Your Garden Questions Answered
Episode: #1 10/03/07
Presenter: Fiona Bruyn
It is hard to find a garden that doesn’t look its best in the spring. With so many flowering plants out at that time of the year it’s easy to have a beautiful garden. The real challenge comes in getting your garden to look good all year round.
Spring has long gone and the choice of flowering plants is dwindling so the plant of the month Fiona has chosen will fill the void your spring flowering plants have left. Mandevilla is real eye catcher that flowers from summer right through to May. Its strong coloured flowers will brighten any garden in autumn.
Mandevilla is an easy to care for non invasive twining climber. This graceful evergreen is the perfect choice for a warm climate garden, disliking temperatures that drop below 7 degrees. It can be grown in cooler areas but treat it as an annual, unless you plan on taking it indoors during winter.
There are about 100 species of this tropical American woody vine and include the plants that were formerly known as the Dipladenia
A real problem one of our club members, Tony from Gosford in Sydney is having deals with another climber, Wisteria. It’s taking over his arbour and has become a monster to maintain. Tony would have been better off choosing a less vigorous climber like the Mandevilla that way he could be enjoying his weekends in the garden instead of wrestling with his Wisteria.
You will never have this problem with Mandevilla, it is a delicate beauty that grows to 3m and produces an abundance of showy fragrant flowers which make up for its sparse foliage. It should be tip pruned to encourage bushy growth, but it can even be pruned to almost ground level, and the new shoots it produces from the base will flower in the same year.
Regular fortnightly feeding during the warmer months with a fertiliser high in phosphorus will increase its vigour and flower production.
The ideal position for them is in part shade; the soil needs to be well drained, rich in organic matter and sandy. Drainage is very important as they are prone to rot so don’t over water. In winter when the weather is cooler it likes to rest, so reduce watering and always let the soil dry out between watering.
They can also be grown in containers needing only a piece of trellis, stakes or some type of frame for support it.
Cultivars of Mandevilla:
Alice du Pont (Mandevilla x amabilis)
White Fantasy (Mandevilla sanderi Sun Parasol)
Pink Fantasy (Mandevilla sanderi Sun Parasol)
Crimson Fantasy (Mandevilla sanderi Sun Parasol)
It is very easy to add colour to your garden for the coming months, you just need to choose the right plants.
Eden Gardens
Fontenoy Rd and Lane Cove Rd,
North Ryde 2113 NSW
Website: www.edengarden.com.au
Presenter: Fiona Bruyn
It is hard to find a garden that doesn’t look its best in the spring. With so many flowering plants out at that time of the year it’s easy to have a beautiful garden. The real challenge comes in getting your garden to look good all year round.
Spring has long gone and the choice of flowering plants is dwindling so the plant of the month Fiona has chosen will fill the void your spring flowering plants have left. Mandevilla is real eye catcher that flowers from summer right through to May. Its strong coloured flowers will brighten any garden in autumn.
Mandevilla is an easy to care for non invasive twining climber. This graceful evergreen is the perfect choice for a warm climate garden, disliking temperatures that drop below 7 degrees. It can be grown in cooler areas but treat it as an annual, unless you plan on taking it indoors during winter.
There are about 100 species of this tropical American woody vine and include the plants that were formerly known as the Dipladenia
A real problem one of our club members, Tony from Gosford in Sydney is having deals with another climber, Wisteria. It’s taking over his arbour and has become a monster to maintain. Tony would have been better off choosing a less vigorous climber like the Mandevilla that way he could be enjoying his weekends in the garden instead of wrestling with his Wisteria.
You will never have this problem with Mandevilla, it is a delicate beauty that grows to 3m and produces an abundance of showy fragrant flowers which make up for its sparse foliage. It should be tip pruned to encourage bushy growth, but it can even be pruned to almost ground level, and the new shoots it produces from the base will flower in the same year.
Regular fortnightly feeding during the warmer months with a fertiliser high in phosphorus will increase its vigour and flower production.
The ideal position for them is in part shade; the soil needs to be well drained, rich in organic matter and sandy. Drainage is very important as they are prone to rot so don’t over water. In winter when the weather is cooler it likes to rest, so reduce watering and always let the soil dry out between watering.
They can also be grown in containers needing only a piece of trellis, stakes or some type of frame for support it.
Cultivars of Mandevilla:
Alice du Pont (Mandevilla x amabilis)
White Fantasy (Mandevilla sanderi Sun Parasol)
Pink Fantasy (Mandevilla sanderi Sun Parasol)
Crimson Fantasy (Mandevilla sanderi Sun Parasol)
It is very easy to add colour to your garden for the coming months, you just need to choose the right plants.
Eden Gardens
Fontenoy Rd and Lane Cove Rd,
North Ryde 2113 NSW
Website: www.edengarden.com.au
AS SEEN ON 
