Quiet Trumpets in the Woods
By Pat Gibson, February 25, 1987
We have lots of vines growing here along Sulfur Creek. The blaspheme vines, wild grapes, poison ivy and Virginia Creepers, to name a few. One of the rare, but beautiful vines is the trumpet vine. The trumpet vine or trumpet creeper has small leaves that are a little like a mint leaf only in a stemmed group. They grow near water and up trees and rocky ledges. The vines are very fine, never getting very thick. They are also hard to grow from seed. I've tried several times to get them to grow here on the top of the hill, but end up having to go down to the creek in the springs to enjoy the deep orange trumpets. They are almost a UT orange.
The flowers are about two inches long with a ruffled bell. They grow in clusters that attract humming birds and butterflies. If you are fortunate to see a hummer feeding on a trumpet vine you will see a lovely sight. The trumpet vine is a shy thing except when it is blooming. Most of the year all you notice, if you notice them at all, are the lacy leaves up the trees or rocks. They are not as heavy a vine as the Virginia Creeper or a colorful as poison ivy. However, when they bloom, they are very hard to miss.
There are other pretty, but not native, vines that brighten up spring. The wisteria with its purple and white bunches covers many a fence or weights down a tree. There are other native vines that bloom such as the leather flower or native clematis, but it is not as spectacular as the trumpet vine. Keep an eye out this spring for the bright orange horns, shouting quietly in the woods.
Sometimes here above Sulfur Creek we have noisy horns blowing, but that's another story.
July 17, 2004
Since writing this story 17 years ago, I have gained more experience with the trumpet vine. About 1998, I purchased a large, 5 gallon trumpet and planted it on the front, chain link fence. It thrived. It soon was spilling over into the yard so I built a trellis out of cedar poles to hold it up. It overwhelmed the trellis. Three years ago we finally built the garage and garden wall on the front of the house and the now huge trumpet vine survived the construction project. The main stem of the plant is now about 4 inches in diameter. It now covers the front corner of the garage and has sent shoots up inside the enclosed garden where it covers the wall of the garage. It also has a bad habit of coming up in the gravel walk way, the grass, and the flowerbeds. Anywhere you don't want it, it sends up shoots.
Below are some photos of the front of the house with the huge vine. This past spring, I built another trellis out of cedar poles to keep the vine off the ground. This has worked so far.
I have found that it does not grow well on rocks. The roots are more suited to clinging to wood so it falls off the wall occasionally. I have strung wires up the side of the garage wall and put some cedar poles against the wall to help it climb. The only other problem I have, and it is insoluble, is the grasshoppers. They love the blossoms. I rarely have a clump of complete flowers, mostly the throats with the ruffled edges eaten off.
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This is inside the garden wall. The vines on the wall are plants that have come up from the roots of the trumpet vines. They don't stick to the rocks very well but I have stretched wires and some cedar poles for support. 
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