Trumpet vine is a deciduous woody vine and a member of the Bignoniaceae family that also includes Catalpa and Jacaranda. It is native to eastern US and has naturalized in parts of the West. Although preferring fertile soil and sun, trumpet vine can adapt to less and is found in fields, fence-rows, and woods, and along roadsides and railroad tracks. It climbs by means of aerial rootlets and can cover structures as well as other plants.
Description: Trumpet vine is vigorous and can quickly grow to forty feet long. Its multiple stems carry pinnately compound leaves that are up to fifteen inches long and change from emerald to dark green as they mature, and finally yellow in the fall Each leaf has seven to eleven pairs of oblong leaflets that are up to four inches long and have coarsely toothed margins. The red trumpet-shaped flowers are four inches long and appear in terminal clusters of four to ten throughout the summer, giving way in the fall to three to six inch long pods filled with hundreds of 2-winged seeds. Hummingbirds love the flowers. Plants spread by seeds, rhizomes and the rooting of stems that touch the soil.
Control: Cut the vine back to the soil or mow every couple of weeks until no sprouts appear. Alternatively, cut to the ground and cover with a dense mulch such as newspaper or cardboard. Do not let the vines go to seed. In extreme case, a herbicide containing glyphosate will get rid of the vine but will also kill any other plants that it contacts so is best applied to sprouts that appear after cutting or mowing.
Karen Meyers