Here is my choice for best flower of the summer at my house. Last year I bought something new to me...Dipladenia. It's a type of Mandevilla. I really liked them and thought that I would plant a few more this year. I couldn't find them anywhere....last year I ordered them online. I saw some Mandevillas and thought that I would just buy one. I put it in the container and waited for it to vine and trail. It never did. I thought it must be a Dipladenia. Just this past week, I moved the pot from below the deck stairs to the table on the deck. It started to vine and trail immediately. So, I guess the sign was right. The Japanese Beetles have been so bad this year, but they never touch this plant. It is an attraction for the hummers and butterflies, however. It never droops, always perky and the blossoms keep coming. So, next year, I will buy several of these and I won't have to resort to using those artificial geraniums in my hanging basket.
Balisha
4 comments:
I love Mandevilles I usually put mine in a really big pot with a 4 post trellis and let it climb like crazy. They are beautiful...Colleen takes hers in every year puts it in her basement with hardly any care through the winter than brings it back out in the spring and it goes crazy...Truely a great plant!!! Yours is beautiful!
Really a lovely flower, Balisha. I have never had one.
That's a huge plus if Japanese beetles leave them alone! Maybe I'll recommend them to my sister instead of tropical hibiscus, which the beetles definitely love. She has more Japanese beetles where she lives than I've ever seen anywhere.
Seems to me mandevillas are a lot more tolerant of dry soil than hibiscus too.
Just gorgeous! Definitely better then artificial geraniums :-)
Noelle
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