Here is Neon Lights! Woo-HOO! She's gorgeous and has a beautiful gardenia-like fragrance:

And from the side, it absolutely glows:

And here's JL Hawaiian Coral...these photos speak for themselves...again, I say: OMG! So sweet-smelling, too!

And, one more of Donna S, because she deserves the publicity...so very pretty!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Greg

Laura

Great pics!!!
Lonnie

-Robert

Wendy, where have you been?

Robert you are so right, this forum is very hazardous to my wallet.

Tally Ho!

Thanks as always to each of you! Kim, I hope you get flowers from your NL next year! The name is really apt--the flowers have a neat glow to them that is hard to capture on film...and more than any other plumie that I've personally seen, the flowers have ALL the plumie colors in them ('cept maybe red): fuchsia, pink, yellow, orange, and white...and a glorious scent. MAH-velous :)

JP, I see the resemblance you're speaking of, indeed...but I think MG's petals are pointed? Can anyone confirm that? Anyone? Anyone? (Bueller? LOLOL)

Lonnie, Peg, Laura (aka Grandma LOL ;) ): muchas gracias :)

Wendy, where HAVE you been?! I've been wondering that myself! Well, welcome back! :) Anyway, Donna S is a FL Colors-named cultivar...according to the FC website, they discovered it on Pine Island Key (one of the FL Keys). It was one of my first non-noID purchases, over two years ago now...and now that she's blooming, I remember why, with all of the amazing trees surrounding me the day I went down to FCN, Donna S was one of the 3 trees I came home with.

Jen, because this is really growing season #3 with Ms Donna S, I can report the following (and I actually was going to start a thread about this topic because I think that it is potentially so interesting and useful to all of us):

Donna S, like the other two cultivars I brought home from FCN that day (Nebel's Rainbow and Aimhorm aka Chiang Mai Rainbow) in 1-gallon pots, all took off like mad as soon as I repotted them. This growth habit continued the next year: all 3, in their own way, just continued to grow like crazy. Even as I added cultivars by the dozens last season LOL, the crazy-fast growth rate of my three yearlings scared the crap out of me.

But, interestingly enough, this year, all 3 have only put on what I would consider modest new growth, modest and tight (if you all know what I mean by that...leaf stems very close together on the branch). Also, all three bloomed. This combination of blooms + modest, tight growth is A-OK by me!!! I don't know about y'all, but, for me this is all about getting flowers while pursuing a "containment strategy" in terms of keeping the trees themselves manageable within my very limited space.

I would be interested in hearing what others who've cultivated for more/many years if this blessed slow-down is to some extent typical of all or most cultivars...but don't y'all think that this would be HIGHLY useful info for all of us?

Greg

astrl

Thanks, astrl :)

Greg

I would think that slowing is typical as they reach blooming age. I get these fantastic cuttings or newly rooted plants--which must be from mature trees--that have leaf scars one on top of the other with no breaks. Then as soon as they're potted they take off and the distance between leave stems stretches out considerably.

It must be the plants putting on "storage space" before they can muster the energy to bloom well. Your timeline supports that, too: bought in 2010, two full summers of building growth and energy-storing capacity in the form of stems, then full flushes of blooms this summer.

Yeah, that initial adolescent-like growth rate is scary! I was so excited to see this tightening of growth on several of mine this summer--you know how their tips then get really fat?--but no inflos from them yet. This is the second or third summer for most of them. sigh. Maybe next spring.

Greg,

What's your thoughts on Chiang Mai Rainbow's scent? I've read it has an unusual scent. My fav description is of Sandalwood. I'm hoping mine will bloom next year but I'll probably have to wait two years. Laugh.

-Robert

In seriousness, perhaps this change in growth habit is more commonly understood than it had been by me until very recently. In fact, the reason I gave my Nebel's Rainbow to my buddy (even though I adored the flowers) was because after seeing the amount of growth it put on over the first two years, I thought, no way--too much tree for me. And now to see it at his place this year, blooming beautifully, leaf stems super-tight on the trunk, with maybe 4-6 inches of new growth--it was pretty astounding.

As a newbie, when I'd pot up these cuttings with super-tight leaf scars only to see them take off gangbusters, I would think I was over-fertilizing, or over-watering, or under-sunning, or...or... it's such a relief to know that the trees are just doin' what they do...AND that they chill out, eventually.

Greg

Aimhorn/CMR is an early bloomer, so it's been since springtime, so I'm going on smell-memory.
Scent is very subjective, as we all know, but I remember likening its scent to spicy, exotic rose...so I could see how someone would say "sandalwood." It's an outstanding tree and flower, though, all the way around.

G

That's really interesting about the growth habits as well - I have seen not all but many of my cuttings just take off and it had me wondering too! Not just the visible growth but finding them root bound in a very short time too - does root growth slow with age as well or is it just how much room you give them they will take?!

I looked at FC's site at Aimhorn/CMR and the flowers don't match the CMR I got from Brad's so who knows?
Whatever I have I hope it blooms next year! Laugh.

-Robert

Now, I am not a long-time plumeria grower but I have grown a plant or two in my time, and I work at a plant farm. :)

In my experience with annual and perennials, the juvenile growing phase is the fastest growth period that plants go through. The space between internodes is longest in the springtime when the plants are growing at a fast pace... during their juvenile phase.

With many different perennials and shrubs, in the fall when growth rates slow, the internode spacing is shorter making for tighter branches. Again in the spring they take off, growing at a fast rate again, and internode spacing is longer. As they mature, their growth rate is slower, internode spacing closer together.

My question would be can you relate a cuttings growth from a mature tree to that of juvenile plant material of such as a seedling? If so, then yes, after 3 years and now modest growth, it absolutely would make sense to me. :)

Now, please excuse me while I continue to cry for my Charlotte Ebert. *sniffles*

Ok, for the J.L. Hawaiian Coral, you say the fragrance is sweet? How long do the flowers last, and what type of grower is it?

Andrew