Milan Havlis - gardening

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Chinese trumpet creeper

CLICK FOR MORE IMAGES GLOSSARY STANDARD QUALITY - Plants of this group are 1st class quality with number of branches and overall density adequate to their size and age, considering they were container grown. DE LUXE QUALITY - This label guarantees a luxurious quality of manually selected plants that, compared to their height and age, are exceptionally dense and beautiful. EXTRA - These plants are usually mature and bigger specimens with exceptional overall appearance. STANDARD (as described in the plant form) means a tree with a trunk of 190-210 cm and a crown at the top, unless specified differently. The commercial size for trees is their girth measured in the height of 1m from ground. SHRUB - a woody plant with branches growing bushy from the ground level. HALF-STANDARD or MINI-STANDARD - a small tree with shorter trunk, its size is usually specified. FEATHERED - These are trees with branches growing already from the base of the trunk and up along the stem. GRASSES and PERENNIALS - Sizes given usually read the diameter of the pot or the clump, as specified.

DESCRIPTION Probably the most eye-catching version of trumpet creepers is this Chinese one. The flowers are large and spectacular: 7-9 cm wide, salmon pink with a clear yellow throat. The buds form a raceme that blooms from July till frosts. Pinnate leaves are dark green and glossy, and make a luxurious background for the bright coloured flowers. Originally a vine, this form was trained into a small tree. In our climate it is more tender than the other ones so we recommend growing it on a sheltered location, e.g. in front of a south-facing wall or in a closed yard. However, if you deliberately want to grow it somewhere else, overwrap the crown beginning of winter with a white woven just like roses on stems. Pruning is a crucial issue with this plant if you want a nice one. It flowers on current year’s growths so it is desirable to have plenty of new branches. So cut back last year’s branches to 2-3 buds after danger of frosts (usually in April) to make a crown with strong branches. The wood is fragile and too long branches can easily break in strong wind. If you wish to have a dense crown sooner and are ready to miss flowering for one year you can clip new growths just after the second or third pair of leaves. If you live in good growing conditions and the branches are strong enough you can do it again at the end of summer. Trumpet creepers like alkaline soil so never plant it along with peat-loving plants. Its root system can accept temporary drought and extra watering is desirable only maximum once a week. We only sell GRAFTED plants that will flower the same year you buy them. It is fully hardy to -20°C, and on sheltered locations to -24°C, and possibly a little more with winter protection. Last update 05-02-2008.