trumpet creeper

Campsis radicans · Bignoniaceae · all Campsis records · also called Trumpet vine · Wikipedia

Is this one for your yard?

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Trumpet creeper is classified as fire resistant overall, but four of six sources advise against it in fire-wise landscaping.

The warnings are substantial but not identical. The eastern U.S. selector assigns its least favorable category, “Not Firewise,” and notes that the vine rapidly overtakes and shades other plants. Ohio State University Extension gives it H, the fourth band on a five-band flammability scale. NC State University and its partners rated it extreme in 2005, while NC State Extension rated it high in 2025 after the newer scale dropped the extreme category. That change reflects a revised scale, not a finding that the plant became less flammable.

FireSmart BC reaches the opposite conclusion by approving trumpet creeper as a fire-resistant plant. The Generalitat Valenciana also recommends it as a low-flammability climber for wildland-urban-interface gardens. These are regional planting classifications rather than results from one shared measurement, so their labels cannot be treated as directly interchangeable. British Columbia and Valencia place the vine on the favorable side, while guidance from North Carolina, Ohio, and the eastern United States does not.

Trumpet creeper is a low-water vine for full sun, with a mature height of about 40 feet. The overall answer is therefore a qualified yes: it carries a fire-resistant classification, but several U.S. programs give it unfavorable ratings that matter when choosing plants for a particular region.

Form: vine
Mature height: ~40 ft
Light: Full sun
Water need: low
Rated in: British Columbia; California; Michigan / Great Lakes; NC +10

On this lot

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence: Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
Fire-performance conditions
Fire ecology context
Placement evidence: 7 source placement records; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions: British Columbia; California; Michigan / Great Lakes; NC; Nevada / Great Basin; North Carolina; North Carolina / southeastern US; Ohio / Midwest; Oregon (Willamette Valley); Valencia, Spain / western Mediterranean; Virginia / Mid-Atlantic; Yavapai County, Arizona; eastern US; southern Idaho / Intermountain
Maintenance

Typed publication scope: 10 scopes across 10 cited fire sources

Fire Performance of Common Plants (Guide to Plants) · Official scoped edition
- CA; partial normalized coverage · 2026-08-29
  The guide presents itself as fire performance ratings for common landscape plants in a fire-prone California setting. FireApproved publishes 104 exact owners as republished California context. It is not an independent rating, a current endorsement, or parcel suitability.
Fire Resistance of Plants Master Database · Official scoped edition
- Southern Idaho (ID footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2013-11-08
  The official database labels itself "For Southern Idaho" and describes Idaho residents at the urban-rangeland interface. FireApproved publishes 419 existing plant owners that cite its scored rows. This bounded Southern Idaho scope is regional context, not statewide coverage or a conclusion that the score transfers unchanged to every Idaho site.
Defensible Space Landscaping in the Urban/Wildland Interface: A Compilation of Fire Performance Ratings of Residential Landscape Plants · Official scoped edition
- CA; partial normalized coverage · 1997-07-01
  The UC Forest Products Laboratory says the guide covers properties of common California landscaping plants and was prepared for California fire agencies. FireApproved publishes 130 exact owners at historical California publication scope. The report is a 1997 compilation, not a current endorsement, site rating, or independent test of every row.
Wildfire-resistant Landscape Plants for Michigan (Extension Bulletin E2948) · Official scoped edition
- MI; partial normalized coverage · 2007-01-01
  Michigan State University Extension Bulletin E2948 is explicitly a list of wildfire-resistant landscape plants for Michigan and includes a Michigan-native field. FireApproved publishes 221 exact GBIF owners from 226 represented source rows and holds 15 complex or non-exact rows. This dated publication scope is not a current site-suitability determination.
Fire-Resistant Landscaping in North Carolina (AG-874) · Official scoped edition
- NC; complete normalized coverage · 2025-03-26
  The complete three-table AG-874 plant list is explicitly for North Carolina and contains 202 low-, medium-, or high-flammability rows. FireApproved accounts for all source rows under its strict taxonomy and lineage rules; source scope does not establish local suitability at a particular North Carolina site.
Firewise Landscaping (OSU Extension Bulletin 921) · Official scoped edition
- OH; partial normalized coverage · 2006-03-01
  Ohio State University Extension Bulletin 921 is an Ohio publication that describes Ohio fire seasons and landscape conditions and labels nativity to Ohio. FireApproved publishes 352 exact source-owning plant records from its eight rated tables. This historical publication scope does not assert current extension endorsement or that a listed plant suits every Ohio site.
Fire-resistant Landscape Plants for the Willamette Valley (EM 9103) · Official scoped edition
- Willamette Valley (OR footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2015-02-01
  OSU Extension says EM 9103 highlights fire-resistant plants that thrive under Willamette Valley growing conditions. FireApproved publishes 172 exact owners only as valley context. The guide shares the PNW 590 lineage and is not a second independent vote or statewide site clearance.
A Compilation of Good Plant Choices for Nevada's High Fire Hazard Areas (SP-05-16) · Official scoped edition
- NV; partial normalized coverage · 2005-01-01
  University of Nevada Cooperative Extension compiled plants suited to Nevada climate zones and reported favorably by at least two upstream firewise lists. FireApproved publishes 126 exact source owners at Nevada publication scope. The source explicitly makes no independent flammability determination, so these rows remain corroborative.
Virginia Firescapes — Firewise Landscaping for Woodland Homes (430-300) · Official scoped edition
- VA; partial normalized coverage · 2009-04-15
  Virginia Cooperative Extension's publication opens with Virginia wildfire conditions, identifies its Virginia Firewise Landscaping Task Force, and labels plants native to Virginia. FireApproved publishes 306 exact source owners. Publication scope does not establish parcel suitability or current endorsement of this archived 2009 list.
Fire-Resistant and Fire-Prone Plants Common to Yavapai County (Bulletin 34) · Official scoped edition
- Yavapai County (AZ footprint); partial normalized coverage · 2025-03-14
  University of Arizona Cooperative Extension authors Bulletin 34 for Yavapai County. FireApproved publishes 198 exact source owners from its resistant and prone tables and keeps the county boundary visible. County publication scope is regional Arizona context, never statewide scope.

2. Why this plant is relevant here

State distribution: Documented in AL, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, WV.
Native range: Current cited native range in AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, ME, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI, WV.
Introduced / established: 1 sourced range or established record. This is not an invasive warning.
USDA hardiness: 3 applicable cited hardiness statements overlap but have different boundaries; compare each complete source row.

3. Legal, ecological, and broader status

Legal-list status
Seed-list status
Reported invasive here
Broader regional context
Federal context

How to read this page

The status above is computed from the cited rows below: independent recommendations can support a fire-resistant result, an avoid row can produce keep-away, and disagreement stays visible as conflict. Placement notes preserve each source’s own scheme rather than translating unlike rules into one scale. This is evidence about a plant, not permission to plant it in every part of the defensible space; Zone 0 remains noncombustible.

Native and introduced range evidence

These are exact U.S. botanical-area records from the cited range source. Native and introduced describe biogeographic relationship, not fire performance or planting approval. Doubtful and extinct rows stay visible but do not count as current presence.

Current native

34

exact source areas

Current introduced

1

exact source area

Qualified

0

doubtful or extinct source rows

34 native source areas · World Checklist of Vascular Plants, version 16 v16, as of 2026-06-04

Alabama (AL)
Arkansas (AR)
Connecticut (CT)
District of Columbia (DC)
Delaware (DE)
Florida (FL)
Georgia (GA)
Iowa (IA)
Illinois (IL)
Indiana (IN)
Kansas (KS)
Kentucky (KY)
Louisiana (LA)
Maryland (MD)
Maine (ME)
Missouri (MO)
Mississippi (MS)
North Carolina (NC)
North Dakota (ND)
Nebraska (NE)
New Hampshire (NH)
New Jersey (NJ)
New York (NY)
Ohio (OH)
Oklahoma (OK)
Pennsylvania (PA)
South Carolina (SC)
South Dakota (SD)
Tennessee (TN)
Texas (TX)
Utah (UT)
Virginia (VA)
Wisconsin (WI)
West Virginia (WV)

1 introduced source area · World Checklist of Vascular Plants, version 16 v16, as of 2026-06-04

Colorado (CO)

The lossless worldwide derivative is retained once in the research corpus; object pages repeat only exact U.S. areas needed by the local lens. The JSON twin carries the same page assertions.

Plant hardiness evidence

These values describe the plant source. Your ZIP zone comes from the separate 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Whole-zone values stay whole-zone, and a single unresolved value is not treated as a tolerance range. Different source boundaries stay separate: overlapping statements are compared independently, while only ranges with no shared zone are called a conflict.

Eastern United States Fire Performance Plant Selector · record campsis-radicans · 2016-wayback · as of 2026-08-26

Source prints 4 · single-value meaning unresolved · whole zone precision · source stated

Source taxon: Campsis radicans · exact match.

Source location: Cold Hardiness Zone field in the recovered selector record.

Not used for comparison: The recovered selector prints one Cold Hardiness Zone value but does not define it as a minimum threshold or a one-zone range.
Wildfire-resistant Landscape Plants for Michigan (Extension Bulletin E2948) · record vine:Campsis radicans · New, January 2007 · as of 2026-08-26

4–9 explicit range · whole zone precision · source stated

Source taxon: Campsis radicans · exact match.

Source location: Table 1, vine row.
Fire-resistant Landscape Plants for the Willamette Valley (EM 9103) · EM 9103, February 2015 · as of 2026-08-26

4–9 explicit range · whole zone precision · source stated

Source taxon: Campsis radicans · exact match.

Source location: Trumpet Vine profile (PDF page 161).
USDA PLANTS Database — Plant Characteristics · record CARA2 · PLANTS Help Document 2022; characteristics cache retrieved 2026-08-23 · as of 2026-08-26

Minimum 5b · no upper limit documented · half zone precision · derived containing band

Exact source measurement: -13°F; mapped only to its containing half-zone.

Source taxon: Campsis radicans · source identifier match.

Source location: PlantCharacteristics record 49184, Temperature, Minimum (°F).

Where its sources say to plant it

Placement rules below use each source's own distances or named zones, tied to its rating. They are not interchangeable with the directory's current Zone 0 guidance.

Eastern United States Fire Performance Plant Selector: Landscape Zone 2 — 5–10 ft from the structure; maintained lawn or fuel breaks, with easily ignited evergreens avoided [Fire Performance Plant Selector landscape zone] (with its avoid rating)
Fire Resistance of Plants Master Database: plantable at 50' from home [Idaho minimum planting distance] (mid-scale rating)
FireSmart BC Plant Program: suitable for HIZ extended zone (30-100 m) [FireSmart BC Home Ignition Zone] (with its recommendation)
Fire-resistant Landscape Plants for the Willamette Valley: Trumpet Vine profile (PDF page 161) [osu-em-9103-profile] (with its recommendation)
North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: campsis-radicans [nc-toolbox-flammability-facet] (with its avoid rating)
Defensible Space Landscaping in the Urban/Wildland Interf…: Chapter 4, Landscape Vegetation Database [ucfpl-1997] (with its recommendation)
Fire Performance of Common Plants: Table 1 (favorable in 3 or more references) [diablo-guide-to-plants-three-reference-vote] (with its recommendation)

The evidence

Grouped by what each source concluded. Primary evidence rated the plant itself (a lab, field program, or original curation); corroboration compiled or republished another source's rating and resolves to its root lineage.

Avoids (5)

Eastern United States Fire Performance Plant Selector — USDA Forest Service Northeastern Area S&PF + state Firewise programs (WV, OH, PA, DE, DC, MD, NJ) · 2016-wayback · original source Primary evidence Keyed curation lineage: ufifas-srs-tree

“NOT Firewise (4)”

Margin of leaves toothed-overtakes other plants rapidly and will shade out these plants.
Firewise Landscaping in North Carolina (E05-44596) — NC State University / NC Cooperative Extension + USFWS (Bardon, Van Druten) · 2005 · original source Primary evidence Expert-curated lineage: nc-tree

“Extreme flammability rating”
Firewise Landscaping (OSU Extension Bulletin 921) — Ohio State University Extension (Sydnor, Steward, Kloss / Ohio DNR Division of Forestry) · 2006 · original source Primary evidence Expert-curated lineage: ufifas-srs-tree

“H flammability”

Showy native; urban tolerant; adapts to various soils.
Fire-Resistant Landscaping in North Carolina (AG-874) — NC State Extension (Kays, Fawcett, Query, Thompson-Welch, Bardon) · 2025 · original source Primary evidence Expert-curated lineage: nc-tree

“high flammability”

2005 list class was extreme; 2025 revision rates it high.

Corroboration (1 rows from 1 source)

North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox — plant profiles and flammability ratings — NC State Extension (plants.ces.ncsu.edu) · live facet capture accessed 2026-08-23 · original source Corroboration Expert-curated lineage: nc-tree resolves to Firewise Landscaping in North Carolina (E05-44596)

“high flammability” · original source

NC Toolbox facet capture lists "Campsis radicans" under the high flammability tag.

Mid-scale / conditional (2)

Fire Resistance of Plants Master Database — Idaho Firewise (BLM + College of Western Idaho + Idaho Botanical Garden) · original source Primary evidence Field program lineage: idaho-tree

“fire-resistance score 6 of 10” · score 6 (idaho-0-10)
Virginia Firescapes — Firewise Landscaping for Woodland Homes (430-300) — Virginia Cooperative Extension / Virginia Tech (Appleton, Frenzel, Hillegass, Lyons, Steward — Virginia Firewise Landscaping Task Force) · 2009 · original source Primary evidence Expert-curated lineage: ufifas-srs-tree

“M flammability”

Invasive. Requires pruning and support. Showy.

Last verified 2026-08-23. JSON (CC BY 4.0)

Profiles: USDA PLANTS · GBIF · iNaturalist · Wikidata · Wikipedia · ITIS

Campsis radicans (Trumpet vine). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/campsis-radicans/. Last verified 2026-08-23.