Allamanda PlantAllamanda catharticaAllamanda cathartica or yellow allamanda plant is an evergreen vine which produces 5 inch long trumpet flowers all summer long. Each allamanda flower consists of 5 overlapping petals and emits a vanilla perfume. The blooms form in racemes at the stem tips.
This picture was taken at Longwood Gardens PA. These allamanda vines have been staked and trained to resemble trees. I'm standing between the pots to give you an idea of the scale. You can certainly grow A. cathartica in smaller containers than these, but it will restrict the size of the vine. The large shiny leaves are nearly as attractive as the flowers. The vine will climb to 15 feet if allowed to do so but can be trained as a large shrub with regular pruning. Wear long sleeves and gloves when pruning this plant as any broken stem will bleed amilky latex which can irritate your skin if it gets on you. In Suriname where it occurs along the river banks, allamanda is used to treat jaundice, malaria and constipation. I don't recommend ingesting any part of the plant as it is considered to be poisonous. Visit this NCSU poison plant page for more in-depth information. Yellow allamanda also grows wild along the waterways of Brazil and Guyana. It is hardy from zones 9b-11. In zone 9b you can expect some leaf damage when temperatures fall below 30 degrees F. Plant the vine in full sun on rich, moist soil. Keep it watered in the summer months. Prune it after it finishes flowering. Remove a few of the main stems to make room for fresh ones. Then head the laterals back to within 2 nodes of the main stems. The yellow allamanda flowers are followed by spiny capsules which split open when the winged seed inside them is ripe. You can use these seeds to start new plants or take cuttings of mature wood.
This allamanda vine has been pruned into a hedge. Picture taken at the
Maui Tropical Plantation.
Allamanda Plant as a HouseplantIf you live above zone 9b you will need to overwinter your allamanda plant indoors. Plant it in a large tub of high quality potting mix. Keep it moist during the summer heat, nearly dry in the winter.Its need for intense light may make it difficult to grow outside of a greenhouse. If you have a greenhouse, this twining vine would be stunning trained up a wall and allowed to cascade from the ceiling. The vanilla fragrance would be intoxicating inside a closed space. You may need to run a humidifier to provide it with the humidity it wants. This is less necessary in the winter.
Allamanda cathartica dwarfAllamanda cathartica dwarf is a 3-4 foot tall shrub. The leaves are shiny but smaller than those of the vine. The flowers are yellow and smaller than those of the vine but every bit as abundant.The two advantages the shrub has over the vine are that it becomes drought tolerant once established and can be used to replace turf. It makes a fantastic focal point in the landscape.
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