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Anyone overwintered Mandevilla or Passiflora (kiwi vine)??

lucidity
17 years ago

Hi all!

I've loved the look of both these vines for years and finally splurged and purchased both for my back deck this year. They were both well worth the money and performed spectacularly all summer, in fact the mandevilla is still blooming outside!! Our temps have fallen to 2 celcius overnight already) I do have it against a south facing wall which probably helps.

I would really like to save these plants for next year- any suggestions out there? I really don't have room to bring the giant pots inside my home but I was thinking about wrapping them in burlap or possibly putting them in the garage?

Anyone done this before and can give advice on what works best??

Thank you!!

Halton Area near lake Ontario

Comments (10)

  • peatpod
    17 years ago

    Hi Lucidity
    Passifora I believe is a passion flower. At any rate I know little about kiwi so I will address this as though it is a passion flower and Mandevilla. Both need to be brought indoors unless you have a heated garage. The passion flower can be cut back. I continue to grow my Mandevilla thoughout the winter in my livingroom by the patio door :o) Im not sure how big your root ball is on both plants but I think replanting it now might shock it too much. You can always take root cuttings to make sure it keeps growing. Im no pro when it comes to vines but thats how I do it. I have tons of tropicals that I bring in every fall ... some make it some dont :o)
    Laura

  • judith5bmontreal
    17 years ago

    Hi Lucidity:
    I had a passiflora caerrula(sp?) a few years ago, that I cut back and brought into my unheated garage to store (dark and dormant). In late February or early March, I put it under shop lights in the garage, and it started to put on new growth. It is fairly hardy, and so could be put out quite early in spring to harden off, but brought in if freeze was forecast. Late april, early May it went out for good. You could move it out permanently earlier if you throw some of that shrub protector fabric or row cloth around it if the temps drop suddenly. I have to say even though the foliage was lovely draped over an arbour, mine wasn't too successful with flowering - I only got a few blooms in August/September, but they were stunning. Unfortunately, I lost it by trying to overwinter it outside (as an experiment) in a protected corner, raised and buried in bags of leaves and insulation. It was a very cold winter that year and my experiment failed - too bad I hadn't waited 'till last year, when it was so mild.
    Good luck with yours.
    Judith

  • jannabeen
    17 years ago

    I had a Mandevilla vine for years that I took in every winter and put in a sunny window. I pruned it down in order to take it in. It would get pretty spindly indoors but always perked up well and flowered like mad when I pruned it and put it outside again. It was well worth the effort to keep the vine in a large pot on a wheeled platform, so the transition from inside/outside could be done gradually and easily.

    Good Luck, Jannabeen

  • lucidity
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    lol...I was thinking of overwintering outside as an experiment as well! It's actually still outside with buds but they are now drooping. I know we went to the freezing mark overnight in the last couple of days and they are both still alive.My options are bringing it in to an unheated garage (if I can manage to find room) or leaving it outside with protection. I am renovating the room that I could possibly use next year but right now it is covered in drywall dust and tools...there's a new thread for a different forum..lol

    Of those 2 options, opinions on my greatest chance of success? and when should I either wrap them or bring them in??

  • judith5bmontreal
    17 years ago

    Hi lucidity;
    Since you are in a warmer zone than I am, maybe wintering the passiflora outside will work. It is a lot hardier than a mandevilla vine. Good luck, whatever you decide!
    Judith

  • glen3a
    17 years ago

    A few years ago I grew a passiflora from seed as a potted plant. The first year it grew about 3 feet long. In the autumn, it did survive a couple of -8C nights before I decided to bring it in for the winter. Even the soil in the pot froze a bit. Once inside, it lost it's leaves (probably from the shock) but quickly grew new ones. The next spring I planted outside on the south side of the house, it grew like a weed, but it died out the next winter even with mulch. Not surprising though, since we are zone 3. For the two years I had it never bloomed though.

    By the way, I have hardy kiwi (both actinidia arguta and actinidia kolomitka) and both are hardy in our zone. My only problem is actinidia kolomitka (arctic beauty kiwi) has yet to display any colorful leaves after 3 years of growth.

    Glen

  • peatpod
    17 years ago

    Hi Lucidity .. peatpod again. If those are your two options then I would find a box that is big enough to accomdate the pot plus give you some room to put some insulating material around the whole pot and on top of the root ball. You dont wont that soil to freeze ... then place the whole thing at the back of your garage :o) I would even go so far as to put something under it so the cold from the floor wont creep up the bottom of the pot :o)

    Laura

  • johnnycc
    15 years ago

    Hello all,
    I have two separately potted (12" pots) passion flowers that are going on 5 years old.
    They started as one plant that my wife presented to me for my birthday. She purchased the plant at Fortinos!! They are very hardy, but I am fortunate enough to have the oppourtunity to winter them in a climate controlled, penthouse foyer. I summer them on our back yard patio, and have recently discovered how easy it is to root cuttings from the mother plants.
    I mistakenly cut two main branches off the plant while setting the vines up to the trellis, I quicky set them in water, hoping that they would set root, to my surprise they rooted and set buds and flowered.
    I think it is wise to always have a back up, or two, to have in case of a disaster. Such as our recent hail storm!!
    Good luck everybody.

  • gaspy
    15 years ago

    I live in N-W Italy by the coast c. 75 m above sea level.
    Winters are comparatively mild, although we are often swept by a cold N-N-E wind. Short spells may go down to -7°C. although this is very occasional and short.
    I have 2 plants of Dipladenia (=Mandevillea). The large flowered one with pink flowers is kept indoors and strongly trimmed (it blooms on new growth). It want plenty of sunlight in summer to grow and bloom. The small flowered (red flowers) is kept in a veranda where the temperature may go down to 5° C. It bloomed until January and started blooming again at the end of April. A wonderful show!
    Overwintering passion flowers is a little more difficult. They resent moving about and easily dry out at any time independently from the temperature. All, of courseexcept P. coerulea which here grows like a weed.

  • diggy500
    15 years ago

    hi/...i live just north of montreal and have no problem overwintering mandevilla and passiflora plants..
    you can even take a cutting and root it in a glass of water.
    good luck