Trumpet vine can stand full sun growing on a telephone pole in the middle of a dry asphalt parking lot in Kansas. Trumpet vine is rather invasive and destructive. It can grow under, around and through things, including shingles. Spreads everywhere! Pick another plant! Maybe some type of grape. :o)
hortster

I was just sitting at a stop sign out in Lancaster County PA and noticed a trumpet vine growing up the side of an old house. It was up and over the roof, which was 3 stories up. The thing that caught my eye was how much damage it caused the gutters. It looked like the vines worked their way through the seams of the gutters and they were destroyed.

I would have to agree, a trumpet vine might not be a good choice.

Carol

carol and hort, thnks for the advice! but plse keep in mind that there are OTHER trumpet vines than "the ones that eat chicago"like you have warned me about; ones that are much more tame! just fyi.
thanks,
mindy

Yes, and I've heard that about fallopia, too. I warned a friend about the variegated fallopia (otherwise known as Japanese Knotweed) and was told she was assured it was not invasive at all like its plain kin. I am a patient person, and now she is complaining about how it's taken over her shade gardens. uh huh. I didn't even say I told you so.

Beware claims certain cultivars of known invasives aren't invasive. It might be true, but it might not.

calliope, this is perfect example of why it is essential that, if you really want to be helpful on GW, you put your location next to your zone. z.5 ma. and z.5 kansas are 2 entirely different things. i grow that falopia and would like to be able to relate to your experiences w it. i have it in a variety of conditions. in our wettest spot it has been there 5 yrs and has just started to travel 2-3' in a few spots. At z.5/6 Broken Arrow nursery in hamden ct. (genuflect,genuflect) they have it growing as a shrub under a large tree and it has not travelled. they consider it a well behaved plant.I posted in a thread about it (maybe you did too?)where the majority of posters felt it was not dangerous.

now, i am NOT saying that your experience is invalid -quite the contrary. i just want to learn more about the varied behaviors of this botanical chameleon!

best,
mindy
www.cottonarboretum.com/

p.s. if you go to the Techniques pg of our website, you will see 'Have Shovel; Will Travel', wherein I explicitly warn newbies about invasives. I have had far too many 'STUpid me!!!' experiences w/ aegopodium, tradescantia, lysimachia clethroides......

Here is a link that might be useful: Have Shovel; Will Travel

I have a Campsis x tagliabuana 'Madame Galen' (a cross)trumpet vine that is vigorous but not invasive in my zone 5 garden. Mine was planted in 2004. I have mine growing in quite a bit of shade and use it to hide some ugly brick. It gives a nice solid green backdrop that I like. I stretch mine out sideways in two directions and it grows about 20-25 feet at most. Mine does not bloom, perhaps originally because of the part shade. However, I read on Dave's that it does not bloom (or is very slow to bloom) for many people, supposedly because it may have been started from immature stock. As my trumpet vine grew older I began cutting it back each year in early spring to 3-5 feet and letting it regrow, which it does quickly. This keeps it exactly where I want it - on what I want and since it climbs by itself there is almost no work for me at all after its yearly haircut. It does not send up runners across the way or anything like that, and can't spread its seed or anything because it has no flowers!

I tried a Campsis radicans Flamenco and it died out in a couple of years. I think it may have been too wet, or so slow to show itself that I planted something else into it.

Some other vines I use that you might be interested in are honeysuckles, the very nice Lonicera sempervirens 'Blanche Sandman' has lots of scarlet blooms and is very well-behaved. Mine was planted in 2005. I did have another one with flame in the name, Goldflame, Pink Lemonade ?? something like that, anyway that one mildewed badly for me, something I hardly ever get in this garden, but this one probably got shaded out too much by some enlarging shrubbery making it weak. I eventually removed it. It had the typical narrow tubular blooms that were a pretty pink color. However, neither of these two vines get really long like a trumpet vine or a sweet autumn clematis do. My two sweet autumns both get well over 20 feet, but unlike in the south, I have never had a single seedingl off of mine. The SACs gets cut back to 3-5 feet from the woody base and regrow covering most of a 60 foot stretch of fence.

In addition, I also have a Halls (japonica) honeysuckle which is considered by most everyone to be invasive. I love the thing and planted it long before I knew it was supposed to be a problem, well over 10 years ago. It is some work for me, but not outlandish by any means. It blooms very well and has a wonderful scent. It may be a true invasive getting into wild places and such, but I have not been able to bring myself to remove it, especially since it is available for sale everywhere around here.

With the Hall's honeysuckle I limit (cut out) the number of main stalks coming out of the ground each spring, make sure everything goes up the structure including later emerging growth, as it does try to root if pieces or stems are left on the ground, then let it waterfall down, being careful again not to let it touch the ground. I also cut out some of the undergrowth if it gets too bushy in midseason after its main growth period is over. It blooms for over a month in mid-spring through early summer. It mostly blooms on old wood, which is why I restrict the number of stems rather that cutting it all back in spring, I do get some repeat bloom later in the season. Every three years or so I cut it back hard and let it regrow - maybe 15 foot max with cutbacks, somewhat longer without them. I can't really recommend this one, if it is invasive to the environment, but it is very manageable in my climate in my conditions with reasonable pruning.

leslie, i can't thank you enough for all the time you took to post this. It is so thorough and articulate! Plse add your location to your zone so we can relate to your experiences! I do think you should post it as its own, titled My Fav Honeysuckles and How I Grow Them. really terrif and people might miss this here because they're not interested in tr. vine.

that said,i have a clem rhapsody and a lonicera crimson beauty or bl. sandman - growing below this roof, and i do grow all the available-to-me-by-catalogue(and nursery) non-yellow flowered lonicera (and when i finally get around to re-i.d.ing them, will do a long piece about them on our website's Vines pg.) But lonicera does not have enough foliage/flower for this roof.I thought about my personal fav lonicera, heckrotii, but i don't think it can satisfy my goal of all- summer flower and wicked heat resistance, so that's why i'm onto campsis.(do you tink it could?) I did NOT know that thing about mme galen not blooming. i think i would be buying a campsis from lazy ss in va ,(or am i thinking of brushwood?); they seem to have the best catalogue campsis variety.

best,
mindy
www.cottonarboretum.com/