My Troublesome Mandevilla

I just moved to Clarksville, TN at the end of February.  The highs during the day were awesome so I put my plant outside.  The lows were not supposed to get below freezing.  It was a bit windy and the sun was pretty bright.  After a couple days all of the new growth it had formed while being inside had died off.  I either killed it, made it go dormant, or it's working under the soil on producing something.  It is now the 27th and still nothing.  I even cut the plant itself down to just the main stalks about 3 inches above the dirt to help focus energy in the stalks.  I brought it back inside to see if it will give me something.  I have some sprouts popping up in the dirt, 2 different kinds.  I'm thinking I picked up some weed or grass since the pot was on a grassy area and people have been mowing their lawns.  But perhaps the mandevilla decied to produce a new stalk???  I'm going to let them grow and see.  I also added a little bit of dirt to the pot because it looked like the roots were getting near the top.  

Mandevilla, how it's holding up.

First, here are the pictures showing how bad it is looking. (see blog titled "My Mandevilla" for more info on this plant)

November

All the fallen leaves and flowers

compared to

When I first put it outside after its first winter.

September. 

Here are a few pictures of it's new growth (may be hard to see though).

My Mandevilla

This summer was my first year growing a mandevilla vine.  The one pictured below was given to my family when my mom passed away in 2010.  My step-dad kept it for the first year and gave it to me this year.  It did wonderfully on my patio where it got full sun.  Below are some pictures I took of it while it was still outside.


I knew that it would again have to come inside for winter, but this time it was staying at my house.... and I have two cats who will eat all plants, real or fake.  I also noticed that the plant had little yellow aphids living on it.  So I took a trip to Home Depot and picked up some pet friendly pesticide and sprayed the plant about 3 times.  It was outside until it got down to about 50 degrees F.


When I brought it in, I put it in the sunniest room I could.  However, it soon lost almost all leaves and began to look dead, not sure if the pesticide had anything to do with it.  I bought it a grow light to help provide more light since it no longer gets direct sun.  We keep the house around 73 degrees F.  It still didn't seem to perk up.  I have read many accounts of people cutting their mandevilla back for winter and letting it go dormant.  I figured mine probably did go dormant.


but.....


Just yesterday I looked closely at it and saw a few new baby leaves!!!  I'm just glad to know its still alive and well.  I did not want to have to wait until spring to find out if I killed it.  I'll add some pictures of how it looks, without all its leaves... its pitiful and sad looking.