Mandeville growers . . .

Do you grow your mandevilles in pots or in the ground? I'm still debating on whether to leave mine in a pot or place it in the ground. Comments and opinions most appreciated.

Patty

You can do it either way. In your zone, it's probably better to do it in a pot so you can bring it in and protect it for the winter, I don't think it'll make it otherwise. I do mine in pots because of the winter protection factor, but I've seen posts from other people who grow theirs in the ground.

Thanks ecrane; that's kinda what I was thinking.

I am in the same zone as you. I have one in a BIG pot, and I have two in the ground. The one in the pot made it through the winter outside (it was an unusually warm winter). The leaves died back, but in early spring I pruned it and now it is totally covering a 4' oblisk and covered with blooms. The two mandevillas in the ground were planted this year, so I'll see how they do through the winter. Maybe throw some extra mulch on them in the winter if we get a cold snap. Otherwise I think they'll be fine.

:)

Mandevilla Laxa (Chilian Jasmine) can be grown in the ground. Its hardy to 15 degrees. When I lived in the San Francisco Bay area mine was evergreen and flowered year round. Here in Oregon it loses its leaves and looks really bad in winter, but comes back each spring. The flowers have a wonderful fragrance and its a beautiful vine.
Rebecca

Thanks greenbud--it's always nice to hear from someone in the same zone and relatively close by--I'm about four hours south of Houston. I'm glad to know that they do well in pots cause I got up this morning and put mine in a bigger pot with a nice trellis to grow up. Do you keep yours in full sun? I have a nice covered patio that is covered with polyurethene and I'm going to see if I can get plenty of blooms on the patio; if not, I'll move the pot in the sun until the first possible freeze.

Rebecca, I need to check out your variety in plant files. Thanks for the info.

Patty

I have the Alice Dupont variety in the big clay pot with the 4' oblisk trellis. If you got your plant at a big box store like Wal-Mart, Home Depot or Lowe's, you probably have an Alice Dupont also. I have a white one in the ground (exact variety unknown, but looks just like a white Alice Dupont). I also have another pink Alice dupont in the ground, and another unknown kind of mandevilla, with smaller leaves, more "native plant looking". Blooms are various shades of pink. They all get morning to early afternoon sun and then shade during the heat of the day, maybe a little more sun towards sunset. The heat of the day will scorch their leaves. They like a fair amount of water. Not soggy, but a good drink every few days (the one in the pot especially). Seems like the one in the pot needs water more frequently than the ones in the ground. I give mine a little fertilizer regularly, and they bloom like crazy. Very easy to grow.

I can't remember where I got mine, but I would say WM or Lowe's so you're probably right about it being an Alice Dupont. I've thought about using an oblisk trellis but haven't. I'm glad you mentioned that; I may have to pick one up today. Mine is just now starting to send off shoots.

What type of fertilizer are you giving yours? Mine has just a bloom or two; I'm so ready for it to take off. I just love the pink flowers it produces.

Thanks for info.

Patty

Patty,
The last time I threw fertilizer on my mandevillas, I gave them Nutri Star Plumeria blend (can be used on all tropical flowering plants according to the label). I got it at Houston Garden Center I think, but I've also seen it at Cornelius and Plants for All Seasons. I found their website: http://www.nelsonplantfood.com/index.cfm
I also like Osmocote slow-release fertilizer (sold at Walmart, Lowes etc). But I'll use just about anything though.

The oblisk turned out to be kind of tricky. I bought mine at Lowe's. To get it to fit into the terra cotta pot, I had to measure the base diagonally (16" if I remember correctly) and then take a tape measure with me when I shopped for the pot. The first 16" pot I bought without taking a tape measure was about 1/2" too small. I finally ended up buying a pot at Houston Garden Center (during a 50% off sale!) that was a bit wider and shorter than most 16" pots. Kind of a hassle to find the right one, but it was worth it in the end.

I'll post pictures later today.
:)
- Jessica

Thanks for all the info. I just put Osmokote on mine a couple of days ago; we've been gettting mega rain which is very unusual. I do have Nutri-star Plumeria food; I use it for my plumies. Do you think the plumeria food works better than the osmokote or is it hard to tell?

I haven't bought the oblisk yet so I'm glad you mentioned the need to measure. I'll go prepared with tape measure in hand.

Would love to see pictures when you get a chance.

Patty

It's been raining for a week solid! I've probably gotten 10" of rain at my house. It's starting to rain now, but I managed to snap a few pics before the downpour.
I haven't noticed a difference between the Osmokote and the NutriStar, but I haven't done a controlled experiment either. That's an idea...

Here's the one in the pot. My grass is about a foot tall, so there is a terra cotta pot in there somewhere. It won't stop raining long enough to mow!

Another angle...

The white mandevilla. The plant in the lower left corner is a patchouli plant. I wanted one for a really long time, and I finally found one on ebay. It's really taking off. The mandevilla will look really cool once it fills in the trellis.

Here is the other pink one (the other one I planted in the ground).

They are all beautiful and loaded with blooms; I love the way the one on the oblisk looks so loaded with flowers. I hope mine will do the same. Thanks for sharing the pic's. I see a trip to WM for an oblisk in my near future.

Thank you very much. I love mandevillas, and as an added bonus, they are SO easy to grow!

Regarding the oblisk, I learned something about how to grow this vine on it. Last year, the first year I had this vine and oblisk, I didn't do anything with the vines after they reached the top of the oblisk and kept on growing. I just let them do their thing. They ended up looking like a tangled, lopsided blob on top of the oblisk. It was still beautiful because it was lush and loaded with blooms, but it was lopsided and top-heavy. So this year I started trying to make it more symetrical and even. When a vine reaches the top of the oblisk, plus about 3 or 4 feet, I bend it downward and weave it in the oblisk toward the pot. I do this all the way around the structure evenly. The vines naturally turn back upwards and double over themselves growing back toward the top. It fills in the middle of the oblisk, and it makes it more symetrical. The individual vines will get LONG. Late in February/early March when I pruned and re-potted this plant, some of the vines were at least 20'.

Anyway, hope your mandevilla growing provides you with as much enjoyment as it has for me. Have fun!! :)

I purchased a "little red riding hood" at HD last week and put it in the ground. real red blooms.... it was nice. brought it home and put it in the ground. it was about 10" long no support and only two blooms on it when I brought it home. Now, in the ground with 10 feet of lattice to grow up, it is about 1 and 1/2 feet tall and no blooms. I don't know what to think. the leaves are really spread out and the two blooms that were on it fell off. It is growning, fast, but I don't know a thing about this vine. I plan to winter it in the ground under lots of mulch. Any suggestions or comments, I welcome all?

calvin

Try this:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/48934/index.html

:)

I have 3 a bright red a pink and a pink with stripes in it.
Wish I had more time to spend with plants. I don't know how I find time to work .
I want a white one . Is there a yellow one?
Lavina

nivlac...you're going to need a lot of mulch! They're only hardy to zone 10, so I'm not sure if it'll come back for you or not even with the mulch. I tried to overwinter one in the ground once here in 9b and it never came back, although I probably didn't do as much as I could have to protect it.

Lavina--I don't think they come in yellow. If you want a similar look with the yellow color, you could try an Allamanda instead, there are many varieties of it that have yellow flowers. I have one, the flowers are a little smaller than the Mandevilla but they're still really pretty.

I lost a Mandevilla during the winter last year and ditto a neighbor down the street...we are in region 8a and the winters have been milder than usual... Perhaps you could consider putting it in a pot and put the pot in the ground to move inside when the weather cools.
Good luck,
Deb