The Invasive Trumpet Vine

Eleven years ago when we bought our house, there was a little vine planted in the yard.  We weren't quite sure what it was, but we just left it.  We thought it was a Trumpet Vine.  The next summer it grew a little, but it didn't bloom.  The next summer we went to a garden center to see for sure what it was.  It was a Trumpet Vine and the garden center said it can be at least three years before they start blooming.  At that point, we thought we should have something for it to climb on.  We bought some  pieces of rebar.  We had someone cut it in pieces and weld it into a trellis shaped like a obelisk.  We thought the trellis was big enough, but we were wrong.  The next summer the Trumpet Vine started to grow and grow fast.

It started growing around and through the rebar trellis.

If you look carefully, you can see the bark growing around the rebar.

It is now huge and looks like a Trumpet Vine Tree.  All these years it has been confined to the trellis and got bigger and fuller.  Last year we had an extreme drought.  We didn't have any rain for most of the summer.  The grass in our lawn died and most of it didn't come back this year.  A strange thing happened with the vine.  I think it was searching for moisture because it sent up hundreds of shoots.  They are coming up in the yard and in the flower garden.  If anyone wants a Trumpet Vine shoot, we have them. 

They are coming up everywhere.  This fall we will have to cut them or mow them off.  They are becoming invasive searching for moisture. We have shoots coming up at least 20 feet away from the original plant.

 

Early this summer we had plenty of rain, but the last few days have been very hot.  The blossoms are falling off the vine.  Here they are all over the ground.  You can also see there is no grass.

The blossoms are so pretty and the birds love them, especially the hummingbirds and orioles.   We hate to destroy the extra plants,  but we will have to.