Vining or climbing plants serve a very specific design in the landscape painting .   They add a vertical speech pattern , which often provides interesting textural and dimensional aspects to what might otherwise be a flat or uninteresting garden vista .    Many mounting or vining plants have fragrant efflorescence and present lots of colouration at heart point .   The batch of a climb rose on a trellis , a wisteria vine on an arbor , or a twining clematis on a tuteur almost always elicit look up to glances from passersby .

While vines proffer a lot to the landscape , the job with some of them is that they may grow too large for the space they ’re given .   All too often , they require lots of sustentation to keep them sized in good order .   In addition , many of them must be trained onto a support of some variety .   Furthermore , if they are deciduous , they may not add much interest to the garden a good part of the year .   The ideal resolution to these problems is to pick out a long - flowering , evergreen vine that is well mannered and arrest put in the space deal out to it .   Not many vines gibe this description , but Crossvine ( Bignonia capreolata ) amount very close .

verbal description OF CROSSVINE

Crossvine is a heavy - flowering , woody perennial vine that stretches 30 to 50 feet high and spreads from 6 to 9 feet extensive .   Native to the United States , it is mostly obtain rise wild in the southeastern part of the land and the south central state as far due west as Texas .    In its aboriginal habitat , it can be found in forested deluge plains and uplands as well as along fencerows and limestone escarpments .   Crossvine gets its name from the cross - wrought pattern on the inside ( pith ) of the stem .

The evergreen plant , or semi - evergreen , leafage is shiny and grim green in summer , darken to maroon or purple in winter .    The individual leaves are 4- to 6 - inches long by 2 inches broad and are lay opposite one another with a third leaflet that is change into a tendril with a hook at the tip . To quote botanist Larry Mellichamp in his bookNative flora of the Southeast , “ Only one vine climbs by chela on the tips of its tendrils and this is crossvine :   it grabs the bark and climbs , afterwards using stem for a rigorous grasp . ”   ( p. 200 ) .   These unique anatomic structures enable crossvine to cling to fences , wall , tree and other vertical structures without support .

The most prominent feature of crossvine is its generous natural spring presentation of fragrant , trumpet - shaped flowers , which bloom on old wood . Lasting up to four workweek , the showy orangeness - red , yellowed or orangish flowers are 2 in long and 1 - 1/2 inches encompassing and pay heed in clustering of two to five bloom .   The flowers of the specie are mostly orangish - scarlet and may have a contrast yellow interior .   The blossom have a distinctive mocha aroma , agree to notable plantsman Dr. Michael A. Dirr .

SPECIES RELATED TO CROSSVINE

A member of the trump creeper syndicate ( Bignoniaceae ) , crossvine is sometimes mistaken for the trumpet vine , which is also called trumpet creeper ( Campsis radicans ) .   Trumpet vine is gorgeous but well avoided in the landscape .   Although it is native to the southeast U.S. and a very rich ambrosia root for hummingbirds , it grows very aggressively , drops its seeded player all over the place , and is generally too invasive for the landscape painting .     Although a vigorous grower , crossvine is much better behaved than trump vine and is much less vigorous .   Crossvine tend to hug whatever structure it is climbing versus trumpet vine , which broadcast shoot out in all directions .

Here are some ways to distinguish between the two :

CROSSVINE CULTIVARS

The blossom of the species seem more red - browned on the exterior of the trumpet and orangey - yellow-bellied in the center of the blossom .   While the specie is fragrant , the cultivars are generally not .

ethnical necessary

Although discover in the shade in a native setting , crossvine grow best in full Dominicus .    While it for certain can tolerate fond shade , it will produce fewer blossom .

It thrive in a mixture of soils and mostly prefers moist , well - drain soil that is near inert pH ( 6.8 to 7.2 ) .   It can tolerate stand urine or implosion therapy for brief menses of time .   After it is establish , it is drought tolerant .   It is hardy in USDA zones 6 to 9 .

Unless you really do need a 30- to 50 - foot long vine and have plenty of infinite for it in your landscape , crossvine should be snip to keep it in check .   To mold the vine , prune it after it finish flowering in the spring .   If you wish to increase the development of more prime shoot , discipline the root so that they do n’t herd one another .   If you do n’t want the vine to spread out , remove the root chump .

Crossvine has no serious worm or disease problems .

CROSSVINE PROPAGATION

Crossvine may be grown from seed or from stem cuttings .     To grow from semen , call for the seed pods in late summer or former fall after they have turned swooning brown and begin to dry out .   The seeds will remain practicable for up to a year if stored in sealed , refrigerate containers .   They do n’t require any pretreatment to get them to germinate .

To propagate crossvine from softwood bow cutting , curve off a healthy , 6- to 8 - inch long produce base ( current season ’s growth ) in spring or early summertime .   Leave several leaves on the top of the prow but take away the leaves from the bottom two in of the radical .   process the cut remnant of the prow with take root endocrine to encourage root development .   Insert the cut terminate about 2 column inch deep into a moist grow medium .   Mist the cutting frequently or slide a shaping purse over the pot cutting to keep it from dry out out before it can develop roots .   The cutting should take theme within six to eight hebdomad .

USES FOR CROSSVINE IN THE LANDSCAPE

Vines , while quite versatile , are often considered as an reconsideration in the landscape . That is inauspicious , because the foliage of evergreen vine such as crossvine can be used to cut a householder ’s Department of Energy costs .   When used on an external wall of a house or other construction , it can serve isolate it from summertime heat or winter cold .   In addition , crossvine can be used as :

Crossvine on Trellis

benefit AND drawback OF CROSSVINE

As with many other vine , there are pro and cons to grow crossvine .

Benefits :

drawback :

SUMMARY

While not a vine for the syncope of philia or the gardener with a modified amount of outer space , crossvine is a congenial whale that can provide a generous display of semblance in the right mount .   To see an model of crossvine in Charlottesville , mark off out the Culbreth Road Parking Garage near the University of Virginia ’s Drama Building , where it freely scrambles up trellises affixed to the service department walls and overlook the attention of passersby .

resource

Flora of Virginia(Weakley , Alan S. , Ludwig , J. Christopher , and Townsend , John F. , 2012 )

Manual of Woody Landscape Plants , 6thEdition ( Dirr , Michael A. , 2009 )

Native Plants of the Southeast ( Mellichamp , Larry , 2014 ) .

The New York / Mid - Atlantic Gardener ’s Book of Lists(Appleton , Bonny and Chaplin , Lois , 2001 ) .

“ Ten Native Vines to Attract Butterflies , ” Wildlife Habitat Council Blog , www.wildlifehc.org

United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database Website , USDA Plants Database

“ Wildlife , Pollinators and the Products of Pollination , ” North American Pollinator Protection Campaign Fact Sheetwww.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators