5 tips for growing beautiful, lush trumpet vines

Trumpet vine willingly covers everything from stumps to brick walls with beautiful flowers. For better-looking vines, follow these suggestions.

• A lovely yellow-flowered cultivar, 'Flava' is often available at nurseries. Its soft colour is easy to combine with other garden flowers.
• Cultivars of the hybrid Campsis × tagliabuana are shrubbier and more compact. This species offers larger flowers produced over a longer period.
• Two excellent choices are 'Madame Galen,' with dark apricot flowers veined with red, and the bright-red-flowered 'Coccinea.'
• The showiest species is Chinese trumpet vine. Hardy to Zone 8, it has large, loose clusters of flowers. Each open to about eight centimetres (3 inches) wide in late summer.
• Chinese trumpet vine is an excellent cover for a wooden pillar or a rustic fence.

• Spring is generally the best time to plant trumpet vine.
• Choose a site that gets at least a half day of sun, since sun leads to ambitious flowering.
• Put an eight to ten centimetre (three to four inch) layer of compost, dried manure or leaf mould in the planting hole.

• Young vines often need assistance, so tie them to a string to help them begin their first season's climb.
• Once they attach to a support, they quickly take off.
• Chinese trumpet vine will need support for its heavy stems, especially when flowering.

• The vines tend to produce shoots that can emerge from roots several feet from the main plant. Remove them with a sharp spade to control the size of the planting.
• You can plant the suckers in a new location.
• The plants may shed seeds, but mowing usually keeps both suckers and seedlings in bounds.

• Prune established vines in late winter or early spring to control their size.
• Feel free to let branches run up trees. They won't cause any harm.
• Overgrown vines may be cut back to within a few centimetres (an inch or two) of the soil in late winter. Leave only two to three buds on the stem.
• Trumpet vines rarely need fertilization and are naturally free of pests and diseases.

Beautiful and lush, the care-free trumpet vine only needs room to romp. Give it plenty of space and keep the seedlings and suckers in check. If you do, your garden could have a welcome and unique addition.