Let's have a contest for the first -- and for the last -- plumeria bloom of 2005.
I'm depending on this budded head of a TW producing the first bloom.
Anyone interested?
A contest early and late
After the spider mites went through my place I'm just happy my poor little ones are getting their leaves to grow back. Glad someone is getting flowers. :)
Robinz
Robinz:
The tree is bare bones. But there about a dozen bud clusters,
Well isn't that interesting. Do they always do like that? These are my first plumaries. I started them from seed end of last Oct. I thought the flowers came after the leaves. Did yours go dormant in the winter months or is Florida nice enough that they can go all year round or maybe you have something speicial set up for them.
Robinz
They don't go dormant, but the leaves just curl up and drop off. My whites hold a few leaves. Now the long ends start pushing bud heads,
mine are still bare sticks. still sleeping. havent even put a node or anything out yet. slow starters. hehe like me dont want to get out of bed.
Well, I had my first one today! My Lemon Drop just started to bloom. I took a picture, but it is out of focus so I'll get another one tomorrow.
Robinz, a lot of times the inflo will come in at the same time as the leaves or even before the leaves come in. Also, you should know that plumerias can take three or more years to bloom from seed. I highly recommend that you get your hands on a cutting so that you can see flowers this summer!
Brad, I have inflo's on a bunch of my Celadines. I also have inflo's on Wave Rage, Sarah's Curly Pink, Angus Selection #3, Marion B, and a few others that I can't remember now. So far the Celadines are the fastest growing inflo's other than my Lemon Drop here.
Actually I have some cuttings that I bought at the Flower and Garden show in Feb. (nothing like hedging the bet :) I was holding off planting till I made sure the spider mites were gone. I like growing things from seed and I know they take 2 or 3 years to bloom but what the heck that's the challenge. :)
Robinz
One of mine has begun setting new leaves, but blooms are months away (assuming I get any).
Can't wait to see more pix of all of you alls though. Congrates Clare on having the first of 2005 :-)
Oh, good. I like growing things from seed too, and I have 42 plumeria seedlings. I just wanted to make sure you knew that they take a few years to bloom from seed. I hope you get some blooms from your cuttings this summer. Plant those babies now! The leaves should be waking up any time now if they haven't already. You can spray with a horticultural oil or Neem oil or even vegtable oil mixed with water and dish detergent for the spider mites.
Clare_CA
"Plumeriagod" has already been chosen as a nom-de-garden, so I officially anoint you "PlumeriaQueen."
Do yours get rust on the leaves before they drop off in the fall? Mine do, and I've just learned to ignore it.
Also, do you need any hints about pre-focusing a digital camera? As you can perhaps tell, I am an inveterate volunteer.
If mine blooms Imma betting I win the last position. ;)
LOL, Brad! That title gives me much too much credit. I've only been growing plumerias for a couple of years and have a lot to learn yet.
My plumies outside don't get rust here. I think the air is too dry. And all of my plumerias except "Duke" kept their original leaves all winter long. I had a yellow leaf drop here and there, but no significant leaf drop. "Duke" dropped its remaining leaves a week ago!
In my portable greenhouse, however, there is a high degree of humidity, and my one-year-old seedlings did in fact get rust underneath the leaves along with aphids. I decided it would be best to just remove the leaves from my seedlings and spray with a fungicide. They leaves grew back fairly quickly. I would spray yours with a fungicide just to keep the rust from coming back when the leaves come back. I think rust is more of a problem in Florida, where it is more humid, than here in dry California.
Actually, my camera has Automatic focus, but when I use the viewer to take the picture, it doesn't always focus right when the light is insufficient. Sorry about that. I'll get another picture of my Lemon Drop, but it is raining again so I may not go outside today!
Clare_CA
Automatic focus is great, but you have to follow the instructions on how to narrow your focus target. Aim the camera right where you want the exposure to be correct -- push the trigger half way down --the camera will click OK -- then keeping your finger on the trigger (this is important) swing the camera to where you want to, and press the finger all the way down and take the picture.
This locks the camera's focus and exposure on the small section of the photo you really want to be in focus and sharp. This is especially important when you want to photograph a small object some distance from the background. Absent the above, the lens averages everything.
Thanks, Brad. I will try it, but I'm not sure you can push the trigger halfway down on my camera. Any light touch and it snaps the picture. I have a Kodak DC265 Zoom Camera.
Clare_CA
Try it, you may like it
Here you go, Brad. A picture that is in focus! This is Lemon Drop:
Beautiful, Clare! Oh Queen of Plumie Land! I have two out of three plumie babies putting out leaves. I hope I can get them to bloom this year.
:) Donna
Clare_CA:
It's beautiful. Wish we has e-smell-mail.
Re : cameras. That half-way-down and reframe, really works. Camera lenses are really unthinking. They merely do what their designer planned -- to average. One has to fake them out.
That's gorgeous Clare. Congrats on having the first bloom of the year.
Thanks, Donna and Nightowl! I found a couple more sources for you Canadians if you are interested: One is in Florida: http://my.enom.com/25328/page99.htm Another one is in BC and called Hawaiian Pacific Exotics, and they carry over 60 plumeria hybrids. Phone number is 1-604-275-0169 or 1-800-665-6677. Another one is here: http://www.floraexotica.ca/Flower-Plumeria.htm
Thanks for the camera tip, Brad!
Edited because forgot to say:
Donna, I hope you get blooms this summer!
Brad, this one is rather plain to look at but has a nice lemon smell.
This message was edited Mar 25, 2005 6:41 PM
Clare_CA: re: Lemon Drop
I'm going to get a chunk and try it. Thanks for the info. But you definitely win the prize for FIRST.
brad
Thanks, Brad. So what's my prize? LOL! Just kidding!
Clare_CA:
Don't be impatient. The reward for an achievement such as this requires more than just something one finds in a box of Crackerjacks.
Clare_CA:
Here we go. For the first bloom in the temperate zone. We've already lost out to Delecie with her Aztec Gold (from down in the tropics.) This is the TW that the wasp was annoying.
Clare_CA:
And my second entry: (another TW inflorescence)
Brad, mine aren't even close to that so I concede! I'll post some of my inflo's later today.
Clare_CA:
I was going to give you a handicap rating, like in golf, After all, I'm on the East Coast, and we get the sun three hours before you do.
Okay, here are some of my inflo's. This one is Sarah's Curly Pink:
This one is Celadine:
This is another Celadine:
This is a Celadine with an inflo developing, and it has last year's inflo still attached, which will bloom again.
I have more inflo's but those are the most developed ones. My Lemon Drop is still blooming also. This is another Celadine:
If I get a bloom I will be a winner. My big one almost bit the dust and a smaller one has just started nubbing out.
I actually had a Celadine with a massive inflo from last year which was all set to bloom again with new buds and everything, but I sent it to a friend who needed a Celadine and didn't have one.
Clare_CA:
My inflows uniformly appear before there are any leaves. (But I have only two varieties. The TW an un-named, but very prolific, white.)
Your last pictured Celedine is unique with respect to its trunk diameter. You can see when you statred feeding it. (Looks like a serpent swallowed a mouse.) And does it have serrated leaves, or did something get at it?
Brad, you're right about the uneven trunk diameter, but I think that has more to do with the old inflo than with fertilizer. Technically, it should have branched right there at the base of that old inflo, but it didn't, but it may still. With time, it should look more uniform. The serrated leaves that you see are actually behind my Celadine plumeria and belong to a brug seedling, which isn't looking that attractive at the moment.
Thanks. Take care.
And, here we are at the seven furlongs pole; and here comes TW, straining at the reins ----
