A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Trumpet Creeper

I oredered one last night not really knowing much about them except that they are supposed to attract hummingbirds......I figured that I would train it to grow along my chain link fence....Have any of you ever grown it before????

Loz,
I thought one of that variety was an aggressive type plant???? Let me look some stuff up for you.
Was there any other name on it to go by??????

Weezie

CAUTION!!!!

This plant causes contact dermatitis.

Just found that!!!
Has some kind of sap or touch or in the contact
of the leaf...

Hummer's love it I guess!

Hi Loz,
If your trumpet creeper is Campsis radicans, then it is one of the most invasive vines around. After a few years the roots will spread 25' or more and sprout up EVERYWHERE!!!!! There have been some discussions about it on several forums. It will sprout on your neighbor's side as well. It was also the last one to leaf out and the first to lose its leaves in my zone 7 garden. I inherited it and fought the battle for 15 years trying to get rid of it. When we dug down 4' during renovations we found roots that were as big around as my wrist and 25' from the parent plant.

If you want to attract hummers, try a native honeysuckle like Lonicera semprevirens 'Blanche Sandman'. It's beautiful, blooms on and off all summer, is semi evergreen, offers berries to the birds and won't spoil the environment. Also consider the Gold Flame honeysuckle - Lonicera heckrotii - with the same growth habit and some fragrance. The fragrance is variable, so purchase in bloom to get one you like.


Blanche:

Niche Gardens

Gold Flame:
Niche Gardens #2.

Newt

Hmmm, this doesn't sound to great.....I ordered it not knowing much except it attracts hummingbirds.........Luckily we own about 2 feet on the opposite side of the chain link fence I want to plant it on......next to the chain link fence is a 60 foot gravel driveway going down to an apartment building that is a decent way below us, so I don't really have a neighbor on that side just a driveway......I may still plant it, I mean what the heck else will I do with it now??? I could give it to my mom, or my sister.....LOL That would be funny.....I knew I should've ordered the daisy tree instead, now I'm kind of scared of this vine now, I should've done better research...........

Sometimes, when you know you have an aggressive type plant, you may/ or might still be able to plant it, and treat it VERY BADLY AND ABUSE IT!!!
Do you know what I mean???
If it's so aggressive, you possible can put it in a huge pot, check out what the roots do???
It they are massive and man~handley, ditch the whole package..
But if you keep it in the opposite conditions of what they like, they do survive, but just barely!!!
If it likes moist, keep it in a dried out bucket?
Etc.
But the one thing I would worry about, is birds carring all that cr*p around, literally with in the plants seeds... The cold weather may keep it
a wee~bit under control that you are used to it????
But it's the roots I worry about it!!!
Weezie

Maybe I'll do that weezie, buy a huge pot and start it out in there....that's a good idea.....It's a shame because it grows fast and the flowers look decent......I paid for it, it's coming eventually, and the gardener deep inside me just can't throw it away......I just can't...

I guess I'll just mistreat it a little, like you said and see what happens.......I don't want my entire yard taken over by the plants.....lol

Hi Loz,
I didn't mean to scare you, but the vine will eventually pop up in the area between the fence and the driveway. Since the roots will travel up to 25' or more, it probably will pop up through the gravel of the driveway. If there is just lawn there and it's mowed regularly, it shouldn't be a problem, as the shoots will get mowed down.

Since you just ordered it, is there any way you can call them and change your order? If the daisy tree is more expensive, they might be willing. Here's a site with info about the daisy tree - Montanoa bipinnatifida. Were you planning on growing this as a houseplant or in a container so you can bring it in for the winter? I'm not sure it's hardy in your zone. I couldn't find much info on it.

burkes backyard info

There is also a Montanoa grandiflora that is hardy to 20* to 25*F. Click on the picture of the leaves to see the flowers.

Daisy Tree

Hope this helps,
Newt

Weezie, great idea! Why didn't I think of that? Hmm. Anyway, a whiskey barrel planter should work just fine.

Newt

I doubt I can change my order now, but the whiskey barrel planter sounds like the route I will take.......Wait until I tell my hubby how invasive this vine is......lol Oh, he'll just love it.....The daisy tree looked really pretty, and I planned on bringing it indoors through the winter....I knew I should've got it.....

Newt,
I have one plant you're not supposed to grow,
it's one of those wild loosestrifes'.
supposedly it likes, wet, sun and moist conditions,
I give it dry, dry, deep shade....
It's got one stalk,
I get some pretty pink flowers out of it,
and then rip it's flowers off when
it'd almost done flowering,
NO chances with it spreading seeds.
And all by it's self so no cross pollenating
anyone else's... back under pinetrees, mint and some tree piles.....

Might be what Loz would have to do...
Treat it sooooo bad!!!!

One thought was would the roots be so strong,
they could bust loose and or break the wooden barrel eventually!????

Loz, make sure you grab everyflower before it's done... then you won't have them springing up around other places that you definately don't want.

Birds have a magical way of moving plants around, not only by picking the berries and accidently dropping them somewhere's and they plant themselves..... sometimes when they eat the berries, the seed is never digested and pooped out somewhere's where you don't want them too!!!

So, it's;
No watering it, no fertilizer, no nice dirt either Loz!!!!

Weezie

Hi Weezie,
Someone gave me purple loosetrife and told me it was a salvia. When I took a close look the first year it bloomed for me, I knew it wasn't a salvia, but didn't know what it was. It was so beautiful. The following year I was doing some 'puter research for someone and discovered that the beautiful plant was the dreaded purple loosetrife. So, I dug it up and burned it in the fireplace. It's the only sure way to guarantee that it doesn't spread into the wild, as even a small piece of root or stem can root. It broke my heart, as it was so very pretty. Actually, if a bee gets the pollen on it's little legs and goes to another loosestrife in the wild, it will cross pollinate. I have also learned it is illegal to grow in some states! Yikes.

http://tncweeds.ucdavis.edu/worst/lythrum.html#map

Not sure which plant you are talking about here, but if it's the trumpet vine, I would say 'yes'. The roots that I had found 4' down were as thick as my wrist and VERY long. They tend to be a bit flexable too. It's not so much the seeds that spread around, as the roots that grow to unbelievable lengths and then have sprouts off of them. The seeds are in pods and the pods are large and easily seen. So, if you keep it short enough so as to prune off the pods, it shouldn't be a problem.

Not sure about the roots of the loosestrife. The one that I dug up had lots of thick roots that spread in a thick mass. I know that another dreaded pretty plant called yellow flag iris broke a thick plastic container of mine that it was planted in and buried in the ground. They do escape the containers sometimes. That too was a 'gift' from a friend, but did come with a warning that if I planted it directly in the ground, it would take a month of Sunday's to dig it out!

Newt

Ok here`s my trumpet vine story!

I wanted one for years because of they way they attract hummingbirds. Every summer we would see them out in the fields and every year I would say I wanted one. This went on for many summers until finally I jumped out of the car and grabbed a small start of one.

Three years later I was digging like crazy to keep the vine from taking over my garden. Sprouts would show up 10 to 15 feet away from the original plant. Finally after many years of persistance I got rid of the vine.

Now when we see one out in the fields my hubby shouts out TRUMPET VINE!

Rue,
Do you give him one of these looks back :rolleyes:

Weezie

Maybe what I'll do is go and plant it in the woods on my inlaws property....lol I'm serious, way up somewhre that we would only see it once in a while......they have acres and acres of land.....Hmmmm, I don't think I want this at all now.......

Okay, so me and mom were thinking that I should plant the TC in my sisters yard......lol Seriously......They have a pretty large yard and no flowers, and she can't kill this one....I mean it's drought tolerant.....Hmmmm, I guess it makes us seem mean.....it's just a joke we have because my sister buys plants and then doesn't have time to care for them or water them like they should be.......This sounds like she couldn't kill it if she tried.....he he he.....I sure hope she doesn't come in here and read this....They don't plan on staying in there house that long anyway, eventually they are selling and moving so it would become someone elses problem......Oh, sisterly love is so great, isn't it????

And on another note, mom swears they had TC in England because she remembers how invasive it was.....I was thinking of honeysuckle, but dad said that is pretty invasive too, and cautioned me not to plant it.....so I'll have to come up with another vine to plant along the fence.....

really you only have to worry about the japanese honeysuckles being invasive, the native one are very well behaved.

Yep, weezie every time!

Loz, I agree with Rue that the two native honeysuckles that I recommended are not invasive here. If you still don't want those, how about Clematis? There are so many to choose from and the Clematis montana will grow to 30' so you could train it to grow along the fence.

Newt

Not sure what type of honeysuckle my dad grows, but he just told me that he's always cutting it back and that it was growing too fast....The clematis montana sounds interesting......30' would be a really good length....thanks Newt....I'll have to go and check that out.....I appreciate it my maryland friend.

Hey Loz,
If your Dad's honeysuckle is very fragrant with blossoms that are cream and creamy yellow as they age, it's probably a Japanese or Hall's honeysuckle.

Glad you like the clematis idea. Here's some sites to make you lust for.

http://www.clematis.org/
http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/clematis/index.htm
http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/

Click on 'plant Lists/Store' and then 'Vines' for more clematis to look at. They have 3 montanas.
http://www.heronswood.com/

You might find this list of clematis that can be grown on north facing walls interesting.
http://stores.yahoo.com/chalkhillclematis/clematisforshade.html

I don't know where in Western Maryland you are, but there is a really neat nursery in Monkton, Maryland called Bluemount Nurseries. They sell wholesale, but now open their doors to the public on weekends. I purchased a huge Clematis montana there 2 years ago for $12.00! They don't have a huge selection of clematis, but I think they publish what is available the week before. The two women that own the place are really nice.
http://www.bluemount.com/

If you don't read this until late on Friday and have any questions, I will be going to southern Virginia for a week to take care of aging in-laws and don't know if I'll have computer access. I'll be back next Friday.

Hugs,
Newt

Newt I am way out west, near Cumberland MD.....makes me laugh when my friend in Hagerstown says they are western MD....because we are so west, and I don't really consider washington county western MD.....lol You ever been out this way???????? There is a nice resort out here that draws a lot of city people, Rocky Gap. It's on a nice lake. Beautiful out there, that's where my hubby grew up.

I was looking at the clematis website....the .org one and noticed that most of the montana clematis were listed as unknown for zone 6.....for 7 and 8 they usually said yes, but a lot of them also said for frost free areas.....that certainly isn't me......although I like how tall they grow, I'm uncertain how they would do in zone 6.....

Oooo, no computer for a week? That would really kill me........I don't know what I'd do.....lol That's pretty pathetic huh????

hehe...do you know how small Maryland is?? I'm not making fun...I just thought it was a little humorous...at least to me. I wish I was in a small state like Maryland. We have to drive like 7 hours to get to the other side of our state...And we're not even all the way to the eastern edge of it! We're taking a trip this weekend and raveling about 3 hours north and we'll STILL be in the state! You'll have to come up sometime in the fall to see all the leaves and the mountains. Its really neat when your on top of one mountain and all you can see are other mountains covered in red, orange, and yellow. This weekend, we are going to the Eaglesmere Toboggan Slide. They wait until the lake up there has frozen to 14" deep and then cut huge blocks out of it, line them up on a road that goes down to the lake, and then carve a groove down the center of the row of ice. Then they send toboggan sleds down the ice and across the lake. Its a fund raiser for the fire company up there. I'm going to take pictures for everyone to see!

I have had a Trumpet Creeper (Campsis radicans) for about 12 years now. It is on a lattice panel on my clothesline post. The yard all around it is mowed so it hasn't spread beyond the post. The hummers do love those flowers and the seedpods are huge (like a 6 inch long green bean) and easy to find and remove. I do trim the plant back every fall and trim the dead branches in spring. If you have the proper place to plant Trumpet creeper it is IMO a plant worth growing. A good use would be a brush pile cover in the middle of a lawn. Makes good wildlife habitat when used that way.

Danaus29, very good point about being able to mow around it. In my garden it was planted in the middle of a flower bed.

Where I have seen it out in the fields they are mowed and cultivated around each one, they have stayed in a small area and not spread all along the fences.

Jennifer, yes our state is small.....lol I think a lot of people in MD though don't really take western MD into condsideration.....it's a very rural area and sometimes I feel like the state overlooks us. It takes us about 4 and a half to 5 hours to get to Ocean City MD from here......We have the beautiful fall colors here too.....nothing but mountains and trees as far as the eye can see.....I love fall in this area for that reason.....My hubby actually grew up in PA out near Clearville PA.......just across the MD border.......I've been up to Scranton PA in HS for a band competition......and Pittsburgh to go to Kennywood......

Can't wait to see your pictures!!!

Hi Loz,
Sorry it took so long to get back to you, but my one week trip to care for ill and aging relatives turned into a 2 1/2 week marathon! I'm just catching up on mail.

Sure have. It's beautiful and I'd love to live there. I grew up in the Catskill Mountains and miss the rural life. The older I get, the more I miss it.

You might want to consider planting one near a stone or brick wall where the sun and the brick or stone would radiate heat back to the plant.

Glad to be home!
Newt