Mandevilla

The Mandevilla plant is it treated as an annual or will it overwinter?


Thanks,
Danielle

Hi Daneille,

In your zone probably an annual though I have heard bunches of people in my zone say that they are coming back! If it's in a pot, just cut it back and let it go dormant .. if it's in the ground, cut it down and dump a bucket of dirt on it. But wait until the weather cools down enough to where it won't want to put out a lot of new shoots.

I have a greenhouse and mine are in pots, so I just cut them back and put them in the greenhouse and only water enough to keep the soil from completely drying out.

X

Hi Flower,
Hope you don't mind me jumping in here. I also have a mandevilla question. I bought mine last year in August.It had beautiful red blooms. I overwintered it in a spare room with not much heat at all. It did fine. My problem is,it has never bloomed again.I put in on my back deck,in spring,in full sun,but nothing has happened.The foilage grew,but the blooms never came.Mabe someone will look in this thread that knows mandevilles well enough for us both.We are both in N.C. and probably have similar growing practices.
Thanks-Lynda

Hi Lynda .. did you feed it? A lot? This has been a very strange growing year for a lot of plants. Either they are blooming very late or not blooming at all! My two mandevilla's bloomed this year but my allamanda hasn't and they all got treated the same. I have 3 canna lily. Two have bloomed and one hasn't, again they were all treated the same. Don't know what the problem is, but you are not alone.

X

I have my pink mandevilla in a pot and bring it in when I bring in my tropical hibiscus. I did try overwintering a red one in the ground a few years ago and was not successful. Perhaps if it was bigger (bigger root system) it would have come back.
X - my allamanda hasn't bloomed yet either. Kinda annoying since it's right next to my front door. It is in the ground and was overwintered with blankets covering it when the temps got below 30. It's 6' tall now. Where are the blooms??
Barb

My alamanda is also taking its sweet time!

I have a Mandevilla in a pot that I cut back and put in the unheated garage over the winter. This is its 3rd season and it's blooming the best it ever has. It does like to be fed though, as X suggested.

Deb

How far do you cut it down? Do you wait until it loses its leaves? I see a few bottom leaves are yellowing/falling off on mine, but I also see new buds coming in. My mandevilla is in a pot too inside my house now.

Thanks,
Danielle

I'm starting to wonder if Allamanda aren't "winter blooming" plants in their native habitat (like bouganvillea), Deb. I've got 1 (of three original planting) in the ground growing fine, no sign of buds yet. Hasn't bloomed in 3 years. But three I grew in pots and moved to the GH for the winter last year are in full bloom now, and have been for the last month or so. May be one of those plants we can successfully "grow" here, but not get to flower without intervention. Mine are "Golden Butterfly" from Logees...

Yep, Stono, I'm wondering if I should bring my alamanda in as a house plant this year. Last winter I put it in the garage, thinking just to protect it from freezing, but it took a long time to come back. It bloomed the previous summer, but very late. By the way, mine is also Golden Butterfly - because I got it from you! ;-> I have a similar quandary with my gigantic Shell ginger. It's in a pot and I dragged it to the garage last year instead of letting it die back over winter, hoping it would bloom, but - although it's HUGE, no blooms. So it may be one of those winter bloomin' things, too....maybe.

Danielle, I cut my mandevilla down to about 1 foot after it drops most of its leaves. It started growing again in late winter while still in the garage. I imagine if you keep it inside, you might not need to prune it back very far..if at all. Maybe someone else knows more about that.

Deb

I keep my Mandevilla as a houseplant even if it apparently isnt considered a houseplant. Even if it is dormant during the winter it is still very pretty during the summer.

If kept inside all the time does anyone know if I have to prune it or what?

Thanks,
Danielle

Deb, I bought lots of shell ginger 2 summers ago. I brought them indoors for the winter , where they continued to grow. Since they were so big, I said a hail Mary and planted them outdoors in late April 2008, hoping they might bloom. Last fall at this time they were huge, but no flowers. They started sprouting new shoots last April, after a long cold winter. Now they are huge again and I'm really enjoying the foliage. They're about 3 ft x 4 ft. My nicest specimen is in a shady area that gets almost no direct sunlight. Although they will never bloom, I think they're a good alternative to hostas to brighten up somewhat shady areas.

I love shell gingers .. when I found out they would never bloom planted outside I ended up giving all of mine to my mom in Ft. Lauderdale. As you said, they get big and I'd never be able to keep them in the greenhouse because of that.

X

I do love my shell ginger, even if it will never bloom. I can still hope, though. :)

can someone tell me what a shell ginger is? I know of two gingers, one's a small groundcover for shade and the others grow tall and bloom and have marvelous fragrance. The tall ones require FULL sun to bloom. and I do mean FULL.

Bonjon, I'm talkin' bout alpinia zerumbet. :)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/55244/
Deb

Mandevilla can over winter sometimes where I am but you won't be able to leave it outside. Its hit or miss in 9a.



This message was edited Sep 29, 2009 9:53 PM

thanks for the shell ginger info. no wonder I don't know it - I'm in zone 7a! LOL

I've never successfully kept a mandevilla over the winter and had it grow well the next year. however, my BIL is a great plantsman and has had success. He leaves his in a pot but buries the pot in the ground wherever he wants it to grow. come the fall and the cold, he digs up the pot, repots in a larger pot if necessary, and brings it into his sunroom in the house. he's good with orchids, too, which I can't get to grow well. have no idea if he cuts it back or not. think he's done a bougenveilla (sp?) the same way.