Viva Plumeria!

[Josue Diaz]

Just thought I'd share my latest obsession - I've got 4 plumeria that bloom regularly, and this year have started cuttings of 12 varieties new to me. Feel free to share photos of yours!

Edited June 9, 2022 by Josue Diaz

[Silas_Sancona]

54 minutes ago, Josue Diaz said:

Just thought I'd share my latest obsession - I've got 4 plumeria that bloom regularly, and this year have started cuttings of 12 varieties new to me. Feel free to share photos of yours!

Nice Josue..

First pic Plumeria r. X " Mardi Gras "? Sure looks like it.

Which new ones ya got rooting atm?

[Barry]

Josue, 

Nice collection, I have been collecting plumeria for awhile. Here are some of my collection. Some I have the names, some I don’t.

Cuban species I got last year, very fragrant 

[Tracy]

14 minutes ago, Barry said:

 

You have some nice deep reds in your collection.  We have struggled with the reds.  In a different plumeria thread, I noted that we have been told that the reds like heat, and in our location close to the beach, we often don't get enough days with the needed heat.  I'm not complaining though as we also don't need air conditioning (yet).  We have lots of flower buds but nothing opening up yet as the May Gray/June Gloom slows them down a bit.  On the other side, we still had plumerias in bloom for Christmas and into January. 

Please share the names of some of the red varieties you are growing.

[Barry]

The deep maroon red is Hilo Beauty, the other one is Donald Angus. They are not the fastest or best bloomers for me as well. I do love the color of them when they do. 
 

Kimo is one of my favorites

 

Seedlings from Kimo, hopefully get something different and nice from these. Won’t know for a couple of years.

[Silas_Sancona]

3 hours ago, Barry said:

Josue, 

Nice collection, I have been collecting plumeria for awhile. Here are some of my collection. Some I have the names, some I don’t.

Cuban species I got last year, very fragrant 

 

 

Nice P. stenopetala..

If the one below it is one of your Noid / Not sure which cultivar, Look up " Mary Helen Eggenberger " or " My Valentine "..

Definitely hold onto those seedlings until they flower ..Seed- started plants from " Fruit Salad " and " Rainbow " - type cultivars ( Kimo would fit into either group ) can produce some great, new cultivars.

[Barry]

Nathan,

Yes, I will be keeping the seedlings until they flower. I also rooted a bunch of cuttings late last year, I am going to try my hand at grafting plumeria. I want to graft multiple colors on one plant, I think this would be cool to grow out. I am learning that some of the growers are grafting some of the harder ones, instead of trying to root them. It does make sense, doesn’t look too hard? But we will see. 

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, Barry said:

Nathan,

Yes, I will be keeping the seedlings until they flower. I also rooted a bunch of cuttings late last year, I am going to try my hand at grafting plumeria. I want to graft multiple colors on one plant, I think this would be cool to grow out. I am learning that some of the growers are grafting some of the harder ones, instead of trying to root them. It does make sense, doesn’t look too hard? But we will see. 

Think it's posted on the SoCal. Plumeria Society's web page but pretty sure there are pictures of at least a couple, large multi graft " Rainbow "- type trees where someone did exactly what you're thinking..  Looked pretty neat.

Grafting of the more challenging ( and sometimes impossible ) to root cultivars is definitely the way to go, vs. trying to grow them on their own roots.. Some of the red- flowered cultivars esp.

By the same token, there are some " host cultivars " ..if that is the right term.. that are excellent, while the wood on others can be too hard, ..or cuttings from a certain cultivar either shrivel too quickly, or just refuse to seal to the host correctly.  A PDF a California grower put together that i've shared in a few Plumeria- related threads here  highlights several cultivars that make excellent ..and not so great grafting candidates.. or hosts.

After conversations w/ some longtime growers there in FL. and in CA., 50/50 on grafting all but the toughest to root cultivars..  Was brought up that a grafted specimen can sometimes choke itself out, ..or that the cutting portion of it slowly deteriorates..  Saw it happen w/ a couple i'd had as well..  Still, would be fun to try grafting a a few plants myself.

Have seen a few different grafting techniques.. the standard straight cut, and the " V " cut. Both look pretty easy though the V cut might be easier to secure when wrapping w/ tape.  The slant cut is another popular grafting technique i've seen. One grower used a straight pin or two to keep the two pieces together while taping up slant cut grafts.

While it does take some patience, esp. when some take a little longer to start flowering, Seedling grown plants are always worth the effort. Never know what surprises might turn up..

[Peter]

Mary Helen Eggenberger

[Josue Diaz]

On 6/9/2022 at 3:02 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

Nice Josue..

First pic Plumeria r. X " Mardi Gras "? Sure looks like it.

Which new ones ya got rooting atm?

It does kind of look like it. There are so many look-alikes I just end up calling it a no-ID haha. Also, worth noting the color changes from one location to another due to heat...

 

I'm currently rooting a handful of them I got from the Southern CA Plumeria Sale at Balboa Park: Jean Moragne, Kauaka Wilder, Kaleilani, Irma Bryan, Donald Angus, Shea's Sunset, California Sunset and Dragon Heart. I started a few seeds as well, from A Piece of Paradise Plumeria. Should be a while before I see any blooms, but we'll see what turns out. I have a seedling from a yellow-flowered tree that I collected seeds from circa ~2014 that is yet to bloom. It's big and healthy, just hasn't flowered yet. 

On 6/9/2022 at 4:59 PM, Barry said:

Josue, 

Nice collection, I have been collecting plumeria for awhile. Here are some of my collection. Some I have the names, some I don’t.

Cuban species I got last year, very fragrant 

VERY NICE! And that stenopetala looks great! This species grows wild on our property in El Salvador - except in habitat they are incredibly massive trees. I started a row of them down our driveway a few years ago. I think most cutting took. I haven't been there since to check them out but have seen pictures. 

On 6/9/2022 at 5:14 PM, Tracy said:

You have some nice deep reds in your collection.  We have struggled with the reds.  In a different plumeria thread, I noted that we have been told that the reds like heat, and in our location close to the beach, we often don't get enough days with the needed heat.  I'm not complaining though as we also don't need air conditioning (yet).  We have lots of flower buds but nothing opening up yet as the May Gray/June Gloom slows them down a bit.  On the other side, we still had plumerias in bloom for Christmas and into January. 

Please share the names of some of the red varieties you are growing.

Reds are my favorite ones, and the deep, rich oranges. I'm really lookin forward to getting a few of those in my yard to take advantage of our heat up here in Fresno. 

On 6/9/2022 at 5:41 PM, Barry said:

The deep maroon red is Hilo Beauty, the other one is Donald Angus. They are not the fastest or best bloomers for me as well. I do love the color of them when they do. 
 

Kimo is one of my favorites

 

Seedlings from Kimo, hopefully get something different and nice from these. Won’t know for a couple of years.

That is a beautiful hape on that tree. And the flowers are very nice as well. I like the way the petals are reflexed all the way back. 

[Silas_Sancona]

36 minutes ago, Josue Diaz said:

It does kind of look like it. There are so many look-alikes I just end up calling it a no-ID haha. Also, worth noting the color changes from one location to another due to heat...

 

I'm currently rooting a handful of them I got from the Southern CA Plumeria Sale at Balboa Park: Jean Moragne, Kauaka Wilder, Kaleilani, Irma Bryan, Donald Angus, Shea's Sunset, California Sunset and Dragon Heart. I started a few seeds as well, from A Piece of Paradise Plumeria. Should be a while before I see any blooms, but we'll see what turns out. I have a seedling from a yellow-flowered tree that I collected seeds from circa ~2014 that is yet to bloom. It's big and healthy, just hasn't flowered yet. 

 

Here's some notes on Mardi Gras, note temperature effects on flower color.



Jean Moragne and CA. Sunset should be easy ( and look great. CA. Sunset can take alot of heat as well )  



Donald Angus could be a little more of a challenge.. Great cultivar though



While 3 years is average, some seedling - started plants can definitely take their time producing their first flowers, lol.. Recall seedlings i started in ..2007 didn't flower until 2014. Look for " nubbing " > Aborted, first attempt at producing an Inflo. <  Often produced  a year before successfully producing flowers.  Some cultivars skip this phase and produce their first flowers right from the start.

[The Gerg]

I’m lovin this one. This one has a similar look to some of the ones posted here. This one labeled as Gloria Schmitt.

[Barry]

Beautiful color!

Here are some that are blooming now for me

Ruby Batik, new last year from Florida Colors Nursery

Donald Angus

Hilo Beauty 

 

[Carlos Ramos]

Great looking Plumerias!! Here are a few we have to share.  

26FE7682-0E02-40EC-9D8A-1AA4DB492B69.heic

[Carlos Ramos]

30D4CFAF-F179-4E4F-B0A4-DE300BD401C6.heic D499801F-3128-400F-BCF0-C5100D558BD0.heic 01D52032-E5DB-4EDF-86B1-D5C3E8EB1830.heic B3E3C397-5642-429C-AE5E-57EEC100EC6F.heic 1D14DE46-1F4F-44E4-8991-8B712324494D.heic

[Tracy]

Kaneohe Sunburst

[Tracy]

San Diego Sunset, my groundcover plumeria that wants to crawl instead of grow upright.  As summer progresses, the growth always comes over the edge of the planter and onto the deck, requiring me to create new cuttings which I give away.  This one isn't too bad yet, but the growing season will last another 3 months in my garden for this variety.  In another plumeria thread, I've shared photos if it in bloom between Christmas and New Years.

 

[Peter]

Jeannie Moragne-old school

[Tracy]

On 8/25/2022 at 5:40 PM, Peter said:

Jeannie Moragne-old school

My wife wishes more of these deep colors would thrive in our climate.  Based on temperatures this weekend, she could see them do better here in coming years.  Beautiful Peter.

[Tracy]

Our Fantasia is now starting to open flowers.  Colors on all the plumerias and hibiscus in the garden opened much deeper colors this last week with the major heat wave.  My wife pointed it out to me and as I walked through the garden I have to agree that flowers on both of these types of plants seem more intense than normal for us. 

[DippyD]

On 9/5/2022 at 6:39 PM, Tracy said:

My wife wishes more of these deep colors would thrive in our climate.  Based on temperatures this weekend, she could see them do better here in coming years.  Beautiful Peter.

Tracy,

 

jeanie should grow for you no problem. This is actually a pretty easy grow with that burst of color you’re looking for. 

[DippyD]

You all have some really nice plumerias! Here’s a few of mine….

[Barry]

Very nice collection!

[aztropic]

A couple of my plumeria. 

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[Tracy]

On 9/11/2022 at 6:02 PM, aztropic said:

A couple of my plumeria. 

I'm curious when plumeria reach their peak blooming in Arizona given the heat mid-summer.  They seem to bloom late here as it often takes them a while to build up steam it seems.  My peak activity on most of the plumeria is happening in late August and into September.  Do they bloom early there and then slow mid-summer to pick up steam again in the Autumn as temps moderate a little?  The Fantasia that opened a few flowers back in early September, but all the clusters are now just starting to fill out.  My largest in ground plumeria only started to open flowers about 2 weeks ago; it is the one my wife bought as a 1' stalk of Hilo Beauty many years ago, took forever to flower for the first time and looks nothing remotely like Hilo Beauty.

[aztropic]

Arizona peak bloom is May with a smaller round 2 in October.

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[JubaeaMan138]

I’m curious on rooting these from cuttings . I’ve been told several different ways and up until this year I have been unsuccessful. This year all of my cuttings rooted . Only difference this year was I did not wait for them to callus cut them dipped them in hormone and potted them . In the past I always let them callus for a couple weeks and then dipped them and potted but that never worked always rotted and produced no roots 

[Silas_Sancona]

Somewhere in one of the half dozen or so Plumeria-related threads here, i'd mentioned always watching out for plants infected with FrMV, or Frangipani Mosaic Virus and to either destroy or at least isolate them from healthy specimens. 

Another Virus that can infect Plumeria is CBV or Color Break Virus. While some people find the flowers on infected plants attractive, be aware that insects or not properly washing tools when taking cuttings can transfer this virus between infected and healthy plants.

While roaming around the neighborhood today, found a pretty nice Plumeria for sale at a local Big box.. Looking at the tag, i immediately had reservations since the nursery listed has a well discussed ( within Plumeria grower circles ) history of continually selling virus infected plants.

Looking at the flowers, Very obvious this specimen is infected with Color Break Virus vs. darker tones in the flowers bleeding into lighter colored areas. Bleeding can occur during hot weather and is normal.

Overall plant:



Infected flowers:





While the flowers are kind of neat, i personally wouldn't purchase something like this and risk the health of non- infected specimens in my collection. Supposedly, there are some newer cultivars around where the flowers have color break-like streaking / spotting, but are virus free.

[gurugu]

Does anyone know which varieties these frangipani are. All of them are grown in pots. I had one germinated from seed growing outdoors for several years, but it didn´t bloom. At least, it was alive!

I´m very bad at recognizing them. Thanks.

 

[Silas_Sancona]

3 minutes ago, gurugu said:

Does anyone know which varieties these frangipani are. All of them are grown in pots. I had one germinated from seed growing outdoors for several years, but it didn´t bloom. At least, it was alive!

I´m very bad at recognizing them. Thanks.

 

Unfortunately, with all the hundreds of named varieties out there, many registered, many more not ( ..and several thousands of un-named seedlings ) it's not easy to be 100% sure of a particular variety that doesn't have a tag in which the flowers don't instantly make someone recall a cultivar name. 

That said, there are some clues that can get you closer to some sort of an ID.. If, for example, flowers on the yellow and white ones smell like fresh peaches when they flower,  higher odds a classic variety like  " Aztec Gold " is dominant in their genetic make up ( most likely the pod parent )  Gardenia or classic plumeria scent?, " Celadine " or Singapore may be the dominant genes in them..

Sometimes well known cultivars, get passed around and re-named by people in different places ..Good example:  What was shared with someone as Aztec Gold, got miss labeled, and then passed around as another " Gold- flowered " variety..  Any seeds produced by an Aztec Gold specimen may closely resemble the parent in some ways, but won't be  Aztec Gold..

4th picture resembles a variety called " Nebel's Rainbow" but can't be 100% certain that it is that cultivar..

Picture #7: ...Can see hints of either " Slaughter Pink ",  " Maui Beauty ",  or " Daisy Wilcox  in it ..but don't think it is any of those cultivars.

Narrower- petaled ones are tough..  They could be named, or simply nice, but not stand out seedling plants that got passed around, w/out a cultivar name assigned to them.

You might look through different plumeria grower's web pages to try and help narrow down a list of possibilities.


 

[gurugu]

30 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Unfortunately, with all the hundreds of named varieties out there, many registered, many more not ( ..and several thousands of un-named seedlings ) it's not easy to be 100% sure of a particular variety that doesn't have a tag in which the flowers don't instantly make someone recall a cultivar name. 

That said, there are some clues that can get you closer to some sort of an ID.. If, for example, flowers on the yellow and white ones smell like fresh peaches when they flower,  higher odds a classic variety like  " Aztec Gold " is dominant in their genetic make up ( most likely the pod parent )  Gardenia or classic plumeria scent?, " Celadine " or Singapore may be the dominant genes in them..

Sometimes well known cultivars, get passed around and re-named by people in different places ..Good example:  What was shared with someone as Aztec Gold, got miss labeled, and then passed around as another " Gold- flowered " variety..  Any seeds produced by an Aztec Gold specimen may closely resemble the parent in some ways, but won't be  Aztec Gold..

4th picture resembles a variety called " Nebel's Rainbow" but can't be 100% certain that it is that cultivar..

Picture #7: ...Can see hints of either " Slaughter Pink ",  " Maui Beauty ",  or " Daisy Wilcox  in it ..but don't think it is any of those cultivars.

Narrower- petaled ones are tough..  They could be named, or simply nice, but not stand out seedling plants that got passed around, w/out a cultivar name assigned to them.

You might look through different plumeria grower's web pages to try and help narrow down a list of possibilities.


 

Thanks for the effort. I appreciate it. I know it's hard to tell them apart.

By the way, I am going to be sent plumeria seeds next week. I'm eager to sprout, grow and plant them to see what new colours they show. The mother plant is white coloured from the Canary Islands. 

[Silas_Sancona]

6 hours ago, gurugu said:

Thanks for the effort. I appreciate it. I know it's hard to tell them apart.

By the way, I am going to be sent plumeria seeds next week. I'm eager to sprout, grow and plant them to see what new colours they show. The mother plant is white coloured from the Canary Islands. 

You'll likely get some interesting variety from the seed, though with both white and yellow flowering cultivars, high likely hood seedling plants will also flower somewhere on the white or yellow spectrum.. with a few that might show pink or reddish tones in them, especially if the flowers self pollinated as a pose to pollen being transferred to the pod producing specimen from a red or pink flowering tree somewhere nearby. 

Seed produced by either Pink or Rainbow- colored cultivars have the greatest potential for producing seedlings that can be any color ..or combination of colors that are very different from either the pod parent, pollen parent, or both.  " True " or stable color of seed grown plants can take 3-5 years to show their " true " colors once they start flowering..   Have heard of plants flowering Pink their first year or two, only to end up producing light yellow flowers, with only some pink or red in them from the 3rd year and beyond that.. 

That's the fun in growing -any- plumeria from seed.. Yea, you'll get some that look good, but resemble the parent, but, you can also get some that are really unique, which is when you start thinking about assigning it a name. ( and pursuing getting it registered )

Aida, a seedling produced cultivar from a Florida Plumeria grower is a great example... Combines the best attributes, among the group of seedlings it came from,  from both of it's parents:  Aztec Gold = Pollen donor/ parent, and Maui Beauty = Pod parent.

I have a few seedlings from Aida and, as long as they keep growing, i'm looking forward to seeing what they become when they flower. All of them could resemble Aida, or each seedling, or just one exhibits completely different, perhaps even better qualities that should be given a special name.

[gurugu]

4 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

You'll likely get some interesting variety from the seed, though with both white and yellow flowering cultivars, high likely hood seedling plants will also flower somewhere on the white or yellow spectrum.. with a few that might show pink or reddish tones in them, especially if the flowers self pollinated as a pose to pollen being transferred to the pod producing specimen from a red or pink flowering tree somewhere nearby. 

Seed produced by either Pink or Rainbow- colored cultivars have the greatest potential for producing seedlings that can be any color ..or combination of colors that are very different from either the pod parent, pollen parent, or both.  " True " or stable color of seed grown plants can take 3-5 years to show their " true " colors once they start flowering..   Have heard of plants flowering Pink their first year or two, only to end up producing light yellow flowers, with only some pink or red in them from the 3rd year and beyond that.. 

That's the fun in growing -any- plumeria from seed.. Yea, you'll get some that look good, but resemble the parent, but, you can also get some that are really unique, which is when you start thinking about assigning it a name. ( and pursuing getting it registered )

Aida, a seedling produced cultivar from a Florida Plumeria grower is a great example... Combines the best attributes, among the group of seedlings it came from,  from both of it's parents:  Aztec Gold = Pollen donor/ parent, and Maui Beauty = Pod parent.

I have a few seedlings from Aida and, as long as they keep growing, i'm looking forward to seeing what they become when they flower. All of them could resemble Aida, or each seedling, or just one exhibits completely different, perhaps even better qualities that should be given a special name.

Very interesting information, thanks. 

I still have two plants of frangipani grown from seed some 15 years ago. No flowers yet because they have always been growing outdoors, either in the ground or in a pot. Now I have planted both in the ground inside the greenhouse. If they flower in the coming future, I will transplant them outdoors to see if they also bloom.  Of course, protected from our high winter rain and cool weather. 

O e thing is for sure, at least, as far as I am concerned,  seed grown plumerias are mu h harder than grafted ones. 

[Silas_Sancona]

8 minutes ago, gurugu said:

Very interesting information, thanks. 

I still have two plants of frangipani grown from seed some 15 years ago. No flowers yet because they have always been growing outdoors, either in the ground or in a pot. Now I have planted both in the ground inside the greenhouse. If they flower in the coming future, I will transplant them outdoors to see if they also bloom.  Of course, protected from our high winter rain and cool weather. 

O e thing is for sure, at least, as far as I am concerned,  seed grown plumerias are mu h harder than grafted ones. 

I'm sure i have have mentioned this somewhere more than a few times but, for plants that have yet to flower / are just being stubborn,  cut back on any fertilizer high in Nitrogen, and up the K ( Potassium ) and Mag. Lack of K and Mag. / over abundance of N will push lots of nice lush green growth, ...but few -if any- flowers. Force them into dormancy / withhold all but an occasional, quick sprinkle thru the cooler months - if you have to, as well..

On the other hand, sometimes seedling plants just take their time flowering..

When William " Bill " Moragne, one of the god fathers of some exceptional plumeria cultivars, ( any cultivar with the name " Moragne " attached is his creation )  started down the road of creating his own collection of crosses, at least one of his seedlings took ...18 years... to flower for the first time, while others flowered within the 3-5 or 6 year "average" time frame.  ...And that is growing them outdoors, in Hawaii, one of the most ideal places outside of Mexico and the Caribbean Basin / other similar parts of the world for growing them.

Agree 100% that seedlings are often much hardier than grafted specimens. While i've grown many cultivars that were grafted, I learned along the way that grafted plants can infact be some of the worst as the graft itself can chock out the top " desired " portion.  Seedlings have always been tough as nails for me, and the " happiest " plumeria specimen i have is a seedling.

I've reserved myself to the idea that if a cultivar -awesome as it might look- won't grow well on it's own roots, here, or in California,  i won't grow it..  More than enough amazing varieties around that will do fine w/ out needing to be grafted. Same with starting choice varieties from cuttings.. Some are great / pretty easy to get going, others fail miserably, no matter how much effort is put into rooting them.

[DippyD]

An unknown and a fireblast for a late season here in SoCal. 

[gurugu]

10 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

I'm sure i have have mentioned this somewhere more than a few times but, for plants that have yet to flower / are just being stubborn,  cut back on any fertilizer high in Nitrogen, and up the K ( Potassium ) and Mag. Lack of K and Mag. / over abundance of N will push lots of nice lush green growth, ...but few -if any- flowers. Force them into dormancy / withhold all but an occasional, quick sprinkle thru the cooler months - if you have to, as well..

On the other hand, sometimes seedling plants just take their time flowering..

When William " Bill " Moragne, one of the god fathers of some exceptional plumeria cultivars, ( any cultivar with the name " Moragne " attached is his creation )  started down the road of creating his own collection of crosses, at least one of his seedlings took ...18 years... to flower for the first time, while others flowered within the 3-5 or 6 year "average" time frame.  ...And that is growing them outdoors, in Hawaii, one of the most ideal places outside of Mexico and the Caribbean Basin / other similar parts of the world for growing them.

Agree 100% that seedlings are often much hardier than grafted specimens. While i've grown many cultivars that were grafted, I learned along the way that grafted plants can infact be some of the worst as the graft itself can chock out the top " desired " portion.  Seedlings have always been tough as nails for me, and the " happiest " plumeria specimen i have is a seedling.

I've reserved myself to the idea that if a cultivar -awesome as it might look- won't grow well on it's own roots, here, or in California,  i won't grow it..  More than enough amazing varieties around that will do fine w/ out needing to be grafted. Same with starting choice varieties from cuttings.. Some are great / pretty easy to get going, others fail miserably, no matter how much effort is put into rooting them.

Obviously, you master this matter of frangipanis. It's good to have someone who shares his knowledge with others. That's what this forum is about. 

As I said, currently, I have all my plumerias planted in the ground inside the greenhouse, for them to grow bigger and healthier. But my aim is to plant them outdoors in the future. We'll see. 

Anyway, I'll keep on "taking" cuttings or seeds of any plant I like. The blame is on my right hand, which gets too nervous whenever it sees a plant or a tree full of seeds.! 😀

[Barry]

I was able to save my large Kimo from Ian. Acouple of hours before the storm I removed as many leaves as I could without a ladder. It stayed standing strong, it went down during Irma.