All hail, Rio dipladenias!

This Rio dipladenia spent the winter indoors, in a planter located in our sunroom.
It took several weeks to bloom after it was re-planted outdoors but it's going nuts in September.

    A new favorite in the Baker gardens is a hardy, showy tropical plant with very few problems: The Rio Dipladenia!

    Yes, these are widely available, cost-efficient and thrive even in Iowa. We first purchased one for a problem spot in the Ankeny, Iowa home owned by Kirstin and Gage, our daughter and son-in-law. It was featured at the Home Depot store and seemed like it might be happy in this spot even with poor soil and searing sunshine.

    The little soldier grew like Topsy and thrived, giving a bright red, flower-y look to a visible location in front of their garages.

    Subsequently I bought one for my own problem spot; next to our driveway. That was in 2020, and it flourished so nicely I stuck it in a nice planter and brought it indoors for the winter. This year, 2021, I re-planted it next to the front porch and it started blooming again after several weeks.

    I also bought another dipladenia -- a large one on a trellis -- and planted that in a second problem spot on our property. It's been a showy, stunning red flowering vine all summer and into September.

    I will bring another dipladenia indoors later this season as well.

    It was 1840 before the dipladenia, a type of mandevilla vine, was described as a genus. It belongs to the family of Apocynaceae. Also called rock trumpet, it is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, the West Indies and South America.

    The Rio brand is advertised at Home Depot; they feature three colors each spring including white, pink and red.

    They can live perennially in zones 8 and 9 in the United States, but over-wintering them certainly works well in our northern location.

    This is a great plant to add to your garden shopping list next spring! 

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