Shrub · Bignoniaceae
Crossvine
Bignonia capreolata
A fast native climber that erupts into a spring blaze of trumpets and keeps the hummingbirds zipping in.
Full sun
Every 7–14 days
USDA 5–9
30–50 ft · 9.1–15.2 m
Overview
Crossvine moves fast and rewards anyone who gives it a wall to conquer. This woody climber races up fences, walls, and arbors from the southeastern United States, gripping every surface with tendrils tipped in sticky disks that do the work for you. Cut across an older stem and a neat cross-shaped pattern shows up inside, the quirk behind its name. Then early spring hits and the whole plant ignites into trumpet flowers that send hummingbirds darting through the garden.
Best part: it makes growing easy. It powers along in full sun or deep shade, charges through poor soil, brushes off drought once its roots dig in, and storms through winters from zone 5 to zone 9. The flip side of all that energy is reach. Turn your back and it rockets 30 to 50 feet and fires up suckers from the roots, so it earns a strong support and one good cutback a year.
Just keep it straight from the wilder trumpet creeper it often shares a shelf with. Crossvine blooms earlier, grows with more discipline, and skips the sap that can leave skin itchy, so it pulls its weight without the headache its cousin can bring.
Care
The short version: drop it in full sun to chase the biggest flower show, give it a sturdy support to scramble up, water deeply only while it digs in, and prune it hard the moment the spring bloom ends to keep all that energy in bounds.
Light
Crossvine takes off in anything from full sun to full shade, which keeps it wonderfully easy to place. Sun is where it really fires, pumping out denser growth and a flood of those spring trumpets. Bury it in deep shade and it stretches leggy and barely flowers, so chase the brighter spots.
Water
While it digs in, keep the soil evenly moist and let it build a root system. After that it turns genuinely drought tolerant, so a deep soak is needed only when a long dry stretch drags on. The rest of the time rainfall carries it.
Soil
Soil hardly slows it down. Average, well-drained loam or sandy ground suits it, and it adapts across a wide range, rolling with anything from a pH of 6.0 to 8.0. Rich, organic ground grows it best, but it powers along almost anywhere.
Temperature
This cold-hardy native barrels through roughly -20°F to 100°F (-29°C to 38°C), covering zones 5 through 9. Winter cold cannot stop it, and summer heat barely registers.
Humidity
Average outdoor humidity is all it wants, so skip the numbers. Good air movement counts for more, since crowded growth in still, damp air is what stirs up the odd leaf spot.
Feeding
Crossvine barely asks to be fed. A light dose of balanced fertilizer or compost in spring more than covers this vigorous native, and loading on nitrogen just pumps out leaves while the flowers stall.
Pruning
Prune it hard the second it finishes flowering to rein in the vine on its support, since cutting before the bloom snatches that year's flowers away. Yank up root suckers as they pop so the plant stops roaming.
Repotting
Crossvine is a landscape climber and rarely stays potted for long, so it would rather be in the ground racing upward. If one does live in a container, bump it up only when it has clearly outgrown its space, flagged by roots circling or escaping the pot, fast-drying soil, and top growth that has stalled.
Size & spacing
Hand this vine real room to run. It climbs 30 to 50 feet (9 to 15 m) tall and spreads 6 to 9 feet (180 to 275 cm) wide, so plant it where a big, fast climber belongs and anchor it to a strong arbor or fence.
When to plant
Crossvine powers through zone 5 to 9, and it gets going best when planted in spring or fall, while the weather stays mild and the roots can grab hold before summer or winter pushes the extremes. It bursts into bloom from late winter to early spring, sliding to May or June up in the colder zones, so the show times itself to the season.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: spring or fall
- Harvest: late winter to early spring (May to June in colder zones)
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 5–9
Temperature: down to -29°C
Troubleshooting
Crossvine shrugs off almost every pest and disease, which keeps the growing fun. The hiccups it does throw come straight from its own drive, a too-shady spot, or a prune that lands at the wrong time. Spot the match below and jump on it early.
The vine outgrows its support and swallows nearby plants
Crossvine climbs at full tilt, and its sticky-disk tendrils grab onto anything they can reach, so it overruns its space fast. Shade pours fuel on it, sending the vine stretching after light. Cut it back hard the moment it finishes blooming and anchor it to a sturdy arbor or fence built for a 30 to 50 foot climber.
Fix:
- Prune hard after flowering to reduce size
- Provide a sturdy, large support such as an arbor or fence
- Site in full sun for denser, more floriferous growth
New shoots popping up in the lawn away from the main plant
Those surprise shoots are root suckers, crossvine's underground way of striking out. Pull or dig them the instant they show, and mow over any that pop up in the grass. To pin the plant down, drive in a root barrier or set it in a contained bed where a bit of roaming does not matter.
Fix:
- Pull or dig up root suckers as soon as they are spotted
- Mow or cut suckers in lawn areas
- Install a root barrier if confining the plant
A leafy, healthy vine that barely flowers
When crossvine surges into leaf but holds back the trumpets, too much shade is the usual brake. Bad pruning timing piles on, since cutting before the spring bloom strips the buds. Shift or train the vine into more sun, dial back the nitrogen, and prune only after the flowering wraps.
Fix:
- Move or train the vine into more sun
- Prune only after the spring bloom, not before
- Avoid excess nitrogen fertilizer
Dark spots scattered across the leaves
These almost always boil down to fungal leaf spot, a small cosmetic snag on a plant that otherwise blows past pests and disease. Thin the growth to get air moving, strip off the worst leaves, and water at the base instead of overhead. Crossvine carries no serious insect or disease problems, so spots like these rarely go anywhere.
Fix:
- Improve air circulation by thinning growth
- Remove and dispose of badly affected leaves
- Avoid overhead watering
Toxicity
Plenty to cheer here for pet owners and parents: crossvine is not toxic. It never makes the ASPCA's poisonous-plant list and counts as safe for cats, dogs, and people. Just keep it apart from trumpet creeper, the related vine whose sap can irritate skin.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats Safe
Crossvine never lands on the ASPCA toxic list, so a curious cat that nibbles a leaf comes away fine. A big mouthful of any plant might trigger a little drooling or a soft stool, and that is the worst of it.
Dogs Safe
Dogs can chomp the foliage without harm. The most that turns up is mild stomach upset if one bolts a large amount, and it clears on its own.
Horses Safe
No toxin here lays a finger on horses. They graze around crossvine safely, though no animal should live off any single plant.
Rabbits Safe
Rabbits can browse the leaves with zero risk. Roll in any new green slowly, since a sudden heap of fresh foliage can loosen a rabbit's gut.
Livestock Safe
Cattle, goats, and sheep face no danger from this vine. It packs none of the compounds that turn certain pasture plants into a worry.
Birds Safe
Crossvine throws no threat at birds. Its spring trumpets actually pull in hummingbirds, which sip the nectar without a hitch.
People Safe
This is the well-behaved crossvine, not its prickly cousin the trumpet creeper, so handling it leaves your skin alone. It plays safe around children and pets alike.
No special handling required; as with any plant, large quantities of ingested foliage may cause mild, non-specific GI upset.
Varieties
A handful of named selections really pop for flower color and habit, and these are the ones worth hunting for at a nursery.
Tangerine Beauty
Tangerine Beauty runs away with the popularity crown, blanketing itself in warm tangerine to apricot-orange trumpets and flowering more freely than the species.
Atrosanguinea
Atrosanguinea reins things in, a shorter grower flashing darker purplish-red flowers on narrow, lance-shaped leaflets.
Dragon Lady
Dragon Lady earns its spot with deep red-orange flowers.
How to propagate
Crossvine multiplies with almost no coaxing, and half the time it beats you to it, self-seeding and rooting wherever a low stem hits the ground.
SeedModerate
Fall or spring after pods mature · 1 to 2 growing seasons
Snag seed from the long, bean-like pods once they ripen, then sow in fall or spring. Crossvine self-sows readily all on its own, so volunteers keep popping up without any push from you. Give a sown plant a season or two to dig in, then watch it take off.
Stem cuttingsModerate
Summer · Several weeks to root
Take softwood cuttings in summer and they fire out roots over several weeks. Root cuttings deliver too and are a documented method for this species, perfect for cranking out copies of a selection you love.
LayeringEasy
Spring to summer · One season
Layering is the easiest route by far, almost too simple. Pin a low stem against the soil in spring or summer and it roots on its own within a season, the very trick the vine pulls as it sprawls.
Myths
Crossvine and trumpet vine are the same plant.
They run in the same family, but they are two different vines. Crossvine grabs on with tendrils tipped in sticky disks, blooms in early spring, and keeps fairly disciplined. Trumpet creeper is the wild one, flowering in summer, with foliage and sap that can leave skin itchy, so it pays to know which is climbing your fence.