Even though fall is approaching, you wouldn’t know it seeing the beautiful blooms of this Mandevilla. Mandevilla, also known as Chilean jasmine, is a tropical vine native to South America. Named after Henry Mandeville, a British diplomat and plant explorer who discovered it while serving in Argentina in the early 1800s, it originally was put into the genus Dipladenia and is still sometimes sold under that name. Mandevilla is a woody vine that grows up to 15 feet tall. Pictured is a Mandevilla climbing a pole in the driveway of the home of Nancy Bridgforth, of Tarleton Lane, in Kenbridge.