PlantFiles: Trumpet Vine
Campsis x tagliabuana 'Madame Galen'

Mine was planted years ago by a south wall of my house and no matter how much I tend it, it's only bloomed once in the 3 years I've been here. Although its wood looks good on the trellis, I'm constantly trying to keep the new shoots out of the gutters, off the siding in the summer, and the suckers always need digging up.

If it doesn't bloom this year, I'll either cut it to the ground and see what happens next year, or I'll replace it with a climbing rose that can reward my efforts by actually producing flowers.

I bought one of these "hybrids" by accident at the local nursery for father's day. Before I bought it, I checked the tag 10 times to make sure it was the "native" campsis radicans. After giving it to my dad, and planting it together in his yard, my dad noticed that in tiny 3 point writing, it said "Madame Galen" on the back of the tag. All the other trumpet vines from the same company had the hybrid name right on the front of the tag...not this one.

Needless to say, I wouldn't call this a trumpet vine - it doesn't climb. I've never seen a "vine" that has to be manually draped over things once a day. The only way this vine will climb, is if YOU take a tube of super-glue, and stick the branches to what you want it to "climb" on. What good is this vine for an old man that can hardly walk?

You always hear about how amazing F1 "Hybrid Vigor" can be, but in this case, both species have been "dumbed down"...

While this vine grew over 15' feet, it looks like a pile of weeds that have been raked up into a pile and then accidentally kicked. When I think "vine" I think of something that climbs...I don't think "ground cover".

In AZ, it loves the heat. This is the 3rd year for mine. I gave it a severe pruning this spring (almost tempted to yank it) and have tendrils AND runners everywhere. It's blooming prufusely now. I just dug up 4 runners and planted them. 2 from underground runners and 2 from where the leaf node touches the floor and roots itself. Only the 2 that I had cut from underground runners survived.
Beautiful vine, self clinging but make sure you have room for it to climb! Give it time.

I suppose it may only be invasive in some zones?

This plant was growing here when I bought my house. Finally I let it grow instead of tearing it out and it has bloomed every year since. It is invasive as I am always pulling up new shoots but it is very pretty so I put up with the inconvenience. I only let it grow up my pergola, up a shepherd's hook and up a fence and it looks gorgous.

My campsis is trained up against an old clothesline post. It has been blooming quite well for six years.

Some vines fail to flower because they get too much nitrogen, so they put all their energy into foliage instead of flowers. My soil is nitrogen-poor, so that might be why I get the blooms.

Let me state that the likely reason most people's specimens do not flower is because the plant was likely propagated from new growth rather than mature.

In the case of campsis, the plant must reach the top of the structure that they occupy in order to flower significantly. However, cuttings taken from mature wood usually flower early and profusely. Therefore, it is not necessarily the type of plant in general that is bad, but just the particular specimen that was not propagated properly.

I LOVE my trumpet vine. It took about 3 years for it to put out flowers, but now it produces beautifully. Mine is located in full sun and during the summer I need to keep an eye on it as far as watering goes because you tend to forget to water it (because it's so hardy) and then one day it's just drooping.
I grew my trumpet vine in El Paso, Texas as well which is very arid. I actually think it does better under more arid conditions.

Campsis tagliabuana 'Madame Galen' RED TRUMPET VINE Dec (z5) (Hum)
Arching sprays of deep salmon-red flowers during late summer & dark-green compound foliage make this hardy vine a beautiful sight for human or hummingbird eyes. Sun/Med-Dry

I have this vine planted and trained on my deck. This is the third season for it and the leaves and stem growth are healthy, but like one of the other writers, I have yet to see a bloom. I like the vine, but if it does not bloom this year, I will replace it.

I haven't seen bloom yet, but this plant has only been in the ground for two years.

I bought Madame Galens (red-orange) from a local nursery several years ago and planted it in a sunny location on a trellis next to our garage. The vine never flowered, but kept sending out new shoots, becoming extremely invasive. It even started growing underneath the siding on our garage. Although the woody vine looks somewhat picturesque (Japanese like) on the metal trellis, today hubby and I dug it out and got rid of it for good. What a waste of time and effort all of these years for an invasive vine that never bloomed! We're replacing it with a clematis.