Thorton's "Symphony"

Here is a photo of Thornton"s "Symphony coming into bloom. The name somehow seems appropriate when you see this flower opening up.

This is another picture of it. Somewhat blurry.

Gosh, that is gorgeous! Do you find it easier to grow plumies with your humidity? I get occasional invitations to teach in Louisiana, and I'd like to tour the gardens there. You must be able to grow just about anything.

Allgr8dogs, we don't have any problems growing plumerias in our area so long as we provide them with good drainage.

I grew up in New England where we had a very short growing season. I wasn't into planting at that time, but I remember my dad would plant everything at one time. He would start some of his plants in a hot bed to get a hard start.

Here in Louisiana, we can grow something all year long. In fact, some people who are not from the south find it hard to believe that July and August are our worse growing season. The days and "nights" are too hot for vegetables, such as tomatoes, to set fruit. We have spring vegetable gardens and fall vegetable gardens. Many flowers that grow well in other parts of the country are too stressed in our hot summer. As an example, pansies and petunias are fall, winter, and spring flowers. They do not do well in our hot summers. Spring and fall are our most colorful times of the year, spring especially.

You can see the stress in the plants in July and August. We get frequent thunderstorm showers that deluge us with heavy rains for a short period of time. With our humidty, it takes time for the ground water to evaporate. You then have plants sitting in drenched soil and the hot blistering sun beats down on them. It is hard to imagine that much water and the plants wilting from lack of oxygen in the soil.

That is one of the reasons I like plumerias. They will do well when other plants are struggling.

summer is very hard on our plants here, too. I grew up between Michigan and New York, so when I first came to Phoenix I was amazed - I could hang laundry out and sometimes by the time I finished the clothes I started with were dry already. I grow brugmansias, and find that I get few blooms in the summer - like your climate they bloom most in the spring and fall. I would love to grow fuschias but they have never done well for me here, and also most ferns. I bet you can grow those really well...