Introduction

Quickly twining around any support, or pinched to create a handsome hanging specimen, 'Alice Dupont' allamanda is an attractive evergreen vine endowed with beautiful, deep pink, funnelform blooms up to 4 inches wide and 2 inches long, set off against dark green, large evergreen leaves. It may be the most popular cultivar of mandevilla.

General Information

Scientific name: Mandevilla splendens 'Alice Dupont'

Pronunciation: man-dev-VILL-luh SPLEN-denz

Common name(s): 'Alice Dupont' allamanda

Family: Apocynaceae

Plant type: vine

USDA hardiness zones: 10 through 11 (Figure 2)

Planting month for zone 10 and 11: year round

Origin: not native to North America

Invasive potential: not known to be invasive

Uses: hanging basket; cascading down a wall

Availability: generally available in many areas within its hardiness range

Description

Height: depends upon supporting structure

Spread: depends upon supporting structure

Plant habit: spreading

Plant density: dense

Growth rate: moderate

Texture: coarse

Foliage

Leaf arrangement: opposite/subopposite

Leaf type: simple

Leaf margin: undulate

Leaf shape: elliptic (oval)

Leaf venation: pinnate

Leaf type and persistence: evergreen

Leaf blade length: 4 to 8 inches

Leaf color: green

Fall color: no fall color change

Fall characteristic: not showy

Flower

Flower color: pink

Flower characteristic: year-round flowering; pleasant fragrance

Fruit

Fruit shape: elongated

Fruit length: unknown

Fruit cover: dry or hard

Fruit color: brown

Fruit characteristic: inconspicuous and not showy

Trunk and Branches

Trunk/bark/branches: typically multi-trunked or clumping stems

Current year stem/twig color: green

Current year stem/twig thickness: medium

Culture

Light requirement: plant grows in full sun

Soil tolerances: slightly alkaline; clay; sand; acidic; loam

Drought tolerance: moderate

Soil salt tolerances: poor

Plant spacing: 36 to 60 inches

Other

Roots: not applicable

Winter interest: plant has winter interest due to unusual form, nice persistent fruits, showy winter trunk, or winter flowers

Outstanding plant: plant has outstanding ornamental features and could be planted more

Pest resistance: no serious pests are normally seen on the plant

Use and Management

It looks particularly attractive twining along a fence or over an arbor or mail box. Foliage and flowers cluster toward the top of the fence or arbor several years after planting. Regularly heading back several of the twining stems each year will help generate new foliage and flowers near the ground. Rapid growth and profuse flowering have helped allamanda become popular as an annual in cooler regions where freezing temperatures kill the plant to the ground.

Growing best in full sun, allamanda needs well-drained soil and should receive ample moisture during the growing season. Flowers appear in greatest abundance during the summer, but some appear all year in hardiness zones 10 and 11.

Pests and Diseases

No pests or diseases are of major concern. Plants are occasionally bothered by scale and mealybugs.