Shrub · Apocynaceae
Mandevilla
Mandevilla × amabilis
Give it sun and summer warmth, and mandevilla will reward you with trumpet blooms clear into fall.
Full sun
Every 3–7 days
45–90°F · 7–32°C
USDA 10–11
Overview
If mandevilla is your first tropical vine, you are in good hands, because it is more forgiving than it looks. This fast grower belongs to the dogbane family and thanks you with big trumpet flowers from summer into fall. It came from the warm parts of the Americas, so it only stays out through winter in zones 10 and 11. Anywhere colder, you simply grow it in a pot for the summer and bring it indoors before the chill, and it takes that in stride.
You will meet it in two shapes at the garden center, and either one is a fine choice. The tall twining kind sold as Mandevilla loves a trellis or post and can climb well over your head, while the bushier, mounding plants sold as Dipladenia stay neat in pots and hanging baskets. Both ask for the same simple things, warmth, sun, and steady water through summer, so you do not need to learn two sets of rules.
The only habit worth minding is the sap. When you cut a stem it weeps a milky sap that can sting skin and eyes, so slip on gloves before you prune and you will be fine. Beyond that, give it light and warmth and it settles in happily, and even a slow start usually turns around once the weather warms. You have got this.
Care
The short version: give it full sun for the best flowers, steady water through the summer heat with a drier rest in winter, rich soil that drains, and a bloom feed every couple of weeks once it is growing, and it will thank you.
Light
Your plant will bloom best in full sun, so aim for 6 or more hours of direct light each day and it will thank you with flowers. It will still get by in part shade or bright indirect light if that is what you have, but the dimmer the spot, the more leaves and fewer blooms you will see.
Water
Through summer, keep the soil evenly moist but never soggy, which usually means a drink every 3 to 7 days and a little more when it is hot or the pot is small. Come winter, relax and let the soil dry out more between waterings while the plant rests, and it will be happier for the break.
Soil
Give it rich, well-drained ground with some humus mixed in, or a peat-based mix if it lives in a pot. It is easygoing about acidity and is content anywhere from a pH of 6.0 to 8.0, so your only real job is making sure water can move through and never pool.
Temperature
This is a warm-weather plant that feels best between 45°F and 90°F (7°C to 32°C), and you will notice growth slow as the air cools. Frost is the one thing it cannot survive, so bring it indoors before nights dip below 50°F (10°C) and it will keep going.
Humidity
Mandevilla enjoys high humidity, a nod to the moist warmth of its tropical home. When it winters indoors, cluster it with other plants or rest the pot on a pebble tray, and the air around the leaves will stay comfortable.
Feeding
Feed it every two weeks through spring and summer while it is growing strong, and you will see the difference in the flowers. Reach for a high-phosphorus bloom fertilizer such as 10-20-10, since too much nitrogen coaxes out leaves at the cost of blooms.
Pruning
Tidy it up in late winter or early spring before new growth, taking out the old crowded stems and shortening the rest, and pinch young plants to help them fill out. Do slip on gloves first, because the cut stems weep an irritating milky sap.
Repotting
Move it into a slightly bigger pot every 1 to 2 years, or sooner if roots start circling, water rushes straight through, or growth and bloom stall. A pot that drains well matters far more than a large one, so do not feel you have to size up dramatically.
Size & spacing
Depending on the type, mandevilla ranges from a tidy 3 feet to a towering 10 feet (0.9 to 3 m) and spreads 3 to 4 feet (91 to 122 cm) across. If you have a climbing form, give it a trellis or post to reach up, and it will happily do the rest.
When to plant
Mandevilla loves warmth and cannot take frost, so let the calendar guide you gently. Start seed or wake overwintered plants indoors in late winter, wait to move them outside until nights hold above 50°F (10°C), and the flowers will come along from summer through fall.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: late winter to early spring
- Plant: after last frost when nights stay above 50 degrees F
- Harvest: summer through fall
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 10–11
Temperature: down to -1°C
Troubleshooting
Do not worry if something looks off, because most mandevilla hiccups are easy to read and easy to fix. Usually it is either a pest that hitched a ride on an overwintering plant or a vine putting out leaves instead of flowers. Find your symptom below, act early, and you will likely turn it right around.
Drooping, yellow leaves with soft dark roots in wet soil
When the soil stays wet and the leaves wilt all the same, gently suspect root rot from too much water. Ease the plant out of its pot and look at the roots, since healthy ones feel firm and pale while rotted ones turn dark, soft, and smell off. Hold off watering, repot into fresh fast-draining mix, trim away the dead roots, and make sure the pot drains freely from here on, and it can still pull through.
Fix:
- Stop watering and let the soil dry out
- Repot into fresh, fast-draining mix and trim away rotted roots
- Ensure the container has drainage holes and discard standing water
Fine webbing with speckled, yellowing leaves
If you spot tiny moving dots and a silvery speckling on the leaves, the likely culprit is spider mites, which love the warm, dry air around plants overwintering indoors. To be sure, tap a leaf over a sheet of white paper and watch for specks, then give the foliage a firm rinse, undersides included. Follow up with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, raise the humidity, and keep the plant on its own until it recovers, and it usually does.
Fix:
- Rinse foliage with a strong spray of water, especially leaf undersides
- Treat with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, repeating per label
- Raise humidity and isolate the plant to limit spread
Cottony fluff and sticky film along stems and joints
Sticky honeydew and little cottony tufts are the tell-tale signs of mealybugs, scale, aphids, or whitefly, all of which are drawn to an overwintering vine. Peek at the stem junctions and leaf undersides to see which visitor you have. Touch mealybugs and scale with an alcohol-dipped swab, spray the others with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, and snip off any growth that is truly overrun so the plant can bounce back.
Fix:
- Wipe off mealybugs and scale with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol
- Spray with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, repeating as needed
- Remove heavily infested growth and isolate the plant
Plenty of green growth but hardly any blooms
A mandevilla that grows leaf after leaf but skips the flowers is nearly always just short on sun, since it needs full sun to bloom well. Cool nights and a heavy hand with nitrogen can nudge it toward leaves too. Move it into at least 6 hours of direct sun, keep it cozy and warm, and switch to a high-phosphorus bloom feed like 10-20-10, and the flowers should follow.
Fix:
- Move the plant to a full-sun location
- Switch to a high-phosphorus bloom fertilizer such as 10-20-10
- Keep it warm, as bloom slows in cool conditions
Toxicity
Mandevilla is in the dogbane family and bleeds a milky sap that no person or pet should eat, but a little care keeps everyone comfortable. A curious nibble tends to give pets a mild upset stomach, and the sap can sting skin, eyes, and mouths. None of the plant is meant to be eaten, so set it out of reach of grazing animals, pets, and small children, and wear gloves when you cut it.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Mild
If a cat nibbles a leaf, it usually ends up with a mild upset stomach, some drooling, and maybe a little vomiting. The milky sap can leave its mouth sore too, so it is kindest to keep the plant out of paw's reach.
Dogs Mild
A dog that chews the foliage tends to drool and bring up a bit of what it ate. Contact with the cut sap may redden the muzzle or leave the mouth irritated, so wipe it clean and keep pruning scraps away.
Horses Mild
That same irritant sap can unsettle a grazing horse, with drooling and a mild stomach ache the usual outcome. The good news is most horses taste the bitter foliage once and leave it be.
Rabbits Mild
A rabbit that samples the leaves may drool and lose interest in its food for a little while. Keep clippings out of the hutch and offer safer greens, and it will be none the worse.
Livestock Caution
Grazing animals rarely pick this bitter, sappy plant on purpose, though a very hungry one could end up with an irritated mouth and a queasy gut. Fencing it off where stock roam keeps everyone comfortable.
Birds Caution
There is little on record about harm to birds, but the irritant latex is reason enough to keep it out of reach. Treat curious pet birds with a little extra caution around the foliage.
People Caution
No part of the plant is meant to be eaten, and swallowing the foliage can irritate the mouth and stomach. The milky sap is the bigger nuisance, since it stings skin and eyes, so wear gloves and wash up well after pruning.
Wear gloves when pruning or handling cut stems because the milky latex sap can irritate skin and eyes; wash hands after contact and keep cuttings away from pets and children.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Mandevilla comes in plenty of named hybrids, but a handful show up again and again and are a friendly place to start. Here are the ones worth knowing by name.
Alice du Pont
A well-loved large vining kind whose deep pink trumpet flowers can carry it to around 20 feet outdoors, so give it room to climb.
Sun Parasol series
A friendly, free-flowering group of hybrids in many colors, ranging from compact little mounds to eager climbers, so there is one for almost any spot.
Red Riding Hood
A spirited vine that opens its blooms in a rich rose-red.
Dipladenia (Mandevilla sanderi forms)
The bushier, mounding trade forms with smaller glossy leaves, still sold as Dipladenia yet now grouped under Mandevilla, and just as easy to love.
How to propagate
Making more mandevilla is easier than you might expect, and cuttings are the gentlest route, though seed is there for patient growers too.
Stem cuttingsModerate
Spring through summer · 4-8 weeks
Cuttings are the reliable and beginner-friendly way to copy a mandevilla you love. In the warm season, take softwood tips from new growth, strip the lower leaves, and settle them into a well-drained mix, where a dip in rooting hormone gives you better odds and roots take hold in 4 to 8 weeks. Wear gloves as you go, since the cut stems ooze that same irritating milky sap.
SeedModerate
Late winter to early spring · Several weeks to germinate
You can also raise mandevilla from seed sown in late winter to early spring, though be patient, because it takes several weeks just to sprout. Most growers lean on cuttings instead, since they root faster and keep your favorite named cultivar true to type.
Myths
Dipladenia is a completely different plant from Mandevilla.
Take heart, these are the same group of plants, since Dipladenia is only the old genus name and they all sit under Mandevilla today. The trade holds the two words apart to flag a difference in habit, not in genus: the tall twining types get sold as Mandevilla and the bushy, mounding Mandevilla sanderi forms as Dipladenia.