Mandevillia

I often get questions from people who have roamed the garden and have fallen in love with a particular flower. Passionvine, Aloysia, Fragrant Olive and Mandevillia are the flowers I am most commonly asked about because the flowers are either startling or deeply fragrant. Our Mandevillia his giant pink blooms and is clambering up a trellis in the garden behind the BioWorks Butterfly Garden.

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Mandevillia is a genus of South American flowering vines that contains more that 100 species. Countless hybrids have been created over the years, each with flowers more showy than the next. I have no idea which hybrid is in our garden as the plant was a gift from a friend.

These vines are fast growing and heavy flowering, making them perfect for covering an unsightly part of the yard or just training up a mailbox or lamp post. Mandevillia will die back during cold snaps and freezes, but can come back from the root as this one did after last year’s terrible winter.