Mandevilla Vine

I came up with a nickname for this flower - the pinwheel.  That's what the pink mandevilla looks like when it blooms.  At least, to me it does :)

Mandevillas are elegant vines with trumpet-shaped flowers in pink, red and white.  I have a pink one and a red one.  If you look at the picture below, you can see the pink one on a trellis and in the background to the left is another trellis where the red one grows.

When the pink mandevillas first bloom, they are the softest baby pink color.  Within a copy of days, the bloom turns into a more vibrant pink.  Below, the right bloom is a new bloom and the left bloom is older.

The blooms for the pink are nice and large and eye-catching... the reds are smaller, blood red and wicked cool.

I had more trouble getting the red mandevilla to take off.  There was a huge root system in the pot when I bought it and I'm wondering if having such a large root system might have been the problem.  Mostly because half of the plant died within a week of being transplanted.  It might have been in the pot for too long?  But it's still alive and kicking.

Above is the red vine.  To the right of it, another vine - morning glory.  I didn't plant the morning glory - it was a natural vine in the yard I left it to grow.  I do know the morning glory can choke a yard, which makes me nervous about the two vines being so close together.  Most of the morning glories that Kim and I moved didn't survive, so I'm hard pressed to move this one that survived.

The Mandevillas are annual and they are poisonous (all parts of the plant).  I read that they climb to 20 feet.  My garden brick wall isn't that tall.  This should prove to be interesting.

They tolerate wet soil and are easy to grow (especially the pink ones).

Though I don't have one, I saw white mandevillas in a nursery - outstandingly beautiful!  I want one now :)