Prop Me Up Too

I am glad I discovered the Mandevilla plant at the nursery. It is a beautiful flowering plant in it's own right - even without using it to attract hummingbirds.

When I bought it, it had a bamboo trellis to train it to grow upward. I removed it, however, and let the plant trail downward. When I repotted it a few days ago I put a small trellis back into the pot. I am going to let some of it hang. It didn't seem to mind and I think it would probably work as a hanging basket on a porch or overhang.

Mandevilla come in a range of colors from white to pink to red. If you google the name and click on images, you will get a good idea of it's nature. In more tropical climates, it can grow quite large and the long-lasting blooms are impressive. Notice how many of even the larger ones are in pots. I can't imagine how some of those are taken in over the winter.

Individual blooms are long-lasting, staying fresh for at least a couple weeks from my observation of the plant as I filmed the hummingbirds. It isn't like some flowers that bloom for a day and are gone.