PlantFiles: Crossvine, Cross-Vine, Trumpet Flower
Bignonia capreolata 'Tangerine Beauty'

I have this vine growing on 1 of 2 trellises that face west and only receive afternoon sun. The foliage cover is thick but very tidy. Over the past 3 years, it has grown up and over the top of an ugly metal shed and consistently outgrows and outblooms the purple leaved honeysuckle growing on the other trellis. Both vines stay green all winter. Before planting, I dug in plenty of compost which I refresh in spring and fall. This may be why it doesn't need constant watering. Once a week in 100+ temps does it. I also give it a shot of organic evergreen fertilizer in early spring and fall and a little liquid acid plant fertilizer after each flush of blooms. This year, a painted bunting stripped the petals off the first flush of blossoms, presumably to get at the nectar, but he hasn't been back since. The vine reblooms about four times a summer in my yard.

This vine takes a couple of growing seasons to truly take off, but it's worth the wait. I've purchased this plant from Wayside Gardens and Carroll Gardens. Both sent high quality plants.

This plant is a real winner in my garden. You can also propogate this plant by pegging and cuttings.

I planted this plant in the late summer of 2006 and it has only had one small bloom since then. It has never been cut back and the vine has grown vigorously since being planted. Maybe it is still getting established??? I would like to see some of those beautiful blooms!

I bought this vine as a rooted cutting sometime in Fall 2006, and it didn't do much until the following Summer when it took off growing up the stucco column it was up against. There was only one bloom at the very base of the plant, and I was pretty disappointed, especially since there was about 10 feet of vertical topgrowth. It has been in a pot this whole time, and I had to move it from its spot, so I asked alot of questions about cutting it down, moving to another exposure, etc. Another Fall and Winter has come and gone since I cut it down to about 2 1/2', and now that Spring is here there is more new growth and lots of buds. What I did notice, and what nobody told me, is that this vine only blooms on old growth, so everywhere below where I trimmed is covered with fat buds, and nothing but leaves growing on the new twiners. That is also why in 10' of growth last year, there was only one bloom on the whole shebang.

Okay, growing conditions: this baby will grow anywhere. 95% of the time I have had it it's been under the eaves of the patio, getting only a.m. sun, and then late afternoon sun. I watered it every other day (more when it was very, very hot), fed it a complete fertilizer whenever I remembered to (probably once a month or so), and made sure it never completely dried out. It is now out in full sun, still in a pot, waiting for a permanent home in the ground. I will probably put it in a southern exposure with late afternoon shade, and let it grow up a rock column. It attaches itself to the growing surface with little sticky pads, much like an ivy does. It didn't do any damage when I pulled it off the stucco, but I had read that it was capable of surface damage. There was quite alot of leaf loss this winter, which I don't think it did last winter. I don't know if that was in response to the harsh haircut I gave it, or from the cold. I am interested to see how rootbound the vine is when I take it out of its pot.

This was the first year that I saw this plant at the nursery, so I planted 2 of them this Spring on a south-facing wall. The plants had many flowers in the Spring which were gone by June, then survived the hot desert summer well. Now in early November, flowers have started to appear again. Looks like it will stay green all winter here. We'll see how it handles the cold.

This is a slow vine to get established, but once it does... Oh Boys! What a show it'd reward one's patience. The blosoms are abundant, they almost cover all the leaves around them. Invasiveness? Here on zone 7b. I've seen no scattered seedlings in the area in the past 5 years. It's very vigorous grower. It's a triple B's: Big, Beautiful, and Bold. Bloom are long lasting as well. Makes that quadriple B's