[IBC] Trumpet Vine bonsai
 

Hello everyone!

I found a HUGE wild trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) growing on a Willow oak
in a cow field. It is about 6 or 7 inches in diameter. I saw one growing in a
pot at the National Arboretum, so I figured it would grow good in container
culture. Is this true for native trumpet vines? How well do they
transplant....and how much of a root system do they require to come out with it? I think what
I am going to do is, this spring, cut it back a LOT. Then allow it to grow
new 'branches' for a year. Then the following early spring, I will come back and
transplant it to a large pot. This way, I can ellimate the suckering problem
in my yard and also have a higher chance of survival. How does this sound?
Also, does anyone know of someone who grows this species for bonsai? I
appreciate it!

Sam Williams
Central Virginia, USA ( USDA zone 6b-7a)










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[IBC] Trumpet Vine bonsai
 

Hello everyone!

I found a HUGE wild trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) growing on
a Willow oak
in a cow field. It is about 6 or 7 inches in diameter. I saw
one growing in a
pot at the National Arboretum, so I figured it would grow good
in container
culture. Is this true for native trumpet vines? How well do
they
transplant....and how much of a root system do they require to
come out with it? I think what
I am going to do is, this spring, cut it back a LOT. Then allow
it to grow
new 'branches' for a year. Then the following early spring, I
will come back and
transplant it to a large pot. This way, I can ellimate the
suckering problem
in my yard and also have a higher chance of survival. How does
this sound?
Also, does anyone know of someone who grows this species for
bonsai? I
appreciate it!


Sam, it's on my list, but I haven't tried it yet. I can see no
reason it would not make a nice bonsai. It has large compound
leaves, though, so it would have to be a fairly large one.

I'd also take a sharp shovel and cut half way around the root --
maybe even this fall. Cut the other half in the spring, then dig
it NEXT winter.

Please keep me posted. My woods are full of this stuff -- as are
my pasture fence lines. You can be my guinea pig. ;-)

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Let us spend
one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the
track by every nutshell and mosquito's wing that falls on the
rails. -- Henry David Thoreau

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************************************************** ******************************
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[IBC] Trumpet Vine bonsai
 

To begin with, the flowers are much too large.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)

[IBC] Trumpet Vine bonsai
 

To begin with, the flowers are much too large.
Iris,

Maybe so "up nawth" but for a fairly large bonsai, they'd be
OK -- especially if you limit how many flowers the vine will
produce. Down here in the deepest south, I have some growing
along my pasture fence line that MUST be 100 feet long, perhaps
more. Their base (when you can find it in the tangle of vines)
is often 6-8 inches in diameter. The flowers are 2/5 - 3
inches -- shaped like trumpets (of course). In at least one
sizeable area, the vine is all that holds the fence up.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - The phrase
'sustainable growth' is an oxymoron. - Stephen Viederman

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[IBC] Trumpet Vine bonsai
 

[IBC] Trumpet Vine bonsai
 

Hello,

Yes I plan on it being large. But I basically just want it to live. I
am glad to hear that it can be used for bonsai because that gives me some
reason for collecting it! Thank you Jim for the advice. And Iris, I wasnt
planning on using Trumpet Vine for its flowers. It would be nice if the flowers grow
small on it, but if not, then I'll remove them if it is ever good enough to
show. But thats looking waaayyy too far in the future. Like I said, as of
now, I am just doing the research to see how I am going to handle the vine. From
the advice of two people, I plan to collect it within about a year and a
half. I think I will either chop half of its roots now or in spring when I do the
chop- or both. Then like Jim said, remove it next winter. Hopefully this
coming summer, I will get some good growth on it. Does anyone else have
experience with collecting this species? Thanx! I'll keep you all posted.

Sam


Sam, it's on my list, but I haven't tried it yet. I can see no
reason it would not make a nice bonsai. It has large compound
leaves, though, so it would have to be a fairly large one.

I'd also take a sharp shovel and cut half way around the root --
maybe even this fall. Cut the other half in the spring, then dig
it NEXT winter.

Please keep me posted. My woods are full of this stuff -- as are
my pasture fence lines. You can be my guinea pig. ;-)

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Let us spend
one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the
track by every nutshell and mosquito's wing that falls on the
rails. -- Henry David Thoreau

To begin with, the flowers are much too large.
Iris,

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[IBC] Trumpet Vine bonsai
 

Hello,

I basically want to experiment with it. See if it works. I really like
the trunk, it has some character. The waiting was because people have said
that vines often die down to the ground if the top and the roots are messed with
too much at the same time. I just want to take precautions. As to me
confusing it with poison ivy- not a chance! lol. I would hope no one would confuse
these two vines!

Sam


Hi Sam,

I have quite a few trumpet vine around my house. They can grow as much
as 15 feet in a year. I have never considered them for bonsai as they
have a compund leaf which is not normally chosen for bonsai as they are
quite large. As to putting it in a pot and taking a shot at it, go for
it. With a large trunk to work with anything can happen. As for waiting
for a year after the first pruning I don't see any real reason to wait.
When you dig it up take as big a root ball as you can handle. Pamper it
and baby it when you get it home or replant it in the ground when you get
it home. Then leave it alone for a year to let it heal. Remember that the
branches break quite easily.

Let us hope you are not confusing this with poison ivy ;)

Good luck, Harry in Iowa

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