You know - like that old Energizer bunny! Something that just keeps on going and going and going! That what this has done with blooms. I bought it at the end of April in 2014 already in bloom. I paid $20 which made me cringe, but I was looking for something that might appeal to hummingbirds and this was all I saw. I figured it would bloom briefly and then I'd manage to kill it. I'd only seen Mandevillas in garden centers. Well, I put it in a slightly larger pot and it didn't blink and it bloomed continuously until I brought it inside last October. Winter isn't a kinder, gentler time for my plants. Inadequate storage conditions and woefully inadequate care takes a toll here, but this thing just rested and turned loose of some of its leaves. I put it in a considerably large container and started putting it back outside at the end of March. Here are two views taken seconds apart. I think the flash photo just shows how many buds are coming along better, but the other is perhaps better at reflecting what the eye sees. It has to be a generic Mandevilla because it had no tag at all when I bought it. It probably would like a trellis because I have to unwind some new twining growth all the time until it gets heavy enough to stay down.
