What's Blooming Now...

Here's a few from my garden. This one is Magnum Opus. Michael says it smells like Pink Pansy, one of its parents. It is a sweet fragrance.

This one was labeled Thai Orange and is one of Florida Colors's new releases, but it is blooming yellow. It is possible that it is not hot enough here to bring out the red pigment which would make this flower more orange. If it came from Thailand, then it would show more color there. We'll have to wait and see what happens with this one.

This is a lovely white that was a gift with purchase from Hetty and Carmen. Thanks, Hetty! It has a mild jasmine fragrance to my nose.

This one came from a neighbor, and I think it might be Samoan Fluff:

This is Celadine:

This is another unknown white. The flowers are quite large, and the fragrance is a bit unusual and hard to describe.

This is one of Florida Colors's new releases called 'Tex Huestis.' Luc gave me some background about the name:

"Tex Huestis is a seedling of Aztec Gold. The pollen parent is unknown. The light fuzz on the young leaves clearly show the female parentage of Aztec Gold. We had several good seedlings from that seedpod. They are in observation at the stud farm.

"Tex Huestis was a young 15 years old texan that signed up with the Marines soon after Pearl Harbor. His most famous exploit beside beind demoted several times from sargent was to land on Iwo Jima with his Navajo buddy 30 days prior to the main landing in early 1945. They spend the days in coconut trees and the night killing Japanese officers with piano wires. Silent and deadly. He survived the war and Carol married his older son. The son did not survive the Vietnam conflict. A little background about a name."

Luc
FCN

Key West Pink:

Dwarf Pink Singapore, or is it Dwarf Singapore Pink?

And from my favorite Flyboy, last but not least, Teresa Wilder. TW has a sweet mild fragrance. She is terrific for her color, her bloom size, and for her fragrance.

Way to go Clare!!
Im so happy for you to have so many blooms.
I have been blessed with some new babies today also.
Il make another thread for them.
I aint gonna hijack yours lol!!

Nice pictures Clare. My favorites are the first and last pic's. Lots of beautiful color!!!! Thanks for sharing.

You sure have a lot of plumies!!!!! They are beautiful flowers aren't they. I take it plumies are your favorites????

Wow Clare, they are all beautiful! I love the one you listed as the white gift from Hetty. The petals lay so perfect together. I am having bloom envy here! LOL I can only imagine what the scents mixing together would be like. Hope you will continue to post your pictures as you get more blooms!

OOOH! AAAAHH! Oh Clare, simply beautiful! I looove the "sherbert squirlie" ones!

Wow I would be in heaven in your yard! Love all of your blooms. I am a tad anxious for my one inflo to open. I would forget how to blink with all of the blooms you have!!! Super jealous. One day....one day!!!!

Thanks, Michael:-) You are welcome to hijack my threads anytime. I'll go to check out your new thread right after this post.

Thanks, Patty:-) Yes, I am indeed a collector of plumies and things. Plumies are right up there with some of my other favorites like Brugmansias, Michelias, Wisterias, Lilacs, Passifloras, Roses, Gardenias, Stephanotis, Tuberose, Aglaia, Adeniums, Epiphyllums, etc.! Whatever is blooming is my current favorite:-)

Thanks, Bev and Betsy! It's nice to hear which ones are the favorites.

Bev, I will definitely post more pictures as my blossoms open. The scents that waft in the air are indeed wonderful. Hopefully, as more flowers open, the fragrance in the air will become stronger. I am only getting a drift of scent here and there right now.

Thanks, Kim! Can't wait to see yours!

Hey Clare

What kind of luck do you have with stephanotis? Does it bloom often/alot? Is it warm enough during the winter season there to grow them in the ground? Would love to see picture when in bloom. I always kept mine in a pot because I figured it wouldn't survive even our mild winters here in South Texas. I have one that I actually grew from seed. It took three years before it bloomed. I ended up cutting it way way back (almost to the soil line) this past fall because of some black fungus or mildew that I couldn't get rid of and it is looking much healthier but I wonder if I'll get any blooms this season. I really doubt it. I love these little white flowers--so dainty and sweet, not to mention great smelling.

Hi Patty,

I don't know if you could plant yours in the ground. PlantFiles says it is only hardy to Zone 10, but you could root a cutting and put the big one in the ground and keep the rooted cutting inside for the winter just in case. You could plant it at the base of a tree for it to climb, and the tree would protect it from frost. You could also cover it with a frost cloth if you had a frost warning. It is worth a try. My vine is covered in buds right now. I will get a picture of it for you later today. You might try spraying with Safer's Fungicide which you can find at Home Depot so you don't get fungus or mildew again. I bought mine as a rooted plant at Target, and it has taken a few years to increase in size. I've cut it back and moved it a few times, and I've rooted cuttings of it. I have mine in a container, but I just planted a rooted cutting of it in the ground this past spring. We'll see how it does. Here is a picture from last year.

Here are a couple more shots from yesterday. My Thai Orange is starting to show some more color in its third bloom.

Here is TW again (wink at Brad):

Samoan Fluff, I think:

Magnum O.:

Magnum Opus, Thai Orange, and Teresa Wilder together:

Clare,
To be surrounded by that beauty!!! Ahhhh!!! Wondering if my gift unknown white (from Hetty) is the same as yours. I had one of the flowers open and that was my first thought...faintly smelled of jasmine...I was in heaven!!

Thanks, Chantell! It definitely could be the same! It smells really good:-)

Here is Key West Pink again:

You're stephanotis is beautiful--I love the trellis you have it growing on too. Just looking at that pic, reminds me how much I love these dainty flowers--I used lots of steph. in my wedding bouquet years back.

I've been spraying mine alternating neem oil one time and then foliar spray (alcohol, Palmolive, MG) the next and it seems to be keeping it in much better shape.

Do you root this in water? Would love to root it; have a friend who's a big vine lover; gotta give it a try. Also planning on trying to do a few desert rose cuttings if I can just make a decision on where I want to cut mine. It you think about it, keep me posted on how well yours does in the ground come winter (yeah right--like who can remember something like that that far down the road--I'd forget my head if is wasn't connected.)

I'm thinking I'm going to let mine grow on up the wood trellis wall of my patio. I've always kept in self-contained so to speak simply on the trellis.

Do you by chance have a mandeville? I bought one this season and am wondering how well they do in pots or if they perform better in the ground. I'd like to keep it in a pot just because I don't have a lot of room for vining types, but this is also one of my favorites so I want it to be covered in flowers. I think I'm like you, whatever is blooming is my favorite at the time. hahaha I do have a lot of favorites.

Would love to see pictures of your passifloras too. I recently got rid of a purple passion vine because it was just too invasive and I still have them popping up all around it the yard, in crevices of my concrete driveway even, but I would like to possibly do a red one (maybe the Margaret something or other variety). I just gotta come up with a place to put it. Do you find that some varieties are not as invasive as others?

Going nursery shopping today with friend; want to see if I can find a cherry jubilee allamanda today and possibly something small for hanging pots I keep on patio.

Patty

Phughes, I have two mandevilla that are in pots and are quite happy. They are growing like crazy putting out lots of new blooms.

Hi Patty, Thanks for the compliment. I really like my Stephanotis too. Yes, I stuck a piece in a glass jar of water, and it rooted in time. Your wood trellis on your patio sounds like a perfect place to put it, and it will be a few degrees warmer on your patio in the winter, and that may just be the shelter that it needs through your winter. If it is a covered patio or a semi-covered patio, then it will be protected from frost.

I do have a Mandevilla, and it is in the ground, and it is behind a bunch of other stuff so I don't see it much except when a pink flower pokes out here and there. It is pretty, but it took a long time to get going.

This past spring, I did some spring cleaning. I took out a whole row of Passifloras because they were starting to take over the whole area. I decided to get rid of anything which grew six feet a year and needed constant maintenance. I cut back and dug up six of them, including a P. amethystina hybrid that I grew from seed. I loved that one, and it was deliciously fragrant, but it was a massive grower and had the trunk of a tree, and it had to go. Passiflora helleri was also an aggressive grower, and it went too.

Passiflora belotti is one of my favorites for fragrance and was not aggressive/invasive, and Lady Margaret was well-behaved too, but that flower has no fragrance so I didn't keep it. I still have 'Lavender Lady' growing on a Bougainvillea, but that one is a huge grower too and has to be severely pruned fairly often. And I kept Passiflora platyloba for now, but it is another huge grower. Passiflora alata 'Ruby Glow' is out front, and it is an enormous grower also. I will have to cut that one back after it flowers this year.

I think most of my pictures of my passifloras are uploaded to PlantFiles if you have a chance to peruse those files. Here is a recent picture of Passiflora platyloba.

You THREW them away? *gulp* I would've gladly given the fragrant/hardy ones a home.

Sorry about that, Chantell. I can't do trades or send stuff out anymore. It takes too much time, expense, worry, etc. to do it right, and then, it seems there are always problems of passing or receiving insects and/or viruses. These rooted trunks were so heavy that it would have cost a fortune to send in the mail, and Passiflora cuttings don't send well either, even when sent correctly. I only trade plumeria cuttings these days and only with one friend of mine whom I trust. I've done a lot of trading in the past and shared my plants with many people, but I really don't have the time, energy, or money for that any longer, and I've positively no room left for any more plants.

I'm sorry Clare...I was just teasing you...I know you don't do trades any longer and I completely understand your reasons why. I am definately going to get myself at least one of these though...if nothing else I want to photograph those flowers!!! Which one do think looks/smells the best? Any opinons?

Thanks for info scoolie. I am thinking I will leave mine in a pot for now and see how it does.

Thanks for info on passifloras Clare. I am really thinking that if I find the room, Lady Margaret is the route I'll go, but there's another variety that I put in a flower bed at my in-laws that is red and I may take cutting on it. I can't think of the name, but I think it's similar in appearance to Lady Margaret.

Hey Clare are you a recreational gardening--meaning you do it just for your personal pleasure or do also do it for a living cause you sure seem to know alot and are always willing to pass along info to DG'ers.

Hi Chantell! I'm glad you understand:-) I'm stressing out easily these days due to lack of time! I know my trading policy at this time disappoints some people, but with so much to do, something's gotta give:-) I really like P. alata "Ruby Glow," but after about three years of growing it, it is a monster, but it can be cut back. Here's a picture of it taken last September below. It is even bigger now. After it flowers this year, I will probably take it out. If I could have one and only one, it would be P. bellotti for appearance and fragrance.

Thanks for the compliment, Patty. I am strictly a hobbyist. I have researched and read up on plants/vines/trees which interest me and sought out the knowledge of others and am happy to pass on what I know when time permits. There isn't much time lately so I hang out mostly here in the Plumeria Forum as plumies are one of my favorites:-)

Wow!!! Amazing how much they spread...you weren't kidding were you!?!!

Nice pics Clare!
That is a Samoan Fluff from what i can tell..
The smell should tell you..
The Magnum is suppose to smell like coconut or gardenia's i can't remember what does
yours smell like?
Oh so that's what happen to my lady bug she went south to the keys plumie :)
Lady bugs love to sit on my plumies all day i wish they go do their job thats what i paid
them to do..
25,000 lady bugs i bought to kill the mealy bugs and aphids and all they do is sit around
all day hanging out on my plumies..
They must be part of a union or something..
Next thing you know they will ask for overtime!

On the Stephanotis she will need sun to bloom..
Mine didn't bloom until i gave her full sun..
The smell is heavenly on a hot humid night..
I have mine next to my night blooming jasmines and the smells mix so well..
Full sun will get rid of your rot problems..
...again nice pics clare!

Hi Chantell, yes, P. alata 'Ruby Glow' is a monster. I am in the process of cutting it way, way back and have to consider removing it also. It drops a lot of spent leaves and buds in the driveway, and that annoys DH so I may have to put something else there that doesn't shed so many leaves.

Hi lopaka! Thanks and welcome to the plumie forum! It's always great to have another plumie lover and fragrance buff join us.

I think that one of mine is a Samoan Fluff too, but I keep the question mark on the tag because I can't be sure because I didn't get it from a reputable seller. It came from a neighbor's tree. I have heard that Samoan Fluff is supposed to have a green center, and this one doesn't, but it does match in all the other characteristics and growth habit. I suspect there may be a few "look-alikes" and hybrids out there in the world. It does smell heavenly. Whatever it is, I love it.

Magnum Opus is sweet but more peach-like than coconut-like. I wouldn't say gardenias either. It is sweet and not too strong. Everyone raves about the fragrance of MO. It's nice so far, but I wouldn't say it is better than Key West Pink or Celadine at this point. Maybe the fragrance will be stronger as my little graft grows bigger.

LOL about your ladybugs. That is so cool that you bought 25,000 of them. They like to hang out on my plumies as well. I did get some aphids on some of my leaves so I'm cool with them hanging out on my plumies if they want to. So far this year, my plumies look fairly insect free.

My Stephanotis is load with buds, and a few of the blooms will open any day now so I'll post a picture of it when it does.

Thanks lopaka! Hope to see some of your blooms soon!

Here are a couple more. This is Thai Orange and Teresa Wilder:

Some whites:

Magnum Opus, Thai Orange, and Teresa Wilder: