Mounding mandevillas are relatively new to the gardening scene. I remember when I saw my first mandevilla – it was a vine with big pink flowers and it completely covered a 6-foot-tall trellis in its big textured leaves. I didn’t really have a place for another climbing vine in my garden, so I passed it by.

Much to my delight, a few years later, plant breeders came up with a solution: mounding mandevilla. As inelegant as the name may sound, it is descriptive: Mounding mandevilla varieties stay as relatively tidy little mounds of color, rather than vining up and reaching for the sky. You can grow them along a sidewalk or walkway, in the front of the border, or in container gardens, hanging baskets, and window boxes. No trellis needed.  

Mounding Mandevilla Colors

Mounding mandevilla come in a few colors, too, beyond the bubble-gum pink color found in old-school varieties like ‘Alice Dupont’. One of my favorites is Mandevilla ‘Summervillea’, which features smooth and shiny dark green leaves accented by loads of star-shaped deep red flowers. This is one of the more floriferous varieties I’ve grown. The number of blooms it produces over the course of a summer is incredible! (And, like most mandevilla varieties, it doesn’t bat an eye at summer heat and humidity.) 

I also have a soft spot for white flowers, so I tuck a few White Mandevilla in my yard, too. It also features small, shiny leaves that really set off the elegant white flowers. 

Most mounding mandevilla varieties can grow about 18 inches tall and wide by the end of the season, but often stay a little smaller, especially in areas with cool or short summers. They thrive in full sun (at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sun per day) and you may find the plants grow a little more vine-like if they’re in the shade. They also bloom significantly less in full shade.

Mounding Mandevilla Partners

Heat-loving mounding mandevillas are excellent summer plants, and thrive in pairings with other surefire plants, including:

Angelonia (try angelonia ‘Archangel Dark Purple’ with pink mounding mandevilla for a cottage look)

Begonia (try begonia ‘Big Red Bronze Leaf’ with red mounding mandevilla for a classic look)

Caladium (try sun-loving caladium ‘Puppy Love’ with white mounding mandevilla for an elegant look)

Coleus (try coleus ‘Wasabi’ with pink mounding mandevilla for a trendy look)

Gomphrena (try gomphrena ‘Fireworks’ with pink mounding mandevilla for a combo the butterflies will love)

Pentas (try Pentas ‘Graffiti Red’ with red mounding mandevilla to attract hummingbirds)

Salvia (try Salvia ‘Black and Bloom’ with white mounding mandevilla for a crisp look)

Written by Justin Hancock