Bold color, tropical beauty, and easy-care mandevillas make excellent additions to patios, decks, and gardens.
Train them onto a trellis, allow them to cascade from a hanging basket, or combine them with other plants. Enjoy summer-long blossoms and the butterflies, hummingbirds, and other pollinators that stop by for a visit.
The difference between dipladenias and mandevillas
Once divided into two different groups, dipladenias and mandevillas, the botanists now consider them all mandevillas. You will find both names still in use, with dipladenias referring to those with a more mounded, shrub-like habit and mandevillas being more of a trailing vine. Whatever you call them you are sure to find one or more that complement your garden and container designs.
Easy Care Mandevilla
Mandevillas are grown as annuals in all but zones 10a to 11b where some varieties are hardy. They flower best in full sun but will tolerate some shade. These South American native plants thrive in the hot humid weather of summer. Wait for spring temperatures to remain in the 60s before planting them outdoors.
Select a potting mix or location with organically rich, well-drained soil. Use a slow-release fertilizer at the start of the season and make a second application, if needed mid-season. Read and follow the label directions when using fast-release liquid fertilizers.
Mandevillas are usually flowering when you purchase them at the garden center. They will continue to bloom on new growth throughout the summer and fall until frost kills the plant.
Mandevilla Garden and Container Uses
The well-behaved vining mandevilla will not strangle nearby plants. Just give it a trellis or obelisk for the vines to wrap around and climb. Their slightly woody stems provide greater stability than other vines that regularly need to be secured to the support. Just tuck any new tendrils through the trellis, pointing them in the desired direction as needed.
Use vining varieties in a container of their own or as a vertical accent on a trellis in mixed containers or flowerbeds. Set pots by an entrance to your home or garden for a colorful welcome or use them to dress up a bare wall or fence.
The more compact shrubby types can be planted with other annual flowers in the garden, grown in hanging baskets, or used as a filler in mixed container gardens. Just prune off or tuck any wayward branches behind neighboring plants.
Sun Parasol® Mandevillas
Disease-resistant Sun Parasol® mandevillas offer an array of colors including white, yellow, apricot, pink, crimson, and even red and white striped flowers.
The original Sun Parasol® mandevillas are available in the widest range of colors while the garden group makes excellent hanging baskets. Grow the vigorous climbing Giant group varieties for the largest flowers and the Pretty group when looking for a vine with the most flowers, dense vigorous growth, and more cold tolerance.
Include them on your patio, deck, or balcony, and situate a few outside your windows. You will enjoy the flowers and winged visitors whether inside looking out or relaxing in your outdoor spaces.
Written By: Melinda Myers
NGB Member: Suntory Flowers
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including the recently released Midwest Gardener’s Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” DVD and instant video series and the nationally-syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment TV & radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and was commissioned by Suntory Flowers for her expertise to write this article. Myers’ website is www.MelindaMyers.com.
“This post is written by humans and is provided as an educational/inspirational service of the National Garden Bureau and our members. Please credit and link to National Garden Bureau and author member when using all or parts of this article.”
4 Comments. Leave new
My friend has some Easter Lily wants to know when they come back because of the pretty bones are gone
Yes, Easter Lilies can come back when planted outdoors. They are hardy in zones 5-9. When planted out-doors, Easter Lilies typically bloom in mid-summer.
My mandevillss aren’t producing any blooms hep please
There would be a number of reasons why that is. It would depend on where you are located. Mandevillas are tropical plants and love the summer months of heat and sun. If it was a cooler spring by you, they would not start blooming until it warms up. Mandevillas also like to be on the drier site so if it has been wet, they will not bloom either but once it is hot, dry and full summer, they will be blooming until the first frost.