Difference Between Mandevilla & Bougainvillea

Flowers

• Mandevilla, also called pink allamanda, has trumpet-shaped flowers borne singly or in loose racemes or clusters. The flowers grow up to 4 inches across, have white and yellow throats and are usually pink, although white cultivars are available. Mandevilla blooms heavily in summer but only sporadically the rest of the year, even in warm climates. Bougainvillea flowers are small, yellowish-white tubes surrounded by three showy, 1- to 2-inch-long bracts that are often mistaken for flowers. The flowers are borne in clusters and appear in the summer in temperate climates, where bougainvillea is grown as a container plant and throughout most of the year in warm climates. The papery bracts are pink, purple, red, lavender, orange or yellow.

Sizes

• Mandevilla is a twining vine that grows at least 10 feet tall, depending on the cultivar. The common variety, Alice du Pont, is one of the tallest cultivars, easily reaching 20 feet. Growth is primarily vertical, with little side branching unless the vine is pinched. Bougainvillea is a woody vine that uses sharp thorns to anchor itself to trees and other supports. You'll need to tie bougainvillea to a trellis or wires if you want it to cover smooth surfaces. Bougainvillea grows 15 to 25 feet high and 25 to 35 feet wide.

Needs

• Grow mandevilla in full sun for best flowering, although it tolerates partial shade, especially at midday, in very hot areas. It needs moist, well-drained soil, but short dry spells won't hurt it. Bougainvillea requires full sun to bloom; even the lightest amount of shade will inhibit flowering. Keep the soil moist at all times when the plant is in active growth, but allow the soil in containers to dry out between waterings during its winter rest period when grown outside its hardiness range. Both mandevilla and bougainvillea are moderately salt-tolerant.

Hardiness

• Mandevilla is hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant zones 9 through 11, depending on the cultivar. In zone 8, the roots are winter-hardy in all but the harshest winters, but the top will die back to ground level each fall. Bougainvillea is hardy in zones 9b through 11, although it sometimes overwinters in zone 8 if well-mulched.