That's so cool. I've never had a seed pod on any of my mandevillas and have only propagated them by cuttings. I'd love to be able to cross some of my flowers but I don't think that will happen for me : ( I have no idea how to start them. If you have enough seeds why don't you try a few methods? You'll have to let us know if you can get them to germinate. Good luck and congrats.
Karyn

I grow all of my seeds using seed mix and they seem to have very good germination rate with the Fafard brand. I have no experience germinating Mandevilla seeds though.

karyn...How do you propagate your Mandevillas by cuttings? My mother bought a bunch, different varieties and colors, to be brought home in the Philippines and wanted me to get some info on how to propagate them by cuttings. My family is driving up to Maryland this weekend to visit my brother in Baltimore. Do you know of any good nurseries to visit in the area? Thanks in advance!

Maria I water root the mandevilla cuttings with an air stone, a drop of Superthrive and bottom heat. I have ok results, not great, about 50%. There's some good big nurseries like Behnke, Johnson's and Meadow's Farm. I'm not familiar with the nurseries in Baltimore. I'm in Montgomery County. There's a small nursery that I love near my house in the Ashton area. I go there all the time. The owner is a Vietnamese gentleman and he specializes in Bonsai and water gardens but he carries a number of tropical and subtropical plants that can't be found elsewhere. He also has a good selection of plants native to the Orient and a fair amount of citrus. I can't believe that I don't know the name considering I go there at least 3x/mo lol I'll stop by and email you the name if you'd like. You should check out the Mid-Atlantic forum here. There's a post or two with nursery recommendations in the area.
Karyn

mariava, my favorite is Valley View Farms in Cockeysville, MD, a little north of the city. Pricey, but great quality and selection and friendly people. Watson's on York Road is about 5 miles from there and also very good although not as big. Meadows Farms has about 20 locations, none really close to Baltimore, but if you go on their web site you can choose which location is the closest. They have the most reasonable prices.

If you have time, be sure to visit the Rawlings Conservatory in downtown Baltimore. They have an 1890's renovated palm house, several other display greenhouses (tropical, mediterranean, and desert), and some nice outdoor beds. Sometimes a small plant sale in the gift shop too.

Thank you so much for those infos Karyn and Watergal. I just finished jotting down their names. We will try to visit any of those gardens/nurseries whichever would be convenient in our 3 day stay in Baltimore. After Baltimore, we would be driving to Chicago for a 4 day stay and then to Akron/Cleveland for 3 days before heading back home. It is going to be a very hectic 10 day vacation/trip specially with a 5 and a 9 year old traveling with us. 'Aren't we there yet?'...LOL!

The Rawlings conservatory is beautiful. There's also Brookside Gardens/Nature Center in Wheaton. They only have sales in the spring and fall. They have a small conservatory and beautiful outdoor gardens. I've collected a number of seeds from Brookside ; ) I don't envy you driving that much with kids in the car. Make sure you have a DVD player and something they can hook video games to. lol Have a good trip.
Karyn

Mandevilla from seed are quite easy. Given the little whispy tails to the seeds, you will understand they generally fly away and land wherever, in nature. So fresh seed is usually quite viable and is best sown pretty soon. Just surface sow, barely cover, keep moist and warm, and be patient.
Seedlings may seem a little slow, just remember they are not an annual vine, they are going to be intent on developing roots for a long live, not flowers for a year.
Good luck, how exciting.

Thanks alison,
I still haven't planted my seed, guess I better get with it lol. I will just start them in the little greenhouse thing with the expandible peat pods with bottom heat.
Do you know if the seeds may be a hybrid or do mandevilla self pollinate? I had 4 types growing near each other. Crimson ( a small flowered red), a small flowered dark pink , and a large white flowered(splendens type I think), the mother plant with the seeds is Alice dupont (large leaves and large pink flowers).
I am thinking that they need a pollinator since I never have gotten seeds before and we had dozens of hawk moths last summer partaking of the flowers.
~SJN

Hi - I want to use this plant on a lattice fence that encloses my courtyard. I would like to know from someone who actually has had this growing for a few years how wide and tall it gets. The websites for purchasing have anywhere from 4' to 20' in height and from 2' to 20' in width. Hope somebody with real life experience can help with this so I will know how many plants I will need. Also, these will be in pots. How big a pot should I use ? I'm going to do the same with some clematis and have read that the bulbs should be started in a 3" pot to prevent the bulb from over saturating and then graduated up to larger size pots as the plant grows. Would this be the same for the Mandevilla ? How big a pot will I need for the clematis once it's fully grown ? - Thanks, Brian