Dipladenia

   DESCRIPTION: D. splendens, climbing to 8 ft. or more, from Brazil, is one of the showiest of all vines for the sunny window garden. It has leathery leaves to 8 in. long, and clusters of rosy pink, 3-in., funnel-shaped flowers in summer and autumn. Often listed as Mandevilla.

    CULTURE: Light, sunny to semi-sunny. Temperature, average house. Humidity, 50% or more. Soil, equal parts loam, peat moss, sand or Perlite, and chipped charcoal. Keep evenly moist and apply biweekly feedings except in winter; then keep on the dry side and withhold fertilizer. Propagate by stem cuttings or seeds in spring. As a house plant, dipladenia may be planted in a 10- to 15-in. pot or tub, and trained to cover a wire frame 3 to 5 ft. high. Any pruning deemed necessary may be done at the beginning of the growing season in spring.

   Ervatamia

   DESCRIPTION: E. coronaria, 6 to 8 ft., from the Old World tropics, has many common names, including crepe jasmine, fleur d'amour, butterfly gardenia, East Indian rose-bay, Adam's-apple, and Nero's crown. In addition, it is sometimes classified as Tabernaemontana coronaria. By any name, ervatamia is a delightful evergreen shrub which may be cultivated in a 12- to 15-in. pot or tub, and kept pruned back as necessary in February or March. In the summer it bears clusters of 11/2- to 2-in. waxy, white, funnel-shaped, fragrant flowers.

   CULTURE: Same as for Allamanda, except keep soil evenly moist all year.

   Nerium

   DESCRIPTION: N. oleander, to 20 ft., from the Mediterranean, is the common oleander which has been a favorite house plant for many years. It has rosy red flowers at the tip of willowy branches which are set with leathery lance leaves. Variations of the type include album (single white flowers), atropurpureum (single carmine), carneum flore pleno or 'Mrs. Roeding' (double salmon-pink) and vanegatum (single carmine-rose flowers with gray-green leaves edged creamy white). 'Compte Barthelemy' is cultivated for its double red flowers. Oleanders are easily kept to an appropriate size for indoors by pruning, either after flowering or in autumn. English references advise the prompt removal of any young shoots which issue from the base of the flowers. The juice in the stems is poisonous, however, and clippings need to be discarded carefully, where children or pets cannot get to them.

    CULTURE: Light, sunny to semi-sunny. Temperature, cool in winter, average house at other times. Humidity, 30% or more. Soil, equal parts loam, sand, and peat moss; keep evenly moist, except on the dry side in late fall and early winter. Feed biweekly in spring and summer. Propagate by rooting cuttings of firm tip growth in spring or summer.