I don't think you should have any trouble getting a cutting to root. Cut a few year old stems, brush with rooting hormone, put in a pot, and cover with a clear bag. As long as you keep it moist it should root.

You shouldn't have any trouble growing it in your region either.

I made the mistake of using a lawnmower to run over a vine that grew across the ground. I was trying to clear the area out to plant hosta and azaleas. Well, I have about a dozen trumpet vines now. They should root as easily as honeysuckle.

If you can't get one rooted, send me an email. I have plenty of seeds for the orange variety. It takes about 3 years to bloom from seed though.

Trumpet creeper is native to our area. Our local hummingbirds love it. If it wasn't for the hummingbirds, I'd seriously consider removing it because it can get out of hand if left unchecked. The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia:

"The vigor of the trumpet vine should not be underestimated. In warm weather, it puts out huge numbers of tendrils that grab onto every available surface, and eventually expand into heavy woody stems several centimeters in diameter. It grows well on arbors, fences, telephone poles, and trees, although it may dismember them in the process. Ruthless pruning is recommended."

Here is a link that might be useful: wiki

I have found it to be impossible from cuttings. It needs to be air layered which is tricky and often has poor results. Seeds are another story - every one of them will sprout. I prefer the hybrids which are not as rampant as the native with the all time best being Madame Galan a hybrid between our native and the Chinese form.

Thank you everyone for your answers. As you can see there some disparity in the answer concerning cuttings. Thi sis exactly what I have found online in my searches, some say yes, some say no. I guess it is a crapshoot to whether they can or cant, and trying it cant hurt. If I cant get any to root, i will email TOKEN for some seeds! I didnt realize seeds for trumpet vines were even available. I do realize they need pruning and etc so they wont get out of hand, I want mine to cover an arbor I hope to erect over the walkway leading to the house.

The seeds are small and a million of them fit inside one pod. Once they land on the ground they seem to be able to lay dormant for eons so you'll have them sprouting every time the soil gets disturbed. I think they will also sprout from shreds of roots left after the mama it chopped down.

Anyway. They look lovely taking over an arbor. Hummingbirds love them. They are a native worth growing BUT they will creep up your arbor and head for the roof of your house and climb the chimney and anything that extends towards the sky including nearby tall trees. They are amazing and need frequent hard pruning to keep them under control. You will need to keep them from damaging your roof shingles or anything else up there.

This is a question with no malice or ill will at all: are they even worth growing? I love my hummers, but I don't want to plant a monster either.

In my opinion they are great in certain situations but not for the average gardener. You really have to stay on top of the pruning to keep them in line. They work fine in a wild type of habitat where other plants compete with them - but you usually only see a few flowers at one time in the wild. In a maintained garden with better soil and light they tend to take over. The blooms are pretty. But you will be spending a lot of time keeping this guy under control. Most people regret planting them.

I second that. There are lots of great vines to plant that don't cause as much trouble. I love the cardinal vine, and so do the hummers. It's an annual, but there are always TONS of seeds and they do seed on their own. It's MUCH easier to control than the trumpet vine.

Sal

It does attach to brick, in case you're considering planting it near a house.

The one trumpet creeper I planted has grown vigorously but NEVER bloomed. My problem with this plant -- even when it DOES bloom -- is that in addition to being aggressive, it's deciduous, meaning you have an ugly mess all winter long. I also believe it's not a native, although don't quote me on that.

On the flip side, the cross vine (Bignonia capreolata) IS native and is also evergreen... grows similarly -- vines may get even longer, actually, but it doesn't spread into all sorts of other areas, although it WILL sprout up new plants in other areas via its roots. The downside is it generally has only ONE, brief bloom... The flowers bloom all at once in a HUGE FLUSH -- literally THOUSANDS of flowers at once, after it gets established -- and it's quite impressive, but it lasts about a week and it's done... Still, to me, the vine is attractive all year long.

If you're not sure, try one of each.
Jeff

Thanks for all the info! Think I'll just stick to my goldflame and trumpet honeysuckle and annual vines. =)

Well, i beg to differ- when cross vine is happy it's pretty thuggy about spreading all over, just as carolina jessamine and autumn clematis can be. I have all 3 (+ trumpet vine, too) popping up all over the place. But it is evergreen and in the winter the leaves turn reddish, so it's pretty. I'd get tangerine cross or a newer hybrid, because the native one likes to climb to the tops the trees before it blooms. It won't bloom unless it's tall tall. We are lucky- our lot slopes sharply, so we actually can see the blooms from our deck starting at about deck height and going to about 40' higher about 120' away.

I think you're really smart to steer clear of trumpet vine. I struggle with it all over the place- it's an absolute nightmare. I do let it go up into our 1 giant mimosa (that was here when we bought- i wouldn't plant one and we can mow around this one), and the hummers and butterflies love the combo of the trumpet vine and mimosa flowers. If that mim goes, so will the vine- i don't have any other trees i'd let it take over. They are both flowering in the crown, about 40-45' high. I know, mims aren't normally that tall. This one is- it grew in among shade and big trees and i guess had to get tall to get light. It's trunks are also massive, so it's quite old and amazingly, it appears to be healthy. We cut every last other one off our prop as did our neighbors.

Thanks again for all the posts! Actually the arbor in question is well away from my house, so essentially it would nothing to climb over except for the arbor. The nearest tree is about 20 feet away.

THAT being said, does anyone have OTHER perennial vines I can grow that flower, attract birds and are somewhat native to this region? Maybe I will want to reconsider the trumpet vine if it needs constant pruning, shaping or otherwise lanking off all the time. I considered VINING ROSES to cover the arbor, which would be my first choice, but the front of my house only gets morning sun and a little bit of early afternoon sun ( it faces east and slightly south east)

LET ME KNOW! thanks!

I've seen a mix of Carolina Jessamine, Trumpet Creeper (Bignonia), and Trumpet Honeysuckle that all looked great. There was a long period when nothing was in bloom but in early spring the first two were in full bloom together and then the honeysuckle kicked in. It was spectacular. All are native. They need pruning but not anything extreme.

The native honeysuckles will attract hummingbirds and flourish in the sun you describe. Goldflame in particular is a nice one that even has a slight fragrance (trumpet honeysuckle has no scent). Goldflame blooms forever...easily six months and maybe more. It's vigorous without being overly aggressive. A yearly shearing will keep it healthy; just look out for powdery mildew.

You might also consider some clematis...not really attractive to birds, but if you're creative and group different types together they can look spectacular in bloom!

I do have the clematis already growing next to the house on a hand made obelisk that I made years ago. In fact, I recently took some pics of its deadness and saw many new growth shoots that had emerged from the dead looking twigs, I cant WAIT for it to grow up again. It's a striped variety, I cant remember the name of it at the moment ( friday, braindead of course)

Carnaby, i think thats it.

Anyways, the honeysuckles sound nice. We have a lot of those here by our water sources like ponds and etc. Lovely flowers too, I will see about getting one to grow up the arbor.

Thanks! Lyle

i have a bunch of seed if anyone wants some. i harvested them from pods last fall.

trumpet vine flowers also attract ants. i don't think i ever saw one that wasn't crawling with ants.

I keep hoping to come across a post from someone who can tell me how to get rid of a MONSTER trumpet vine that crawled under a fence from next door years ago. I have tried everything, in spite of which it just gets tougher and covers more territory every year.

I hope no one ever plants it again! Its underground roots are huge and scary, which is how it spreads. Round Up is ineffective. Dynamite maybe? but it spreads so wide and far you would have to dig up your entire area and more. I've tried starving it by zealously ripping up every shoot, hundreds of them, but that doesn't work either. I can't cover it with anything because it is in all my gardens.

Please dont plant it. You will be so sorry - and so will your neighbors. Does anyone have a solution? Thank you!