Vivid orange trumpet-shaped flowers and bright green leaves make trumpet creeper an eye-catcher, especially when in bloom. It’s native to the central and eastern US, but is also at home in the desert southwest. Here’s how to plant and care for this resilient, vigorous vine.
Trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans) is a lush, vigorous vine that lends desert gardens a tropical feel. It has large shiny leaves (up to 15″) and showy clusters of 3″ trumpet-shaped orange blossoms. Flowers are followed by seed pods that look remarkably like green beans.
This resilient woody vine has a wide range that covers two-thirds of the US, from the central plain states to the Atlantic coast. While it’s not native to the southwest, it grows surprisingly well in the desert. It thrives in full sun and almost any soil, and needs little water once established.
It blooms from summer through fall, attracting pollinators of all kinds — hummingbirds, bees, moths, butterflies, and other insects. Deer, rabbits, and javelinas usually leave it alone.
Why I Like This Plant
- Show-stopping orange flowers
- Grows fast
- Hummingbird magnet
- No thorns, no pests
Things to Watch Out For
Trumpet creeper is a vigorous vine that can grow up to 30 feet or more and will need pruning to keep its size and shape in check. It readily reseeds and suckers profusely, so it can become a nuisance.
It climbs by aerial rootlets that can damage whatever it attaches itself to, including wood, stone, stucco, and block garden walls.
It’s extremely flammable and should not be planted next to your house. 🔥
Some people experience dermatitis from handling the leaves.
Optimal Growing Conditions
If you’re thinking of adding a trumpet creeper to your garden, you need to find a suitable place that will keep it healthy and looking good… while minimizing maintenance for you.
Here are the key factors to keep in mind.
Temperature
Trumpet creeper should be grown in USDA Hardiness Zones 4 – 11. It tolerates extreme heat in the summer and is cold hardy down to -20℉. It’s deciduous, and the leaves turn yellow-gold in the fall.
Sun Exposure
Trumpet creeper be grown in full sun to part shade. The foliage does well in shade, but plants flower more profusely in full sun. Don’t plant it along west-facing walls in the hottest places, like Phoenix.
Size and Growth Rate
Trumpet creeper is a large, fast-growing vine that generally reaches a size of 20 feet high by 20 feet wide, but it can grow much larger — up to 40 feet. A plant’s mature size depends on how happy it is in its space, and how it’s watered and pruned.
Soil
In its native habitats, trumpet creeper grows in a wide variety of soil types — sandy, loam, clay, and even limestone and caliche. So it tolerates any desert soil, provided it’s well-draining.
Other Location Considerations
Trumpet creeper readily grows up any nearby support structure, such as a trellis, wall, or fence, to form a dense screen, but be aware that its rootlets can cause damage.
You can also let it sprawl unsupported as a vigorous ground cover or for erosion control.
Trumpet Creeper:
The Essentials
| Common Name | Trumpet creeper |
| Scientific Name | Campsis radicans |
| Origin | Central, eastern US |
| Plant Type | Deciduous vine |
| USDA Zones | Zones 4 – 11 |
| Cold Hardiness | To -20℉ |
| Flower Color | Orange |
| Flower Season | Summer, fall |
| Mature Size | 20-40′ tall x wide |
| Growth Rate | Fast |
| Sun Tolerance | Full, part sun |
| Water Needs | Moderate |
| Pests & Diseases | None |
| Garden Friendliness | No thorns, non-toxic |
| Cautions | May cause dermatitis |
| Wildlife | Attracts hummingbirds, bees, moths, butterflies |
How to Plant
The rule of thumb when planting any vine in the desert is to dig a hole three times as wide as the root ball but no deeper. Amending the soil is not recommended. Counterintuitively, backfilling with the same native soil you just dug up helps your plant develop a stronger root system.
When to Plant
The best time to plant trumpet creeper is in the fall. This gives your vine three seasons to grow roots and get established before the following summer.
The second best time is in spring, the earlier the better. This still gives your plant time to get established before the intense heat of June arrives.
How to Care for Trumpet Creeper
Whether you’ve recently planted a trumpet creeper or have an existing plant in your yard, here’s how to take care of it to keep it healthy and looking its best.
How to Water New Plants
Once you’ve got your trumpet creeper in the ground, watering is your most immediate concern. Here is a recommended watering schedule for new vines planted in the spring or fall.
| Weeks 1 & 2 | Every 3 – 4 days |
| Weeks 3 & 4 | Every 6 – 7 days |
| Weeks 5 & 6 | Every 7 – 10 days |
| Weeks 7 & 8 | Every 10 – 14 days |
After week 8, gradually revise your watering schedule, depending on the season.
How to Water Established Plants
Here’s a recommended watering schedule for subsequent years.
| Spring & Fall | Every 10 – 14 days |
| Summer | Every 7 – 10 days |
| Winter | Every 14 – 21 days |
Trumpet creeper is moderately drought tolerant, but always looks its best with irrigation.
Should You Fertilize?
Since trumpet creeper is a prolific bloomer that is not native to the desert, it benefits from an application of fertilizer in the spring.
How to Prune
Prune your trumpet creeper extensively in late winter or early spring before new growth appears to control it’s size and prevent it from getting too heavy for its support structure.
Cut basal sprouts down to the ground if you wish to prevent their spread.
Don’t Confuse Trumpet Creeper With…
Trumpet creeper looks a lot like cape honeysuckle or tangerine crossvine. All three are fast-growing vines with trumpet-shaped orange flowers.
If you’re unsure which would be the best for your situation, here are the key ways they differ.
Trumpet creeper is deciduous, flowers summer through fall, and is large and vigorous.
Cape honeysuckle is evergreen and stays a manageable size of 8 feet tall and wide. They bloom on and off throughout the year.
Tangerine crossvine is usually evergreen, but it may lose its leaves during extreme cold. It flowers spring through summer. It’s as large and vigorous as trumpet creeper, but is somewhat more tolerant of extreme heat and sun.
To further add to the confusion, trumpet creeper sometimes goes by its former scientific names — Tecoma radicans or Bignonia radicans. Cape honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis) is a member of the Tecoma genus, and tangerine crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) is a member of the Bignonia genus.
Plant Lover Facts
Trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans) goes by several common names such as trumpet climber and trumpet vine. A few are so concerning, they may have you wondering what you’ve gotten yourself into — cow itch vine, devil’s shoestring, foxglove vine, and hellvine! 😧 These names originated in the southeast, where these plants can become a nuisance.
The species name radicans means “with stems that take root” referring to the rootlets that attach themselves to whatever surface they encounter.
Trumpet creeper has a large native range that covers around a two-thirds of the US. Imagine a line that runs through the middle of the country from North Dakota through Texas. It’s native to every state in which that line occurs and almost every state east of that line.
This vine is so obviously eye-catching that it was one of the first plants English settlers sent back to Europe in the 1600s. Thomas Jefferson included it in his notes as a vine he wanted to include in his gardens at Monticello.
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Author Bio
Deane Alban is the creator of Southwest Gardener. She is a science writer with a bachelor’s degree in botany from the University of South Florida. Gardening is her lifelong passion. She’s been gardening in Tucson for over 15 years.
Photo Credits
The University of Arizona Campus Arboretum
Vengolis, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons