Campsis x tagliabuana 'MADAME GALEN'

Another gorgeous tree form of a trumpet creeper has flowers of “Madame Galen” variety. In 1893, in a nursery near Milano, Italy, Tagliabua brothers made a beautiful cross between North American campsis radicans and Chinese campsis grandiflora, which inherited hardiness from the west and large flowers from the east.

The flowers are huge, 7-9 cm wide, orange red with apricot orange throat. The buds form a raceme that blooms from July till frosts. Leaves are pinnate, dark green and very attractive. They create a green mass as a luxurious background for the flowers.

New branches are shorter on tree forms than on vines but we still emphasize it is absolutely necessary to cut all last year’s branches to 2 or maximum 3 buds to keep the crown compact. Trumpet creeper has fragile wood which, if too long, can easily become a target of strong wind or heavy snowfall. Also, as it flowers on ends of new branches, it is desirable to make as many of new branches as possible – this will be encouraged by spring pruning.

As trumpet creeper is originally a vine, it will need a support along the stem all life long. It needs limey soil and a warm and sunny spot. Its root system is quite pulpous and can accumulate water so it can stand temporary drought, so be careful with extra watering which might cause the root system to rot. All our plants are in flowering age already. It is fully hardy to -27°C (USDA zone 5b) and can take temporary swings to -29°C on sheltered locations.

Last update 06-02-2008.