Mandevilla Plant

Question

I live in Southern California. Last year I bought a Mandevilla and planted it outside on a trellis. It grew to fill the whole trellis and was filled with beautiful flowers all summer. Over the winter most all the leaves on the whole bottom half of the plant fell off, leaving just bare stems. Our winter never got to below 50 degrees. It is not cold here at all. Is there any way I can get my plant to return to the beautiful one it was last year? Will the leaves grow back on their own? If I cut all the branches off near ground level, will they grow back and produce flowers like last year? Will it ever get flowers again?

Answer 1

If the stems are still green and pliable, they will regrow their leaves quickly in the spring. If they are still alive, I would not cut it back. The plant will start to flower when the weather warms up. If the stems are brown and brittle, then they are dead and it would be best to cut them back to the ground (or where ever you see green wood). The stems tend to regrow rapidly when the weather warms up.