There are several trumpet vines in my area (Evanston IL) and none are producing seed pods this year. Does anyone know why this is? Last year there where gobs of them and we're expecting a frost soon...
When you say trumpet vines I'm thinking you mean Campsis radicans. http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Campsis radicans&btnG=Google+Search&sa=N&tab=wi There may have been no hummingbirds to pollinate them. Newt
That sure looks them...I wonder why there were Hummingbirds last year but not this year...Hmm...It's possible to pollinate them on ones own, yes?
Yes, it is possible to pollinate them on your own, but why in the world would you want to with such an invasive vine? Newt
I'm sorry I keep taking so long to reply--this is the first board I've ever posted on, and it's taking me awhile to learn the ins and outs. To your question--in these latitudes, the vine in question is rare--it does not thrive. I only noticed one plant last year when I saw the seed pods. I used the shells of the pods to make tiny canoes--I can send you a picture--but as I stated in my initial post, this year, no pods. Invasive species are everywhere of course--we have the purple loosestrife to name one, along with several insect invaders--the asian long horned beetle, and this year the appearance of the emerald ash bore beetle. However, I don't think the four plants I've identified in a five mile radius pose a great threat. But let me ask you a question--do you have access to seed pods?
I'm thinking that you may not be getting e-mail notifications of responses. If so, look at the green strip at the top of this thread and you can click on 'My Settings'. Then look on the left and click on 'Edit Options'. Scroll down to 'Messaging & Notification'. Under 'Default Thread Subscription Mode' click on the the down arrow and click on 'Instant email notification'. Now scroll to the bottom of the page and click on 'Save Changes'. Now you will get an instant email notification whenever someone responds to a thread you've posted on. I would like to clarify what I mean when I say this vine is invasive. It's not invasive like Kudzu or Japanese honeysuckle, spreading everywhere and covering everything. It spreads by underground roots and can devistate a garden by popping up from underground as far as 100' from the parent. So if you are planning to plant it in your garden, especially on a fence where you have a neighbor on the other side of the fence, do think twice about it. I suffered through this vine for 13 years before I was able to do anything about it as I was renting and the owner wanted it to stay. Once we bought the property we set about getting rid of it. In all those years there were not many seed pods. There are still a few sprouts that appear from time to time from underground bits of root that survived the renovation that I still have to treat to get rid of them. Happily for me, I do not have any seed pods now as I don't let the sprouts get very long before treating. Newt
