Madame Galen trumpet vine

Campsis × tagliabuana ‘Madame Galen’

 Campsis x tagliabuana 'Madame Galen' at UC Davis in June 2025. Photo: JA Sisneroz

Summary

Campsis × tagliabuana ‘Mademe Galen’ is a hybrid of C. grandiflora and C. radicans introduced in 1889 that blended the larger flowers of the former with the hardiness of the latter. (San Marcos Growers) Sunset Western Garden Book notes ‘Madame Galen’ hardiness to Sunset Zones 3b-24, while Monrovia notes this cultivar can grow in USDA Zones 4-9. This plant is grown for its cymes of rich orange trumpet shaped flowers, hence the name. In the trials plants bloomed from late spring to fall. The plants never had large quantities of flowers, rather cymes would appear throughout the canopy. However, due to the large size of the individual blooms (1-3”) and bold coloration, groups of 3-10 open blooms have quite an impact. If the flowers are pollenated, long legume-like seed pods will form. Starting green, the pods will turn brown and dry out – splitting open to reveal winged seeds which are spread by the wind. As a deciduous plant, these would lose their leaves in the fall. This plant climbs by twining its stems around structures and affixing to structures via aerial rootlets that form at the nodes.

South Coast REC Results & Discussion

The ‘Madame Galen’ had a lot of variation within each treatment and throughout the season. Of the few that performed acceptably, they displayed full, lush foliage with bright, brick-red trumpet flowers. All individuals of this taxon had some level of yellowing and leaf tip burn in their leaves. Only one individual managed to grow out and cover the entire trellis, while all other individuals either died out or covered about a third or less of the trellis.

In 2024, after the first 5 months, from late summer to winter, multiple individuals across all treatments died or retained only a handful of leaves on bare branches. These individuals appeared more like small, bare stems and branches. They remained like this for the rest of the trial. Most individuals of this taxon experienced blooming during the summer. This was reflected during the 2025 Summer Open House when participants tended to give higher ratings for this plant in terms of foliage, flowering, and overall appearance. The plants displayed lush foliage and large brick-red trumpet flowers, with a few plants even fruiting. These fruits were large, elongated bean-like seedpods. There were a few pests present among individuals, with most of these pests primarily being scales that hid along a few regions of the branches or dotting less than a handful of leaves. However, as fall approached, the foliage, flowering, and overall appearance declined. Participants in the 2025 Fall Open House made note of this as they rated these plants as unacceptable and visually disappointing. During this time, many individuals lost their flowers and defoliated, leaving behind bare branches weaving about the trellis.

Utah State University Results & Discussion

In 2025 at USU, Campsis ‘Madame Galen’ was one of the best-performing cultivars in the trial. During late-winter dormancy, vines were carefully trained, and their stems woven into the trellis to ensure full coverage and minimize gaps. Plants began leafing in late winter, producing dense, deep-green foliage and maintaining good canopy structure throughout the season with only occasional pruning. The vines generally remained well-secured to the trellis and exhibited vigorous, healthy growth with stunning flowers. At the August 2025 Open House, participants described the plants as visually impressive and highly attractive. Bloom performance, however, varied among individual plants within the same irrigation treatments. Some produced abundant, showy flower displays, while others exhibited only moderate flowering. Regarding invasiveness, this is not a concern in Utah. The plants were grown under point-source irrigation, with mulched, non-irrigated surrounding areas, which likely limited seedling establishment.

Overall, Madame Galen demonstrated strong vigor and hardiness under local conditions. While most plants established well and performed consistently, a few individuals appeared to establish more slowly and showed reduced growth compared to the rest of their treatment group.

University of Arizona Results & Discussion

In 2025 at the UA, Campsis x tagliabuana 'Madame Galen' was one of the best performing taxa. However, there was variability between individual plants with some growing lush, dense foliage and many flowers, covering close to the entire trellis, while others did not grow as large a canopy with fewer leaves. Overall appearance ratings were lower than 3 in August and October. Foliage ratings were below the acceptable level of 3 in August, highest ratings of 4.0 and above were observed in May, June, and July. Pest and disease tolerance were high. Plants flowered from June through September, with the greatest number of flowers observed in June and July. Mortality was very low with only one plant dying in 2024. The only quality variable affected by irrigation was percent trellis cover. High irrigation treatment had an average of 61% trellis cover, greater than the low irrigation with 43%; medium irrigation covered 55 %, not different from the other two irrigation levels. Irrigation recommendation is 20% for this taxa. 

We found numerous volunteer seedlings of Campsis x tagliabuana 'Madame Galen' in our field, both in irrigated areas and in non-irrigated areas, suggesting that this taxa may become invasive in landscapes. Plants were highly rated by field day participants in June due to their dense foliage cover and flowers. 

UC Davis Results & Discussion

Overall Madame Galen performed well at UC Davis in 2025. In late winter when the plants were dormant, trial staff would weave stems into the trellis to fill in any gaps. The plants began to leaf out in April and developed rich, deep green foliage. Occasional pruning was performed, however the plants tended to stay on the trellis. At the June 2025 Open House participants noted that the plants looked “stunning”, “almost too healthy”. Participants liked the blooms, but many raised concerns about if this cultivar was aggressive. This is also a concern that seemed to exist when researching this cultivar online. Researchers did not observe ‘Madame Galen’ self-seeding in the trial, however point-source emitters were used and the area around the plant was covered with mulch and un-irrigated.

Sporadic bloom was observed over the summer, and the foliage would lighten/bleach out in a few places. At the September 2025 Open House, some participants opined that the lower treatments did not look as good while others commented on the paucity of flowers. As with the previous event, some participants continued to express concern about invasiveness. In reviewing the commentary, it might be possible that some raters use invasiveness synonymously with aggressive or vigorous, rather than rather than the more strict scientific definition. Overall, the plants were hardy, however we did have a few plants that seemed to struggle – as if they never really became established, which in turn weighed on their treatments’ mean scores.

University of Washington Results & Discussion

Campsis ‘Madame Galen’ performed well at UW across the deficit trial. Due to extra room in the plot, this taxon had replicates assigned an ultra-low (UL) treatment, which received no supplemental irrigation across the two irrigation deficit years, as well as the 3 ET₀ deficit irrigation treatments. Unlike some of the other taxa, Madame Galen did not have tendrils to attach to the trellis, and instead depended on aerial rootlets for attachment, and did require some additional training up the trellis at times. Most Madame Galen were vigorous and filled the trellis by the end of the trial period, however, a few individuals remained small and seemed to struggle to get established across the duration of the trial (similar to at UCD). Most individuals did need some pruning across the 2025 season to maintain a size similar to that of the trellis. Stems were somewhat brittle and could break under weight if not supported or after outgrowing the trellis. One individual started flowering before the June rating, with the majority of flowering occurring across July and August, with some flowers still observed in September. Later in the season, flowers grew into long bean-like pods, which eventually split in the fall revealing thin, winged seeds. Individuals remained pest and disease free across the 2025 deficit season, though some yellowing edges of leaves were observed in September. This taxon rated significantly worse on the high (80% ET₀) for overall appearance and flowering when compared to the lower irrigation treatments. The relative growth rate was highest on the UL treatment and ‘Madame Galen’ is recommended at UW on the UL treatment due to having a mean overall appearance rating across the growing season of 4.0 and thus, is a Blue Ribbon winner.