We’ve been having a heat wave here for about a week. Temps have been peaking at 95-105 F each afternoon, and night temps have not cooled off like usual. It is supposed to finally cool this weekend. I like it hot, but this is a bit more than ideal even for me, especially since my AC has been temperamental (still awaiting repair). It’s hard to keep the plants happy when it gets this hot, though a few tropical plants look quite pleased with the higher than normal humidity. The mandevilla vine is blooming well and the baby seedlings that it made last fall are taking off. The pretty white flowers have a really lovely soft scent, gentler and cleaner than jasmine or gardenia. I should try to get some photos.
My brother may come up tomorrow for the weekend, which would be nice. Hope you have a fun holiday weekend!
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Hope the weather cools off for you soon, Laurie. It’s hot here too but it’s been raining every day for weeks. Mandeville vines do so well here as annuals, but ironically, the hummingbirds have no interest in them at all, perhaps because there is no scent associated with them? I have no idea!
I’ve seen red and pink mandevilla vines that had no scent, but this white one has a really nice fragrance. I think it’s a different type, called Mandevilla laxa, and it is a bit hardier (it goes dormant here in winter but comes back). The hummers seem to favor red/purple scented flowers though, so they don’t go for this white mandevilla much either.
Last fall the mandevilla made long seed pods that looked like vanilla beans, and then they eventually dried up and let seeds fly. I collected quite a bit of seed but haven’t had time to plant any. A number of seedlings naturally planted themselves in nearby pots though, and they seem to be growing well. I need to try to move them to different pots. It’ll be fun to see if it comes true to seed. If so, I have some seeds I could share with anyone who wants a few. 🙂
If that plant has a scent I’d love to try it from seed here during the Spring!
I thought you might! I’ll send some seeds. It has a really nice clean, sweet floral scent that I can’t compare to anything else. (Have to make sure I can find the seeds, but hopefully they are on my seed shelf…)
Thank you! I’m tempted to start it now indoors and keep it my sunroom until next year.
Sounds good! I found the seeds. They’re small and narrow. Probably want to plant them shallow (the ones that self-seeded couldn’t have been very deep). It was cute when the pods opened up because each seed had a piece of fluff on it to help it catch the wind and fly. Will send some!
Thank you!
I don’t remember such warm 4th of July evening for at least 10 years. I enjoyed it but still hope it gets cooler tomorow.
This has been an unusually long heat wave too!