This is my first post in the "Texas Gardeners" forum. Here is a picture of "Thornton's Lemondrop" plumeria blooming just days before Thanksgiving. This is an awesome forum and look forward to sharing and learning from you all!
Randy
Plumeria blooms in November:)
One more image for ya'll. This is one of my favorite plumerias! This is a picture of the "Kimo" plumeria flower from last June.
Randy
Welcome to Dave's Garden, Randy!!! Nice shot!
John
Thanks, John! I have tons of photos of all types of plants.
Randy
Hi and welcome to Dave's Garden Randy. There is a Plumeria plant sale on June 11, 2005 at Bay Area Commmunity Center one Nasa Rd 1. in Nassau Bay. It is sponsored by the Plumeria society of Houston. It is a wonderful plant sale, and with a great selection of plants. There are many collectors there willing to teach beginners, and share their knowledge with others on plumerias. Your plumerias are beautiful. Thanks for the wonderful pictures.
Patti
This message was edited Mar 7, 2005 7:51 AM
Hi, Patti. That's on my definate to do list!!! I just hate that they moved the shows so far out of the city!:( I remember the days when they were held in Hermann Park and touring the old homes in West University to gualk at all of the old Victorian glass greenhouses full of hybrid plumerias! But, I won't mind the drive out to Clear Lake!:)
Thanks,
Randy
Beautiful, flowers, both of you! I confess I don't know much- actually, I don't know *anything*- about plumerias. Are they hard to grow? Are they tropicals?
Hi Randy ...welcome to the Texas Gardeners forum! Beautiful pictures! Do you have you plumeria planted in the ground? I have several plumeria and have them in containers...I'm afraid to plant them into the ground, but would love to if I knew they would be fine. I have never had a bloom on my plants, and am sure they'd love to be in the ground too~... I live about 150 miles east of Houston In the Piney Woods..so I'm sure our climate is similiar......any input would be appreciated~ Debra
Randy, your Lemondrop looks like mine did right about that same time. But since then, the winter winds and rain stripped my tree of leaves. But spring is beginning to wake up and so is my tree with loads of little baby leaves emerging from the funny sausage branches :-). (I'm not in Texas, but we all agree that I'm allowed to visit here even if I am a Okie by rights ;-)
-Julie
Randy,
I am hoping to attend the plumeria plant sale also. I live only a few block fro there . I hope to see you there.
Patti
Hi, everyone! Thanks for the warm response:) Debra, I have a 20 year old "Slaughter Pink" plumeria that is in an 18" terra cotta pot and blooms profusely every year. I assume most people who live in zones lower than 8b would probably do best to container grow most of their plumies. I only have two planted in the ground and they loose their leaves in late December and spring back in late April. I have 47 hybrid plumerias and most are container grown for obvious reasons. I would think that a "Slaughter Pink" or "Aztec Gold" would probably be fine outdoors where you are. I would slowly inroduce it to cold temps for the first year or two, keeping it in the container. Definately plant it in a sunny location away from any north winds and make sure the soil is fast draining. Plumerias HATE to be in a water logged area! Feed your plumeria with something like "Superbloom" during spring and summer. It will reward you with beautiful blooms. I use a bark mulch around the base of my plumie to protect it during light freezes outdoors. I lived right outside of downtown Houston for several years and there was this old large 1920's 3-story house. They had massive 20+ foot plumeria trees outside and they bloomed like crazy every year!!
Julie, that's great!!! How are the growing conditions in Israel for plumerias? What are your import laws like regarding plants?
Randy
Oh it's beautiful! I bet it smelled divine. I just planted my first plumeria. Right now it kinda looks like someone put out a big cigar in my pot! I can't wait till it grows. It has some little green buds popping up on top.
Laura
Import laws are very very restrictive. In fact, importing almost any seed or live plant is illegal. If you get a pack of sunflower seeds in the mail from your mother, for example, it will likely get confiscated. If you get a box of them, YOU will likely get confiscated LOL. A person can apply for a permit to import something but for the average gardener that's waaaaayyyyyy too cost prohibitive. A permit costs neary as much as my entire garden collection cost! And it takes months to get an approval IF you do eventually get one. It's just a hassle and expensive and really only for big garden centers who plan on importing a lot of a particular plant.....or for someone who has time and money on his/her hands and is completely obsessed about acquiring something unusual ROTFL!
Growing conditions really depend on where in Israel. Our winters where I live (halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem) are a bit wet and cool for the Plumerias, but they survive and then thrive on the hot summers, so long as they get regular water. My entire garden is hooked up to a computer controlled drip system, so there's no such thing as forgetting to water the plants. The only things I have to water myself are all of my succulents in my collection on the back patio. But that's just once a week and they are all located in the same place....so no big deal.
Back to Plumerias...;-)....We only have two varieties generally offered here at garden centers. They don't even offer cultivar names for them. Just Plumeria alba for the white and Plumeria something else for the red one ;-). I'd love to go to a Plumeria sale where I could see a lot of varieties in person. Of course, I'm allergic to practically everything that produces pollen (kind of a silly problem to have for someone who is so enamoured with gardening isn't it!), so at such a sale I'd probably need to wear my gas mask. ROTFL!
Here's a pic I took of one of my Plumeria blooms on November 18th:
-Julie
You can see from this pic taken on Nov 30, that it was still nice and green (as was my Sophora japonica which is also now very naked out in the rain LOL).
I didn't take any pics of it in December so I don't remember exactly when it started losing it's leaves. And then on January 9th I took this pic of the funny bald branches (so sometime around the end of December it must've been fairly bare of leaves). But even the bald little guys are starting to push out some leaf babies :-). If my camera were back from the shop, I'd post a pic of what it looks like now.....all the stem tips are full of 1-2 inch long leaf sprouts :-)
-Julie
Oh, wow! Something else for my "gotta have" list. The plumerias in Hawaii are so beautiful and I have always wanted to grow them. At least one in a container....
Whats the latest on your camera?
"sometime this week"...thanks for asking John :-). I nag ...ehem...ask them every day. They continue to politely imply that I should be more patient LOL
-Julie
And, THEY should be more specific! LOL
Oh how did I miss this thread. DH and I got addicted to plumeria on our vacation, guess where we got our username from. We ordered our first stick last year and have babied it ever since. It has grown and produced leaves so we are happy with that. Can't wait for it to bloom!!! There is a guy from our hometown, Victoria, that has a ton of plumeria and we always go there and dream. Love all of your pictures!!! Have a great day, Kim
John, well they DO have my camera, so I'm trying to not to tick them off ;-)
-Julie
Not yet, anyway. ;-)
Yeah, I could go in to pick it up, have it in my mitts and THEN start arguing about how I should get some discount for them not putting my camera at the top of their list! LOL But then, I may need them at some future time so I'll try to remain cheerful about my incessant nagging ;-).
-Julie
That 'might' help you get to the top of the list.
LOL I doubt it, but it 'may' keep them from "accidentally" dropping my camera and smashing it to pieces and saying "oops" afterwards ;-)
-Julie
GREAT pics., Julie. Sorry to hear bout' your camera!:( I would have to borrow one or something. Tell them you need a loaner while their piddling around with yours! LOL:)
Hi, Kim! I'm glad you caught our post!:) Were you aware, that just a few miles from you in Leander, Texas, that there was the largest retailer/wholesaler of plumerias in Texas? They were called "The Plumeria People" and literally had hundreds of plumies for sell!!! A gentleman by the name of Milton L. Pierson bought them out and moved the operations to Houston. Unfortunately, there's no nursery to visit only an online mail order service.:(
I love most all plants but plumerias hold a special place in my heart. I had a friend who passed on give me a large plumeria. It was my first plumeria and I had no idea how to care for it. That was 13 yrs. ago and 46 plumerias later!
My philosophy is one is NEVER ENOUGH!!!!:)
Here's a picture of my favorite plumeria "Kimo".
Randy
Here's one from my backyard last summer.
One of my plumeria seedlings.
Randy thanks so much for your expertise on growing the plumeria in this area......I am in zone 8b and will try growing the Slaughter Pink and/or Aztec Gold....perhaps I can acquire a cutting of each...I'll offer a few Black Batflower aka Tacca for some cuttings....something I can do in the Plant trading forum....thanks again Randy!!
This last one is of my first plumeria (in the center) it is 6 ft. and 3" thick at the base.
Randy
Randy I have a couple of plumeria in containers....what size do you have yours planted in?? Debra~
The largest one is in an 18" container and the smaller ones are in 12" containers. All of my cuttings are in 1 gallon nursery containers. They like to become rootbound before moving to a new container. This also helps with the forcing of blooms. (The more root bound the more nutrients/trace minerals are absorbed and not lost). I also, liberally spray the leaves with "Spray N' Grow" once a week.
Randy
Well then it's time for my plumeria to be repotted, because they're definitely rootbound...maybe I will see blooms this year~ I keep my contained plumeria in partial shade during the hot days of summer....should I keep them in full sun?? Your plumeria pics are beautiful, and I'd love to see mine grow and do as well as yours...so I'm going to pick your brain, as long as you'll share~ LOL thanks so much! Debra~
Pick away! LOL:) Mine get at least 8-10 hrs. of full sun a day. During the hottest part of summer you may want to mist the plants if we haven't recieved any rain in a while. This keeps the leaves from being scalded or getting a sunburn. Did you tell me that they had or hadn't bloomed?
Here's a picture of my propogated cuttings.
Randy such beautiful babies....you're definitely addicted! seems you have the same obsession as I....I love starting plants from seeds, and cuttings also...I've grown these particular plumeria cuttings for the past 3 year without one bloom, I not doing something right....any ideas?? Debra~
I force mine to bloom with "SuperBloom" liquid fertilizer during the summer. That's the only fertilizer they recieve once they've rooted fully. You want the middle number on the fertilizer to be high like 10-60-10. The middle number is the phosphate, which increases bloom production.
Randy
Okay, okay...now I see something else I just MUST try! I love the pictures of these beautiful blooms! Gotta get one...gotta get one...gotta get one!!!
Randy, thanks for that fertilizer tip. I'll get some bloom forcing fertilizer if I can. Do you think it will help even with my Plumeria that is in the garden soil and not in a container?
-Julie
Yes! Here in Houston, there's a fertilizer made by Carle Poole I believe. Anyway it's a time released pelletized fertilizer just for plumerias! I would look around your garden center there and see if they sell a slow-release fertilizer with a high phosphate count. If not, a liquid fertilizer with a high middle number will work.
Thanks Randy! I'm going to get some SuperBloom or something similiarwith a high phosphate number. I do get nice foliage, just no blooms with the fertilizer I use now.... I appreciate the info......you can bet I'll be sharing any pictures of my plumeria blooms, you'll be the first to see them too lol~ Debra~