Beautiful Mandevilla Colors for Your Garden, Plus How-Tos

If you’re a fan of Mandevilla, you’ll know this exotic, tropical vine for its showy flowers and glossy green leaves. Whether grown on a garden trellis or in a hanging basket, it’s a show-stopper!

Read on to learn about the variety of Mandevilla colors available, plus tips on growing and caring for Mandevilla.

Mandevilla Colors and Varieties

Mandevilla vines are famous for eye-catching blooms in a trumpet shape that come in beautiful shades of red, pink, yellow, purple, cream, and white. Varieties include –

Alice DuPont Mandevilla produces lots of showy rose-pink blooms with yellow centers. Alice DuPont grows 12 feet tall, with 2 to 3 feet spread.

Crimson shows off bright red flowers – a quick trellis climber that blooms from spring to fall. Crimson Mandevilla grows up to 15 feet.

Merlot displays large wine-red blooms with a gold center. Merlot Mandevilla loves a bright sunny spot with plenty of heat. This variety grows to 6 feet tall, with a 2-foot spread.

Double Pink produces lovely shell pink flowers with white accents. The rose-like blooms are fully double. Double pink grows up to 15 feet with a 2-foot spread.

Rio Pink sports bright pink flowers with yellow centers. This one has blooms that measure as big as 3 inches across. It also loves the heat and humidity.

Bush Easy Pink has a mounding growth habit, which works well as part of a container garden. The flowers are a true medium pink.

Bride’s Cascade features bold white tubular blooms with yellow centers. Bride’s cascade grows to 10 feet with a 2-foot spread.

Moonlight Parfait features large, shell-pink flowers. The glossy pointed leaves stay dark green throughout the season.

For more information on Mandevilla colors and varieties, visit here.

Mandevilla Good To-Knows

Mandevilla is an evergreen, twining vine that produces colorful trumpet-shaped flowers.

They are also excellent for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard.

Some parts of the Mandevilla are toxic to animals and humans, so care should be taken when planting it around children and pets. A good thing – deer, aren’t a big fan of Mandevilla vines and tend to leave them alone in favor of more flavorful plants.

Where to Plant a Mandevilla Vine

Mandevilla is a climbing vine. Some varieties can reach up to 15 feet in length! An ideal planting spot is an area where the plant has lots of room to grow upward freely   –

• Near a fence
• Next to a trellis or other garden structure
• Trailing downward from a retaining wall or graduated slope
• In outdoor pots and containers
• Next to a tree, mailbox, or outdoor light pole
• Near a garden wall

Mandevilla is also considered a trailing plant, so it’s suited for use as a ‘spiller’ in the ‘thriller-filler-spiller’ plant container technique. Plant it near the edge of the pot so the flowers will spill gracefully over the sides.

A question that often comes up is – Is Mandevilla an annual or perennial plant? It depends on where you live. The Mandevilla vine is native to South America.

It is designated a tender perennial in the US, which means it will return yearly in USDA zones 9 to 11. The plant can survive zone 8 winters with a layer of mulch for protection.

In northern zones, a Mandevilla must be inside while freezing temperatures are outside.

Growing and Caring for Mandevilla

Soil – Mandevilla vines prefer a well-drained, sandy soil with a bit of compost. A good soil ‘recipe’ for Mandevilla is two parts potting soil to one part garden sand.

Light and location – Mandevilla thrives in indirect light or filtered sunlight. A spot that gets sun in the morning and filtered shade in the afternoon is ideal. Long periods of the direct sun may burn the foliage. It is recommended to have protection from high winds. These conditions will contribute to healthy Mandevilla colors and blooms.

Temperature – Like their South American cousins, tropical Mandevilla thrives in warm, humid conditions.  Keep the soil evenly moist for best results.

Fertilizer – For the most beautiful and abundant blooms throughout the season, feed your Mandevilla with high phosphorus, water-soluble fertilizer every other week.

Pruning – Mandevilla vines do require occasional pruning or pinching. A plant that is left untended may start to look unruly and bloom less. Mandevilla can be pruned whenever needed, but the best time to prune is before the plant begins to sprout new shoots – late winter or early spring.

Mandevilla flowers bloom on new growth. A pruned old stem will quickly produce new strong stems in the spring.

Pinching back your Mandevilla will create a lush and full plant. Once the plant has grown a few inches in length, use your thumb and forefinger to ‘pinch’ 1/4 to 1/2 inch off each stem tip.

It’s a good idea to prune your Mandevilla once a year to keep it compact and healthy.

For detailed information on Mandevilla care, visit here.

 

How to Support a Mandevilla Vine – Trellises & More

Mandevilla vines and other plants that are tall or top-heavy require some support to keep them upright and continue to grow well. Supports are also essential for plants that grow in a location that experiences continual breezes.

Plant supports are often used for individual specimens or ornamental plantings. The support shouldn’t take away from the beauty of the plant – but should serve as a ‘quiet,’ supportive back-drop.

Eventually, the plant’s foliage will grow to hide the support.

Attach the Mandevilla vine to the trellis or other support with plant twist ties, adding more ties as the vine grows. Attach the vine to the support firmly, but leave a little room for the stem to move in the wind and allow for growth.

Cut pieces of pantyhose also work well as ties – they stretch as the plant grows.

Mandevilla are versatile as they can easily grow on a trellis, in a hanging basket, or in a container with support. With the wide range of Mandevilla colors and varieties available, you’re sure to find the perfect Mandevilla to beautify your home garden.

Interested in more home gardening tips? Visit here.