Friday, July 03, 2020

Diplodocus

That's how I jokingly refer to this plant, dipladenia, because I couldn't remember its name. I think it's more commonly known as mandevilla, from what I read on the internet. I first saw the bright red flowers of dipladenia across the road at our neighbor's house a couple of years ago. We went over and found the plant's label in one of the pots. The next year, I got some for our deck planters from one of the local garden centers.

Dipladenia in the real fake well, surrounded by clary sage which is now going to seed.

Last fall, we dug them out of their planter boxes and put them in pots in the greenhouse where they spent the winter. They survived, but didn't look so good. We set them outdoors in May and they started to produce more leaves and then flowers. I decided to plant them in the well once the volunteer wheat crop was gone. That happened this week and the photo above shows the result. I'm hopeful that the plants will get stronger and fuller as the summer goes on. The red flowers are quite vibrant.

In case you don't know, "diplodocus" was a dinosaur similar in appearance to the brontosaurus.

11 comments:

  1. Dipladenia has really showy flowers. Is it some kind of a vine?

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    1. The mandevilla around here are vines.

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    2. Thank you Evelyn. That's what I thought.

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  2. Perfect for the real fake well. And so beautiful. We had dipladenia (I THINK we called it mandevilla, but it's been so long...) in Connecticut. Never grew a diplodocus (I don't think we had enough room), but I have a feeling that's how I'll think of this from now on.

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  3. I must be doing something wrong with my little dinosaurs. I planted three of them about three months ago and they haven’t grown an inch. Yours look great!

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  4. They are beautiful in the well.

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  5. chm, ours climbs or cascades, depending on where it is.

    mitch, time to visit Jurassic Park!

    bettyann, I'm having the same problem with peppers this year.

    michael, thanks. I sure hope they like it there.

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  6. I am almost certain dilploducus is the name of a dinosaur

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  7. I think dipladenia is the bush form of the mandevilla vine. Drought tolerant sturdy plants. I have them in window boxes in a spot where they get baked by the sun. Loads of flowers right up until the first frost.

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  8. My resident hummingbirds love the red flowers!

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