Plumeria du Jour - King's Pink
(Plumeria • )
This is not a “named” plumeria variety – as in one of the terrific varieties whose names have been vetted and accepted at the International Plumeria Registery (down the road in Houston, home of the American Plumeria Society).
King’s Pink Plumeria consist of the progeny of what’s become a largish plant given to us six or seven years ago by an aquaintance named, um, King. King and his wife brought it back from Hawaii, and had hopes for it but, as is wont to happen, their collection was growing a bit too large, and they couldn’t coax this one to bloom.
After a couple of years, it did bloom for us, and even set seed pods one summer. But it was difficult to manage because it grew profusely and its branches wanted to grow in downward curves, in kind of a “weeping” manner. It got to the point it was sometimes difficult to keep it in from tipping.
Eventually I made numerous cuttings from the mother plant, just to get it back under control. Luck was with me, because the new growth has been more upright, and the cuttings and mother plant have turned into prolific bloomers.
The flowers are big – four inches across – and come out porcelain pink, fading gradually to almost white, with a yellow center and clean plumeria fragrance. Their pedals are somewhat narrow, and don’t overlap at all. Leaves are large and long. The plants are rapid growers and branches are a little leggy.
Many of our flowering plumeria have kind of petered out at this point of the summer. But this one continues undeterred, thus earning the du Jour label.
→ B.Dunn, Aug 09, 2009, 05 17 pm
Plumeria du Jour - Hula Girl
(Plumeria • )
Hula Girl was introduced by legendary plumeria expert Jim Little, and I was lucky enough to find a triple-header cutting for sale two years ago at Teas Nursery in Houston.
This year the cutting seemed a little unhappy with its placement against the back of the house, so I moved it into a slightly sunnier location where it promptly developed three inflos. I moved it back close to the house again, so we could enjoy the coming flowers. Just in time for a storm to knock a pecan branch into the largest branch top, slicing off the largest grouping of flower buds.
But this second group has been coming on strong. The most noticeable thing about these flowers is, they’re bright. Almost a dayglow orange-pink, on pedals that unfold in a whirl, perhaps giving the illusion of a Hula dancer’s swirling skirt? These flowers are 2 to 2.5 inches wide, and have been exuding a somewhat spicy plumeria fragrance. They fade unevenly to a light pink, and are accented by the nearly white back pedal edges, which curl slightly.
The plant itself has not been a remarkable grower, but its tendency to flower profusely makes up for that. The blooms in the photo are wet because, after a summer-long drought, we’ve had two days of on-again, off-again actual rain.
As always, click on the photo for a bigger and better look.
→ B.Dunn, Jul 24, 2009, 05 12 am
Plumeria du Jour - Irma #5
(Plumeria • )
Irma #5 is a great plant that has flowered quickly and profusely for me, no doubt assisted by the fact that my supplier grafted it onto heartier rootstock.
It’s a Thai variety with good-sized (2-inch-wide) deep pink blooms that start out almost red, graduating to an orangish center. At a point in each bloom’s life, the pinkness somehow achieves an almost translucent quality, like sunlight through a pink seashell. The flower veins and a pleasant graininess show up as the initial bright bloom color fades. The blooms hold a pleasant, medium Frangipani fragrance and are composed of rounded, overlapping pedals with slightly cupped edges.
The leaves are medium green and somewhat narrow, growing on a plant with somewhat slender stems, which branches easily after flowering. I recommend this variety to anyone in the Gulf Coast area.
Oh yeah, and click on the photo for a better look.
→ B.Dunn, Jul 14, 2009, 07 01 am
Plumeria du Jour - Roscente
(Plumeria • )
This is a Thai variety I obtained as a cutting more than two years ago. It’s growing on its own roots and is not as vigorous a grower as some, and it’s only been coaxed to bloom in this its third summer.
It was worth the wait. The flowers are a beautiful deep red, graduating to a red-magenta at the edges and a red-orange in the very center. They’re very fragrant, with a sweet, sometimes spicy smell. I don’t know if it’s because of the extreme heat we’re “enjoying” this summer or if it’s just the characteristic of this variety, but the flowers tend not to stretch open all the way, somewhat resembling little tulips. They’re slightly smaller than the Salmon Pink, and several of them have four pointed, oval, curling and overlapping pedals instead of the usual five. The flowers are pretty long-lasting.
The large leaves are long and medium green. They’re somewhat sensitive to the steam-iron semi-South Texas sun, and I had to move the plant to a location with partial shade, after which it seemed noticeably happier.
Click the photo for a bigger version.
→ B.Dunn, Jul 11, 2009, 06 03 am
