My poor sad plumerias are not blooming. One barely has leaves. We are experiencing unusually cool weather (60's during the day, 50's at night, mostly cloudy) and according to a recent report, we may be in for a cooling trend for the next ten years :-(
I posted this in the palms and cycads forum:
'Ocean Cooling to Briefly Halt Global Warming, Researches Say'
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aU.evtnk6DPo&refer=worldwide
"Average temperatures in areas such as California and France may drop over the next 10 years, influenced by colder flows in the North Atlantic, said a report today by the institution based in Kiel, Germany. Temperatures worldwide may stabilize in the period."
So... how are your blooms in southern California? The wine industry here in California is suffering because of an abnormally late freeze that has damaged the crops "Wine grapes hit hard by cold front" http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?SectionID=67&SubSectionID=616&ArticleID=41303&TM=51063.04.
btw, these aren't the only plants I'm having trouble with and our orioles showed up late. Strange weather
jackie
Any other southern California bloomers having difficulty?
It is cool, but it is normally cool this time of year, which is why it is called May Gray and June Gloom. We don't really get going with the heat until July on average. The good news is that it will stay warm through October usually so we have a late summer compared to others.
Northern and Central California, where most of the grapes are planted, are all Zone 9 locations which freeze. Luckily, we did not get a freeze here in Zone 10 this year.
Right now, my epi's, lilies, irises, and brugmansias are in full bloom while my plumies are getting leaves and pushing up inflo's. I've counted inflo's on about 30 plumeria trees so far, but that number will double or triple by mid-summer. My 'Singapore' and 'Celadine' are blooming and have been blooming for a little while now. They are the super-plumerias in my book.
I wouldn't be concerned about getting flowers. They will be in full swing in another month or two.
I see all these lovely blooms in this forum yet my plumeria look like this. We have had abnormally cool weather with little sun due to the low cloud layers continually hanging around near the coast (inland is getting sun, at least). My entire area has fewer flowers and birds than normal for this time. Maybe this is the reason http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/cag3/na.html (colder than average April).
My sad plumerias....
I think I'm just afraid I'm going to get a repeat of last year (some weird black stuff on the tips of the branches where they never really developed much in the way of leaves and absolutely no flowers though my Kauka Wilder had several pretty flowers whereas it hasn't done much of anything this year). We had some record cold weather last year, too. Lots of palm people lost many valuable palms.
There was no frost this year so you won't get a repeat of last year. It was the delayed cold damage that caused your problems last year with the tips. I have inflo's coming up, including on KW. I think that, even if it is cooler than usual and even if growth is slow right now, it will speed up once the heat comes back.
it's slow here, too. i think it's just because our nighttime temps have taken a while to warm up. we are still in the 50s at night. arghhh! i guess i shouldn't complain. soon it will not drop below 70 at night...
Jackie: my plumerias look juuust like yours right now! So thank YOU for helping me feel "normal", hehe
Mine are finally starting to grow now. Most of them are newly rooted, so I'm pleased - especially with Hilo Beauty that I got from Florida Colors. I soooo want to see the flowers!
I live in Coto de Caza, near Mission Viejo I Have 2 large older plumerias, both have just got their leaves, and flowers. I have had them planted for 5 years so I know their pattern,
Usually the leaves come out strong in April. So I was a little bit surprised. But otherwise they look healthy.
I have another 100 small/medium in pots which have had leaves and flowers since May.
I have been trying to figure out what is going on...