Yes, but cardinal climber spreading happens through dropped seed, not through creeping roots. The vine does not send out runners or send underground stems through your beds. Instead the flowers form pods, the pods split open, and the seeds fall to the ground around the base. Next spring you will notice volunteers, which are small seedlings popping up wherever those seeds landed.
So this is a plant that stays put where you planted it. The vine itself climbs a trellis and dies back each year. The spread you see comes from cardinal climber self-seeding, and that is good news. All of the cardinal climber spreading runs on seed, which is easy to manage once you know where it comes from.
How much it reseeds depends a lot on your climate. In warm regions the plant can reseed more than you want. Clemson and the Missouri Botanical Garden both warn it can turn into a problem. That happens when you leave the seedlings unchecked year after year. In colder areas frost ends the season before seed can take hold, so reseeding is rare. A hard freeze kills the dropped seed or stops it from sprouting. This is why northern gardeners replant from a packet each spring.
Warm-climate gardeners have one more thing to watch. Cardinal climber belongs to the Ipomoea group. The University of Michigan flags some of them. A few Ipomoea are noxious or are banned. Two states ban them, Arizona and Arkansas. The morning glory family has a few pushy cousins. So if you garden in a hot, frost-free zone, keep an eye on how far your seedlings travel each year. The vine spreads only by seed, so the same control steps still work for you.
The good part is that you stay in charge here. Because the spread runs on seed, you cut it off at the source. Stop the seed and you stop the spread. A few minutes of work through the season keeps this vine right where you want it and nowhere else.
- Watch the pods: Look for green seed pods forming after the flowers fade. They start small and round behind each spent bloom.
- Pick them green: Snip or pull the pods while they are still green and closed, before they dry and split open.
- Trash, not compost: Put the pods in the trash, not the compost pile. Compost may not get hot enough to kill the seed.
- In early spring, pull any small seedlings that come up where you do not want them. Young volunteers slide out of moist soil with ease.
Removing green pods before they open is the single best way to control cardinal climber. Once a pod dries and splits, the seed is already on the ground and your job gets harder. So check the vine every week or two during the bloom season and clear the pods as they form.
Pulling spring seedlings is your backup plan. Even careful gardeners miss a few pods, and some seed always slips through. The seedlings are easy to spot, with the same lobed leaves as the parent vine. Tug them out of damp ground in March or April and they come up roots and all. The job takes a few minutes, and the soil holds the roots loose after a rain. Wait too long and the young roots dig in deeper.
Bottom line, cardinal climber spreads by seed and only by seed. Pick the green pods, keep them out of the compost, and pull stray spring seedlings. Do those three things and you get the bright red flowers and the hummingbirds without the vine taking over your yard.
Read the full article: Cardinal Climber: Grow Guide and Care Tips
