The new Stars and Stripes mandevilla boasts a unique white variegation making it one of the more unusual tropical garden vines. The flowers are bright red with yellow throats.

Coming this spring is a new mandevilla that just may have you thinking of Old Glory. It is called Stars and Stripes and is actually part of the great Sun Parasol series that has become the industry leader.

Stars and Stripes is so unique it was voted as the best new flower at the Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition in 2009. The flowers are bright red with yellow throats, and as the name suggests star shaped but now the interesting part. Each petal has a white stripe of variegation.

If you are not familiar with mandevilla it is a tropical vine sometimes referred to as Brazilian jasmine. Your first reaction might be to say that you don't grow tropicals. Believe me you'll want the mandevilla as it climbs and blooms from spring until fall. That is an extremely good value for your gardening dollar.

The Sun Parasol series burst onto the scene in 2003 as a vibrant new hybrid. They actually produced a true red that had vigor, climbed, and held true to color all season. The rest is history and there are now around a dozen colors and sizes.

Also new for 2010 is a large flowered selection called Sun Parasol Lush Crimson. Every morning I enjoyed a cup of coffee on my deck and would become fixated on the size and the richly dark red colored blossoms.

I've grown the Sun Parasol in both the landscape and mixed containers and regardless of which you choose know the mandevilla will perish if it does not have well-drained soil. For best flowering, mandevillas need to receive at least six to eight hours of sunlight a day.

Since they are vigorous vine and flower producers, mandevillas need small doses of fertilizer every two to three weeks. Use a balanced, water-soluble fertilizer or controlled released granules per formula recommendation. Maintain moisture during the hot, dry times of the summer. A prolonged period without water may prove fatal to the plant.

In the landscape they certainly look at home in a Caribbean cottage style garden where they might be draped on a white picket fence or lattice work.

The Sun Parasol mandevilla is a Zone 9 to 11 tropical that can be brought indoors for the winter if desired. Remember once indoors you water regime must be decreased as you are more or less just trying to hold it over versus growing it. If you have a brightly lit sun room you'll find the task a little easier.