Blown away by trumpet vines
The head-turning climber that’s guaranteed to add a blast of exotic glamour
I’VE recently set a young climbing plant against a fence in the sunniest part of my garden. Taken at face value, it’s unremarkable – a couple of 2ft-tall, slender stems clothed in glossy, ash-like leaves. But don’t be fooled by first impressions. In a few years it will create a truly breathtaking spectacle.
The plant in question is Campsis x tagliabuana Indian Summer, a stunning variety of trumpet vine. Bred in Holland back in the late 1990s, it will romp away to cover a large area and will be smothered in bright orange, funnel-shaped flowers from midsummer until October.
It really is an exotic-looking wonder that is guaranteed to draw attention – a neighbour has one peeping over a boundary wall that is often photographed by passers-by.
Yet despite its tropical appearance, this climber is surprisingly tough, capable of withstanding temperatures down to -10C.
Trumpet vines consist of two distinct species, native to woodland in China (Campsis grandiflora) and North America (Campsis radicans). Campsis x tagliabuana is an important cross between the two.
Campsis radicans arrived in Britain way back in 1640, followed by its Oriental relative 160 years later. Since then, plant-breeders have developed a number of varieties that climb from 3ft to 30ft or more, with flowers in shades of yellow, orange and red.
All of these long-lived, deciduous climbers are easy to grow as they don’t require any training or tying to surfaces. Stems are self-clinging, attaching them- selves to anything they touch. And it’s the only self-clinging climber I’m aware of that will thrive in full sun.
When I started out in horticulture, the only trumpet vine that was readily available was Campsis radicans, a vigorous beast that’s capable of hitting 30ft in the wild and boasts large clusters of 3in-long, scarlet flowers at the end of its stems. These are displayed beautifully against a foil of dark green leaves.
Closely related C. radicans ‘Flamenco’ is a fairly recent introduction with vibrant orange-red blooms, while C. radicans f. flava (sometimes sold as ‘Yellow Trumpet’) has stunning, bright yellow flowers. Apart from my Indian Summer, there are some cracking varieties of C. x tagliabuana. Launched in 2008, ‘Tarantella’ forms large, peachy red flowers on 10ft vines. ‘Dancing Flame’ grows taller and has pomegranatered flowers with orange throats. Perhaps the best known of the lot is C. x tagliabuana ‘Madame Galen’. A succession of salmon-coloured blooms are produced during August and September against a foil of glossy, dark green and heavily corrugated leaves. The Summer Jazz Series from Japan are far more compact than most, growing to just 3ft. There are three in the collection so far: ‘Gold’, peachy-orange ‘Sunrise Gold’ and bright red ‘Fire’, which won best new plant when launched at a Dutch horticultural trade show in 2014. Campsis are happy in just about any kind of soil, so long as it’s moderately fertile, consistently moist and reasonably quick to drain. Give them a sunny spot that is sheltered from wind – some suppliers claim they’re happy in semi-shade, but in my experience the performance will be greatly impaired. They’re ideal against walls, fences, trellis, pergolas and just about any other kind of garden structure. I’ve seen some wonderful effects created from planting campsis at the base of trees and tall conifers. Aerial roots will lock on to a craggy trunk, allowing stems to ascend into the canopy. Despite having an in-built climbing mech- anism, campsis does need a helping hand to get started. Fix stems to supports after planting and tie in shoots during its first growing season to establish a framework of branches.
Once these are in position the plant should be able to take care of itself. As it is so vigorous, campsis will need regular pruning when established to keep it within bounds. Simply cut back side shoots to within three buds of the main stems while the plant is dormant.