How you and your plumies are on the mend soon. roxanne

Hi James,

I am so sorry to here that you are not feeling well.. I was following Bills post and was going to chime in, but I didn't want to post and make it drop until you did see it. Needless to say, I was relieved to hear that you all had talked.. I was worried about you because I hadn't heard from you .. I knew you would be back when you were ready, but deep inside I thought about you and your mom. Please get better soon.. Those trees will be alright and when you feel better you can either go back to the patch and set them up right or have someone go and fix them for you.. I did see all of the pictures of the damage in southern Cali.. I was amazed at the damage that was so apparent right after the cold. Just think of the black tip that will follow.. Uggggg!!!! That one guy had his containers away from his home and they were really damaged, while the ones close to his home were protected. Others had already mentioned to keep them close to the house to protect from the elements. Under the eaves and just to keep from the wind as well.. It was a shame to see such damage.

I'm sure your trees will be fine... Get some rest and let me know how you are feeling as well as your family. It will be a new year.. So things have to get better eh? ;-)

My trees are all tucked inside and aren't quite sure of what to do. Some are sleeping and some are leafing out. I do have some under lights and cutting there as well.. Most of mine have one or two leaves peeking up from all of the sticks upstairs as if to see what is going on. I laugh when I walk up there because they all look nosey!!!

Have a wonderful New Year and I hope you feel better soon!!!

Take good care,

Laura

Roxanne,
Happy New Year and thanks for the well wishes.

Laura,
Happy New Year again and thanks for everything.

Its amazing how crazy and volatile the weather has been this winter from heat waves to 2 or 3 nights of freezing temps in SOME of So Cal. I was never below 40 really so I know my plants are fine, even the leaves are green or turning yellow which is normal for my patch. The plants I saw pics of on FB was bad, based on how they looked, reminded me of the freeze of 2007. The ones with those dark brown looking leaves, the color of a black brown banana before it turns bad, will have more than black tip. In 2007 if plant looked like that immediately after the cold, the branches days later, when it got warmer started to ooze black sap, like liquid tar, then they rotted down to the trunk. So people who had the black leaves really need to watch their plants over the next week, especially as its suppose to get to mid and upper 70s by Wed this week, with night temps in the 50s. If anyone sees black sap they need to do some strategic cutting, or if the branches start to crack open, not good signs. Well hopefully everyones plumies will be ok. Remember that even if it looks bad they plumies will grow back from the bottom trunk, even if its low to the soil line. Cheers

This post was edited by freak4plumeria on Tue, Jan 27, 15 at 1:41

With the recent cold snap, I'm curious if a 5ft tall plumeria succumb to the cold. Does size afford some resistance/resilience or are we always forced to cover it w/ each unseasonal cold spell for "perpetuity"?

James, so many of mine still have so many leaves. Covered the cold sensitive red ones for 2 nights and I think the location of up against a wall of the house sure helps like Laura said. I lost all 3 that I then owned about 10 years ago during the wet/cold winter....I have learned so much here in the last 3 years or so....I blame this forum for my collection now... hahahaha....roxanne

Hi James- Happy New Year to you. I am sorry to hear you have been so sick, and I hope that you have your energy and health back real soon.

This cold snap caught me by surprise, and I was not ready, or aware. I checked temps and one site said the low was 39 and the other 42. I am hoping the latter is accurate. I will keep be sure to keep a more careful watch from now on.

Laura!! I can picture your nosey plumeria peeking from upstairs - too funny! Like Mrs. Kravitz, remember her? Haha!!

rox- I agree with you and Laura. During the last cold spell we had, the ones that suffered the most damage were in the middle of the yard, unprotected. But like James said, if you cut quickly, you can save them. My marmalade became known as "stumpy." I had to cut it down to the bottom. It recovered nicely and bloomed again this past year.

Wishing you a happy and healthy 2015!

I managed to protect mine by covering and moving close to my house. There are a few neighbors close by that I know didn't cover. My phone app forecast a low of 40, and this morning it said it was 30.

Believe it or not, I have a bud on a two year old cutting that is in the ground. I just noticed it today. I'm super psyched!

My plants do not seem to realize it is winter 2015. Out of several hundred plants, only two are dormant. The rest keep on trucking like it was early fall. Bill

Bill, your plants/trees never cease to amaze me....

Just beautiful Bill. Barb

Always beautiful Bill.

But wait... Just down the street from you all... I think this was happening?

You sent this to me before and I'm sending it back. It needs to say " Costa Mesa". Lol....

I'm so glad your trees are doing well!!!

Deere!! ;-)

Have a good night!!!

James.. I hope you are feeling better.. Missed your call, I'll try again to get up with you!!! Xo.

Laura

Hey, everyone! Happy New Year!

James, I hope you're feeling better now. Good thing you didn't need to rush over and wear yourself out to cover all your plants!

I saw all the pics of the frozen leaves and know that will end in a lot of rotted branches as you said. What a nasty surprise for SoCal gardeners.

From just a couple nights in the mid to upper 30's a few of mine got frosted tips in November. I didn't even know until weeks later because they looked fine when I brought them in. These were ones in the ground or big pots that I covered when we had our early cold front. Oh well. It's not like I don't have dozens of others, lol.

Bill, good to see your trees are okay! Hope you had a great holiday season.

Laura, only a few more months and we can starting hauling them out again :)

Mine are all in the greenhouse till late Feb. Many of them have not lost their leaves this year. I don't know why. I keep my greenhouse just above freezing (when it freezes here- maybe 6 times a yr or so). These are huge 10 ft plants that normally go dormant. Last year a few also didn't go dormant but in all the years before they have. Crazy....

Sadly, I lost all of my plumies when my home flooded last year :( can anyone recommend where I can replace them?

I lost two rooted cuttings this winter. I'm bummed because they were two of my rarer ones. The rest are doing great and actually never went dormant.

Bryan