Plant Finder

Other Names:  Dipladenia

Group/Class:  Tropical Breeze® Series

Brand:  Monrovia

Description:

This vigorous twining selection produces bold and tropical, deep red trumpet flowers from spring to fall, over glossy green leaves; a lovely choice for trellises, garden fences or walls; excellent drought tolerance; prefers full sun

Ornamental Features

Tropical Breeze™ Velvet Red Mandevilla features bold dark red tubular flowers with gold throats along the branches from mid spring to late fall. It has dark green evergreen foliage. The glossy pointy leaves remain dark green throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

Tropical Breeze™ Velvet Red Mandevilla is a multi-stemmed evergreen tropical plant with a ground-hugging habit of growth. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This tropical plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and can be pruned at anytime. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Insects

Tropical Breeze™ Velvet Red Mandevilla is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

This plant is native to the tropics and prefers growing in moist environments with evenly warm conditions all year round. In our climate, it is usually grown as an outdoor annual in the garden or in a container. If you want it to survive the winter, it can be brought in to the house and provided with special care, and then returned to the garden the following season. In its preferred tropical habitat, as a shrub it can grow to be around 10 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. However, when grown as an annual or when overwintered indoors, it can be expected to perform quite differently, and its exact height and spread will depend on many factors; you may wish to consult with our experts as to how it might perform in your specific application and growing conditions.

This tropical plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It requires an evenly moist well-drained soil for optimal growth. To help this plant achive its best flowering performance, periodically apply a flower-boosting fertilizer from early spring through into the active growing season. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid, and parts of it are known to be toxic to humans and animals, so care should be exercised in planting it around children and pets. It can be propagated by cuttings; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Tropical Breeze™ Velvet Red Mandevilla makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.