Campsis – Trumpet Vine

If you are looking to cover up a wall, pergola or garden fence that gets lots of sun then a Trumpet Vine, Trumpet Creeper, or Campsis, will do that job for you. With its exotic vibes yet hardy nature, Campsis are an uncommon but beautiful climbing plant that are easy to maintain and truly stunning to look at.

From summer through to autumn these vines produce clusters of trumpet-shaped flowers that give them a vibrant tropical look. The flowers are attractive for bees and butterflies and provide essential nectar later in the summer and well into autumn. They come in bright oranges, reds and yellows and flower for a long time. Despite looking like they hate the cold they are in fact hardy, although they will flower best in a site with full sun and shelter from cold winds.

Campsis are deciduous, just like wisteria, and as they climb they support themselves with aerial roots that cling onto vertical surfaces. This saves you the hassle of installing wires or trellises into your walls or pergolas. They are vigorous climbers and can grow up to 10 metres tall if given free rein, but they can be pruned to keep them smaller, if preferred.

When established, Campsis are reasonably drought tolerant though it is still a good idea to water them in dry spells. They do not need much feeding unless the soil is very poor, in which case an application of our 12 month controlled-release fertilizer will help.

We have two varieties in stock. ‘Indian Summer’ has glossy pale orange blooms with reddish centres from July to September. ‘Madame Galen’ produces deeper orange-red flowers that appear slightly later from August to October. Campsis radicans  ‘Flava’ is another variety that has bright yellow flowers from late summer to early winter and ‘Flamenco’ has bright orange-red flowers.

For details on other types of climber that we sell, please visit our climbers page by clicking here.