Mandevilla sanderi Diamantina Jade XXL White

The Dipladenia or Mandevilla Diamantina Jade XXL 'White' is a very compact plant with a bushy habit that does not exceed 50 cm high. As its name suggests, this variety offers larger flowers than those of the Jade series, measuring 7 to 9 cm in diameter instead of 5 cm, white with an orange heart. They are dazzling against the dark foliage and bloom from May until the first frost. This plant is generous, but cold-sensitive and can easily survive the winter behind a bay window, in a bright conservatory, or a lightly heated greenhouse.

Mandevilla, named in honour of the diplomat and gardener Henry Mandeville, are climbing plants with rapid growth, mostly native to the tropical forests of Serra de Orgaos, near Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. These tropical plants grow at high altitudes and thrive in temperate climates, free from frost, in semi-shade or filtered light in summer. In the 1970s, Robert Lannes, a French horticulturist based in Tarn-et-Garonne, was the first to take an interest in hybridising these plants with immense potential. Years of research and selection have resulted in particularly floriferous varieties, more compact, with a variety of colours and easy to grow for amateur gardeners.

The Diamantina series, derived from Mandevilla sanderi among others, produces plants with a compact habit that are well suited to pot cultivation and stands out for its wide range of colours, even offering some new shades such as the white with a yellow-orange heart of Jade White.

Diamantina Jade XXL 'White' stands out for its particularly large flowers, but has the same bushy and compact habit that characterises plants in this series. Its short, woody, twining stems easily wrap around a small support but can also do without support. It will rapidly reach an average size of 40 cm in all directions. Its beautiful, large flowers, measuring 7 to 9 cm in diameter, are composed of 5 large pure white lobes that overlap like the blades of a propeller. They are grouped in small clusters and bloom continuously from May until the frost. The evergreen and leathery, small, entire, dark green leaves are arranged in an opposite pattern. The thick and leathery leaf is oval to elliptical with a shiny upper surface. This plant has fine roots and large tuberous roots, storage organs that contain starch and water, allowing the plant to withstand drought quite well.

Dipladenias or Mandevillas are prized for decorating terraces, balconies, patios, pergolas and trellises and lend themselves to a variety of settings, depending on their habit and size, whether planted alone or with other colours. The Diamantina Jade XXL White heat-resistant variety, finds its ideal place in large flower pots, as a centrepiece or in troughs, even in the direct sun of a terrace or balcony. It can be paired with Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, or Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' with white flowers or a foliage plant like Dichondra 'Silver Falls'. Planting in the ground is only recommended in frost-protected areas, especially in the south of the Atlantic coast or in regions where orange trees grow, along the Mediterranean coast.