Plumeria Starting to Bloom in January

[chinandega81]

Hello,

 

I bought a 2 foot tall Plumeria in late summer and planted it in my yard at that time. I moved it to a new location in the yard late in the rainy season while it was still warm at the end of October. It didn't have flowers on it when I bought it and has always retained it's leaves despite the transplanting.

I notice now all 3 branches have flower brackets as we head into mid January...and it hasn't been particularly warm or rain since early November here in South Florida. It still has it's leaves on as well....and I have continued to water it weekly.

Has anyone had something like this happen? I have never seen an out of sync Plumeria bloom in the heart of winter like this before. I suppose it's just confused with all the transplants but i'm not sure. What do you all think?

[Silas_Sancona]

25 minutes ago, chinandega81 said:

Hello,

 

I bought a 2 foot tall Plumeria in late summer and planted it in my yard at that time. I moved it to a new location in the yard late in the rainy season while it was still warm at the end of October. It didn't have flowers on it when I bought it and has always retained it's leaves despite the transplanting.

I notice now all 3 branches have flower brackets as we head into mid January...and it hasn't been particularly warm or rain since early November here in South Florida. It still has it's leaves on as well....and I have continued to water it weekly.

Has anyone had something like this happen? I have never seen an out of sync Plumeria bloom in the heart of winter like this before. I suppose it's just confused with all the transplants but i'm not sure. What do you all think?

That's possible.. but have seen Plumeria flowering outside of the " traditional " season down there before.. Flowering times/frequency can be influenced by how much genetic influence from X parent is expressed in a given cross.  More Plumeria obtusa/ pudica influence in a cross, that cross might flower longer/ more often vs if a cross expressed genetics closer to the wild P. rubra type that tends to flower in the Summer/ fall, following what would happen in habitat following the start of the summer rainy season.

P. rubra can also be variable as well.. Further south you go in it's range, the more plants stay green longer.. Is also where you'd encounter red/pink flowered specimens in the wild as well. Specimens from Sonora produce mostly white.. sometimes yellow flowers. Might be similar among the species from the distinctly seasonally dry areas of the Caribbean as well.

A lot of people are fooled when rooting blooming age cuttings as well thinking that because the cutting is flowering, it must have rooted.. Not always the case.. Plumeria can store energy in the stems like many other Succulent- type plants.. and ..still produce flowers after stems are cut. Trouble is that same cutting might not produce flowers again for a year or two while it roots and re- establishes itself. One reason i try to avoid purchasing cuttings as much as possible.

As far as retaining foliage during " dormant season " as is the case w/ the flowering season/frequency, some hybrids will stay more evergreen, while others drop everything by the time December has arrived, if not sooner.. Have one in the ground out front that still has it's leaves ( didn't strip it this year ) while those i have left in pots out back are bare atm.  Same can be seen w/ a neighbor's Plumeria, and some others in the neighborhood..

There's a well respected grower in Homestead i have purchased from over the years.. Attending an open house they had one year, some of their plants were still bare/ just starting to leaf out for the year.. in May.. while flowering like mad.   Others were fully leafed out.   

Passing their place while making a final trip to the Redlands in Feb. 2016, right before i left FL. you could see the how varied Plumeria can be in how some of their plants still had some/ most of their foliage, while most others on the property were bare.. Think a few had flowers on them at that time that year as well..

[chinandega81]

27 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

That's possible.. but have seen Plumeria flowering outside of the " traditional " season down there before.. Flowering times/frequency can be influenced by how much genetic influence from X parent is expressed in a given cross.  More Plumeria obtusa/ pudica influence in a cross, that cross might flower longer/ more often vs if a cross expressed genetics closer to the wild P. rubra type that tends to flower in the Summer/ fall, following what would happen in habitat following the start of the summer rainy season.

P. rubra can also be variable as well.. Further south you go in it's range, the more plants stay green longer.. Is also where you'd encounter red/pink flowered specimens in the wild as well. Specimens from Sonora produce mostly white.. sometimes yellow flowers. Might be similar among the species from the distinctly seasonally dry areas of the Caribbean as well.

A lot of people are fooled when rooting blooming age cuttings as well thinking that because the cutting is flowering, it must have rooted.. Not always the case.. Plumeria can store energy in the stems like many other Succulent- type plants.. and ..still produce flowers after stems are cut. Trouble is that same cutting might not produce flowers again for a year or two while it roots and re- establishes itself. One reason i try to avoid purchasing cuttings as much as possible.

As far as retaining foliage during " dormant season " as is the case w/ the flowering season/frequency, some hybrids will stay more evergreen, while others drop everything by the time December has arrived, if not sooner.. Have one in the ground out front that still has it's leaves ( didn't strip it this year ) while those i have left in pots out back are bare atm.  Same can be seen w/ a neighbor's Plumeria, and some others in the neighborhood..

There's a well respected grower in Homestead i have purchased from over the years.. Attending an open house they had one year, some of their plants were still bare/ just starting to leaf out for the year.. in May.. while flowering like mad.   Others were fully leafed out.   

Passing their place while making a final trip to the Redlands in Feb. 2016, right before i left FL. you could see the how varied Plumeria can be in how some of their plants still had some/ most of their foliage, while most others on the property were bare.. Think a few had flowers on them at that time that year as well..

In interesting note in the Plumeria pudica. I have read online that it stays green and flowers year round...but I can tell you in my area of South Florida they have all gone dormant. With that said, I saw one on the south side of a 5 story building in Miami Beach, under a row of mature Royal Palms, that was still totally green and had a few flowers. I imagine with this variety the added heat islands and warmer night temps during our coold spells help keep them evergreen even here. I could only with they were evertgreen in my yard!! Do you have pudica in AZ too?

[Silas_Sancona]

8 minutes ago, chinandega81 said:

In interesting note in the Plumeria pudica. I have read online that it stays green and flowers year round...but I can tell you in my area of South Florida they have all gone dormant. With that said, I saw one on the south side of a 5 story building in Miami Beach, under a row of mature Royal Palms, that was still totally green and had a few flowers. I imagine with this variety the added heat islands and warmer night temps during our coold spells help keep them evergreen even here. I could only with they were evertgreen in my yard!! Do you have pudica in AZ too?

Have seen them sold but never seen any in yards..  Same w/ obtusa ( though obtusa is a species often used in many crosses )

[chinandega81]

2 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Have seen them sold but never seen any in yards..  Same w/ obtusa ( though obtusa is a species often used in many crosses )

I highly recommend it for you to plant on the east side of your house. They are so easy to propagate as well....I think they would do well there especially considering their leaf is more durable than the other Plumeria types.

[Silas_Sancona]

1 minute ago, chinandega81 said:

I highly recommend it for you to plant on the east side of your house. They are so easy to propagate as well....I think they would do well there especially considering their leaf is more durable than the other Plumeria types.

Will probably add a couple once out in San Diego. Sun here burns pretty much everything, inc. some Triangle Cactus that sit in a planter that runs along the east side of the house. Had some chilies there too.. After surviving in the same spot for 2 years, sun finished them off as well.   Plumeria that is out there gets kind of beat up by August.  Had an obtusa ( Singapore ) until this past summer..  Focused on acquiring some of the extremely rare species from the Caribbean basin as well.. ( Plumeria cubensis, stenopetala, tuberculata, etc )

As far as them staying evergreen.. doesn't matter really..  architectural look of bare trees while dormant, then boldly pushing new leaves / bursting into flower as it gets warmer adds something interesting to the garden...

[chinandega81]

18 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Will probably add a couple once out in San Diego. Sun here burns pretty much everything, inc. some Triangle Cactus that sit in a planter that runs along the east side of the house. Had some chilies there too.. After surviving in the same spot for 2 years, sun finished them off as well.   Plumeria that is out there gets kind of beat up by August.  Had an obtusa ( Singapore ) until this past summer..  Focused on acquiring some of the extremely rare species from the Caribbean basin as well.. ( Plumeria cubensis, stenopetala, tuberculata, etc )

As far as them staying evergreen.. doesn't matter really..  architectural look of bare trees while dormant, then boldly pushing new leaves / bursting into flower as it gets warmer adds something interesting to the garden...

I was saddened to see you getting ready to move to SD. Come back to Florida!!

[bubba]

This pudica stays green and flowers year round north of the old monkey jungle...

[mnorell]

Plumeria can be somewhat plastic in their growth and flowering behaviors depending on genetics/location/environment and I would suggest you just enjoy it and not worry about the unconventional flowering behavior. In the Palm Springs/Rancho Mirage/Palm Desert area, most mature Plumeria retain their leaves very, very late into the winter and often are in flower into January and possibly even February. Last year the temperatures dipped right around the freezing point around Christmas/New Year's, but dewpoints were so low that no plants showed the least bit of damage (even Adenium). Virtually all of them continued to flower and refused to drop any foliage until about February. And back again by late March/April. Meanwhile in the Keys all the deciduous Plumeria dependably drop their leaves early in Winter despite the absence of any real cold, and then have a pronounced flowering at the beginning of Spring (many gorgeous trees all over Key West), accompanied or immediately followed by a big leaf-out. For different reasons, they have always been a frustration to me on Big Pine Key, because the Key Deer will surmount or break down almost any barrier to eat/destroy all Plumeria, which must be their favorite food.

Regarding P. pudica, it is evergreen in the Lower Keys, and also evergreen in the Coachella Valley. And it is now sold at the Big Box stores in the desert, at very good prices due to its crazy-fast growth rate. I have one about 8' tall planted out in Rancho Mirage, it didn't do much the last summer as it began establishing amidst the almost incredible and record heat , but today it is still full of foliage, and even a small tip-cutting I rooted in a pot still has its leaves. I wonder if some of the observed behavioral differences noted in the posts above can be chalked up to similar "spoon-leaved" species (e.g., Plumeria caracasana, the "fragrant pudica") and their hybrids in cultivation ('San Germain,' 'Light Pink,' et al.). 

Despite the obvious observation that they love heat, Plumeria seem so varied in their behavior in different climates, and their amazing performance in the low desert contrasts tremendously with their generally abysmal performance (with exceptions) in the cool immediate coastal zone of SoCal. My sister and her husband in Cardiff-by-the-Sea are about ready to give up after years of buying various Plumeria and suffering endless disappointment or failure, with very few successes. There, most of them grow extremely slowly, have a very long deciduous period and may or may not present some flowers depending on their location and that year's weather, and performance is highly dependent on species/cultivar/hybrid. People in that cool-to-chilly coastal strip (known to westerners as Sunset zone 24) have learned that there are a few that perform very well there ('Guillot's Sunset' being the now-classic form that grows into a big, beautiful and free-flowering tree at the coast); meanwhile, a little inland most types grow respectably well in frost-free, reflected-heat microclimates; and over the mountains in the Coachella Valley they are effortless, huge and spectacular (including P. obtusa, which are in many residential landscapes in our area). There, even in extreme heat, the only danger (other than perhaps a freak, devastating freeze) is summer trunk-burn on young, establishing plants due to their still-tender cambium. And yet, I was told by a local nurseryman that a few years ago when record temps hit (124-127F), blackening and burning the west sides of huge Ficus microcarpa and Ficus benjamina trees, the Plumerias responded by dropping leaves, then immediately throwing a new flush of growth. And that's what my 'Dwarf Pink Singapore' did this last summer (a few times) when it hit 121/122F. But ultimately...no prob!