Mme. Galen’ bears large clusters of orange-red blooms on a vigorous plant. Zones 5-9
Summer snowfall trumpet vine
Campsis ‘Takarazuka Variegated’ offers clusters of orange-red trumpet-shaped blooms and white-splashed foliage. Zones 5-9
Yellow trumpet vine
Campsis radicans f. flava bears lots of golden-yellow blooms against dark green foliage. It climbs to 30 feet or more. Zones 5-9
