I took a chance on damaging the bloom and barely lifted two of the petals on one of the blooms. It looks very light or white on the top side of the petal. I took the picture below after doing that about 10 minutes ago.
Am I anxious or what ???????
Louise
Looks like you'll have a flower in 2 or 3 days! Woohoooo! I can't wait to see it!!! ♥
I am sorry Lou but I just can't wait any longer. I have had a few seedlings to bloom but they were just white with a little yellow in the center. This is intense Rainbow. I have one that a friend brought from the Big Island but every bloom has dropped off early. The last one almost opened and I have it in a cup on my desk. I will take pictures of it, if it opens. This is the one I gave you at the swap. If I can get enough growth out of Intense Rainbow this year I will give you a cutting of it also.
kenboy
www.vonrussellfarm.com
This message was edited Oct 7, 2007 8:24 PM
Teresa,
WooHoo! is how I feel also!!!! It's about time! I'm sooooo tired watching and waiting but I've gone this far and am not quiting now - I'm too close to having a bloom. I was a bit disappointed to find out that the beautiful pink color is the BACK of the petal and not the front. I think it's almost celebrating time - like, throw a big party or something!
Kenboy,
That's a beautiful one that you posted. Are you saying that I now have a cutting of that one????? I hope !!!!! Good luck with the Intense Rainbow. I'll be waiting in line to get a cutting next year.
Louise
To all who have been watching this with me -
I think it is finally the drum-roll time !!!!!!!!!!
I took this picture a few minutes ago. The bud is unfurling! Yeah !!! Can't really tell the final color yet can see the top side of the petals. Began to wonder if it would ever happen, but patience and endurance is paying off!
How about that ??????
Louise
This message was edited Oct 8, 2007 7:03 AM
Awesomeness!!
It's going to be gorgeous, cause you can already tell!!
Congratulations!! I know you've been suffering a long time to see this bloom. :)
indiana_lily,
Yes, the wait has seemed forever - and thanks for your comment. Like a new mom, whatever it looks like, to me, it's pretty !!!
louise
It's beautiful, congrats Louise!!!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! August 22nd is when you first posted a picture of the buds forming. You have the patience of a Saint! LOL!!!
PLEEEEZE post a picture when several of the blooms are open! It will be gorgeous, for certain!
Will do !!! It will probably be in the house by then.
louise
Congrats, Louise!
Clare,
With a lot of your help!
Thanks,
Louise
Maggi always says I never make sense. The other picture is Intense Rainbow, the picture at the bottom of this post is the one that I gave you. The man who gave it to me got it from a friend on the Big Island where he grew up. He said it was a nice one but he has too much shade and it has never bloomed. It may have a name but he doesn't remember. I pick up this mans bagged leaves every year so he wanted to thank me by giving me this Plumeria. What a deal, hundreds of bags of leaves to add to my compost and a Plumeria.
kenboy
www.vonrussellfarm.com
kenboy,
Your yellow one is very nice too! I'll be happy to have it bloom for me. My other six plants are grown from cuttings from Florida. Maybe they are ones that you aren't growing now. If so, we can trade cuttings. Mine do not have names. But, I'll bet that won't matter when I see the blooms.
How is the big Alocasia doing? Is it hardy in zone 7b/8a????? It is very impressive.
Louise
It is hardy to 7b but I dig them up and store them in the brooder house. I turn on a few lights and that keeps it just above freezing. I just wash the dirt from the roots and shove them in a feed sack. I also do this to my bananas. I should have some bananas to eat in a few weeks. If you put the dwarf one you have in a pot and bring it inside you should also.
The saga of the reluctant plumeria!!!!!
Here is the inflo today. I was very disappointed when I saw that one of the blooms had dropped off - don't know if a bird tried to land on it or what. It hasn't been very hot but we did have a short rain shower last evening with a little wind. I guess that's what did it.
It's not the pink that I had hoped it would be - but, hey! It's mine and I grew it and watched and watched it and I think it is very pretty. It smells sooooo nice also.
Early this morning, the edges of the blooms were rolled back and down. Do all of them act this way when they are in the process of opening?
Clare, now I know what you mean by the stripes on the back of the petal - on the edge, no less! I thought you meant in the middle. Do you recognize it? Does it have a real name?
Louise
This message was edited Oct 9, 2007 6:12 PM
This message was edited Oct 9, 2007 6:13 PM
Those are beautiful Lou!. Mine are no where near opening yet, but they are finally starting to show color besides green.
Kenboy, where is Big Sandy? There's a small community near Fredericksburg called Sandy.
silverfluter,
Thanks so much for the nice compliment! All new mommies love to have others say things like that about their babies!!!!!! Sounds kinda syrupy (sp?) but true! I haven't felt this foolish in a long time.
Louise
Hi Louise, some cultivars have flower petals with more recurve than others. Keeping trees on the dry side may have something to do with it also. It is a nice feature and adds to the look of the flower. Only some cultivars do that while others don't. Your flower doesn't look like a recognizable named cultivar, but it is lovely nonetheless. Yes, the stripe is always on the edge. Many cultivars have this pink stripe but not all.
The learning is very rewarding and fun, but the basking in the aura of a new inflo is even more so!!!!!
louise
So true!:) Can't wait to see mine open. How long did it take to open all the way once it started to unfurl?
silverfluter,
It took about two days to completely unfurl from the rolled up bud, to the petals that had a curled under look to the tip, to the fully opened bloom. So far, only 3 blooms have opened, with a couple of buds that are getting ready to open. Our temps were in the upper 50's last night because inside my house was only 62 degrees at 8 a.m. I'm wondering about when to bring them inside.
Louise
I took pictures this morning, but they are not in the computer yet. I think I have 5 buds almost ready to unfurl. I stop to check it everytime I walk by. As of 6 tonight it wasn't opening, so I'm hoping for tomorrow. I did notice though that the stem that has the buds is splitting now. There are 3 new branches starting. That sounds like good news to me.:)
silverfluter,
Good for you! You have an beginning inflo also. Please post your pictures so we can share your joy! Are you far enough south to leave your plant outside all winter? If so, maybe you will have blooms all winter.
Mine will have to come inside in a few days and I guess I will not let them go dormant to see if I get blooms on the other six plants. A couple of them look like they may be forming buds. The four blooms that opened so far on my first inflo have dropped but there are many more getting ready to open.
Louise
Beautiful Louise! Well worth the wait! ♥
TexasLou, I'll have to bring it in for the winter to the gh. I feel very fortunate that I have a gh. I'm hoping to cut back on the things I have to put in it so I can have more room for more plumerias. This year though I only have one.
Teresa_in_BC,
Thanks for liking my beautiful plumeria. I noticed in a previous thread that you have plumerias also. What colors do you have? Have you had good luck with having them bloom very much inside in winter? How long have you been growing them?
The inflo on mine now has five tall dark pink buds that are on their way to opening and lots and lots of smaller ones. From the earlier results, it will probably be about a week before the buds open and they will be inside by then, I think. However, we are supposed to have weather in the 90's this week. Crazy weather !!!!!!
I'll post another picture tomorrow of the inflo.
Louise
Teresa and silverfluter,
Here is a picture of the inflo with the second set of pink buds that will open. I think it will probably be a week before the blooms fully open. I like to watch the buds with their tall pointed shape and the vivid color.
Our fall weather was perfect today.
Louise
Lou, there is a lot more pink on this plant than the last one you posted. I think this one will have more color. Good luck.
kenboy,
It's the very same plant - just the second set of blooms opening. Maybe they get darker as more of them open. It's opening faster than I thought. I took the picture below this morning.
Are you still interested in having one of the dwarf banana to grow? If so, I can send one to you. Let me know.
Louise
This message was edited Oct 18, 2007 9:09 PM
It's supposed to get down to 54 tonight. I'm nervous.:) I'm afraid to move it for fear it'll go into shock. But I don't want it to get too cold. I've waited too long for these beauties.
silverfluter,
Is your plant in the ground or in a pot? What color do your have?
The wind was so strong today that several large pots were being blown over. So, I moved a brug and two plumerias much closer to the wall.
Louise
Mine is in a pot. The buds are all still in tact.
Time to pray for patience and more patience!!!!!!!!!
The voice of experience here. LOL
Louise
Yea, I hear ya'.:) What's the minimum temp for plumies?
Seems like I read on some thread to move them in when the temps are in the low 50's. I'm not sure but I'll bet the answer is in the stickie at the top of the plumeria forum page.
Our temp hasn't been that low yet but some of the tiny hook-like things at the top of a plant (that turn in to leaves) have turned black. The leaves still look normal and the center of the stalk seems OK. I guess I'll learn from all this since I've not done this before.
Louise
The low tonight is 54. I'll look at the stickie.
Any temp in the 50's is fine. In the 40's the plumerias will start dropping their leaves to prepare for dormancy, and they can be brought in before temps drop below 40. Any temp above freezing can be weathered by plumeria. They don't shock easily unless you subject them to below freezing temps. However, if you want your plumie to keep blooming, you can put it in a greenhouse anytime and keep the temp above 50. Mine bloomed all winter in a greenhouse with no heat where the nighttime temps got down to the mid-30's. The daytime heat was intense however.
Thanks, Clare. I read so much on DG that some of it begins to run together, but it's a 'nice run together'. Maybe with a year or two behind me, I'll remember details better.
Two buds in the inflo have opened on the second round. All the beautiful pictures posted on this forum keep me still fascinated with this flower. I think I may let both of my daughters each take two plants to over winter for me. The plants are so large and I will still have three with me. We live close enough for me to tend to all of them.
Louise
It's okay, Louise, and you were actually correct. It's generally true that you should move a flowering plumeria inside when the temps reach the low 50's if you want it to continue to flower indoors. Flowering generally stops in the 40's unless other factors keep flowering going (like high daytime heat, microclimates, and high soil temp). All that information can be found in the FAQ's Sticky Thread as well.
