Bryan,
Sometimes its hard to capture the violet gray color of Purple Jack unless there is a lot of heat and sun. Here is a pic I took in June 2011, when its super cool and gloomy (June Gloom). The fence is 6ft tall to give you a comparison height wise. I think the PJ was about 10 plus ft tall back then. I took the pics around 11am, so not the best lighting makes them look pinker than they were. Lots of inflos and flowers. I had to go to my other Apartment complex next door and go up the stairs to the 2nd floor to take the pics. The flowers do get lavender gray, nice size and keeping quality. Hope this helps.
Purple Jack Tree:

I purchased the PJ in 2006 and was 6ft tall from John @ JJs.
A close up bloom from Oct 2008, looks more on the pink side:

I have a Fantasia I bought the first year Brad released it. It had its first inflo this season, but the wind blew over the pot along with several others and the inflo broke off.

Hope this helps

James

This post was edited by freak4plumeria on Mon, Oct 27, 14 at 15:48

Great shots! I didn't even think about asking JJ if they had a larger plant for sale. The one I got is multiple branches and 24" tall, not real small but still wish I could have found a larger one.

The Fantasia looks like it'll be a great looking flower and hopefully mine will bloom next season. How big is your Fantasia and is it a good grower?

Bryan

Bryan,
RE Purple Jack, I bought Johns personal tree. John was not going to sell it but for the $$$ he asked and I paid he decided to let it go. I do not think John has any PJ that is larger than a 5 gal pot. Everytime Ive been to JJs the largest pots I see are 5gal, sometimes there are exceptions. When I got my PJ it was in a 25 or 30 gal pot, was also @ Johns house in his Green House not his Vista Nursery. Thats why if your looking for larger plants you should always ask John as he might have something @ his house.

As for Fantasia, this was the 3rd season that Ive had. It has not grown that much as Ive kept it in the same 1 gal pot that I first put it in when I received it. I was going to repot a bunch of stuff this seaon, got the supplies and all but never had the time to do it. as a whole I do not think it is a fast grower, more compact. Clare Corre in Camarillo also sells Fantasia, I think hers is larger than Brads as he has to ship. Roxanne may want to chime it, if not you may want to contact her and ask how big her Fantasia was that she bought from Clare recently. I thought Rox said 5 gal, could be wrong .
Clare has a very close and long relationship with Kukiat and has been getting his stuff way before Brad became Kukiats Authorized US dist.

Hope this helps.
Cheers.

Well, my Fantasia was in a 1 gallon and still is....3 tipped and Clare did explain that it likes to do the droopy saggy thing in it's growth. She also said it sunburns really easy and the one I bought from her was just that. I have it on the deck under the shade of others and it has a smile on it's face now.

roxanne

Turns out I did go ahead and transplant to a bigger pot. Fantasia is the one on the left, 3 tips, sun burn and the abalone on right is 5 inches for size reference. Hoping for blooms next year. Everything I have bought from Clare has been wonderful. Cannot wait for Apricot dreaming to bloom next year. roxanne

Roxanne,
OMG looks great!!! I think my Fantasia was like 10" grafted when I received it, maybe less from soil line. Did Clare graft or root yours? My Fantasia does not burn, it's in full sun with other black nursery pots reflecting heat on her. I noticed she tends to drink more than the other plumies, or she wilts. As for Clare, I agree her stuff is gr8, she is a perfectionist when it comes to everything. Dr. Kukiat so named a plumeria in her honor, way back in id say 2006, the Clare Corre Plumeria that resembles Fantasia and Marble Icecream, thats how much he liked her. So even though Brad is the authorized US Dist for Dr Kukiat, if you see Clare selling one of his plumies, or even one that Brad might not be selling yet it is the real deal if its from Clare Corre.
Rox you are also lucky as any plumeria you buy from Clare is also acclimated to the cooler temps as shes in Camarillo, unless she moved that is. I use to see her back yard with her GH and plumies everytime I went to my favorite straberry farm in Camarillo during the season.

Cheers.

James

yes James , but Camarillo gets so much hotter than where I am. I have 2 Star Rubies from her that are going nuts in just 1 year as cuttings I rooted. She rooted the Fantasia and the Paramino I just got . I really would like to get the Aurora from Dr. Kukiat...but then who would not???? :-)))

This is all good info and thank you for the great photos everyone.

Does Clare have any contact info or website? I would be interested in buying some harder to find plumerias and larger in size of possible. I'm actually looking for a tropical Auroria if any of you have any leads that would be great.

Bryan

sorry, no she does not. She sells at the local surf/beach party each year in September. If you are within the area, good deals to be had there.

Looks like we need to either make a trip up that way.

Bryan

Bryan,
I have an old Email for her, think it still works. You can try to Email her, but do not know if she will respond or ship. You may have to drive up north and meet her if she agrees.
I also would LOVE a Tropical Aurora but per Dr K he has not given it out to anyone yet. Based on his agreement with Brad he may not release it to anyone else but Brad, so the only thing Clare may have that is not released from Brad would be something she got a while ago from Dr K, nothing current or new.

Good Luck and let me know if she responds.

James

James,

Got it and I'll shoot Her an email in the next couple of days. If I get any info ill pass it on to you as soon as I get something back (if I do). I appreciate the help and all the info.

The list of plumerias I'm looking for are
Purple serendipity
Tropical Aurora
Marble ice cream
Fireblast

I know some are a long shot but you never know.

Bryan

Bryan those are all on my list as well. Good Luck. I would recommend Clare Corre..the tree..:-))) as well and Star Ruby. I have Loi Kratong from her sale last year and should bloom this season. roxanne

I got Fantasia from Brad's Buds and Blooms last year. This is a very poor quality cellphone photo from a couple of days ago...sorry the image is not better.. The purple striping is much richer in reality.

Looks amazing surfbreeze! Mine will arrive tomorrow.

Bryan

Hi Bryan!!

I also have a Fantasia.. It hasn't bloomed, but I'm hoping!!! I bought mine from BBB .

James and Rox have great info on Claire .. I wish I could have met her this summer when I was in Cali... Next time !!! ;-). I do have her named tree from Kukait. No blooms on it ...

Wishing. Maybe next year!!!

Good luck!!!
Hi James, Roxanne. ;-)

Laura

Bryan,

I just noticed that Purple Serendipity by Kukiat looks similar to several other AKA's like Violet Star, Siam Lavender (Kukiats name, maybe a seed pod sister to Serendipity or an AKA)
Here is a pic of Dr K's P Serendipity:

Dr. K's Siam Lavender from his Flicker acct:

and Violet Star:

Violet Star in late Sept 2012, cool that year in my patch. Pulled the bloom open as I could not wait as was afraid the buds would drop because of the cold nights:

Bryan if you notice they are all very similar purples with the fireburst/star eye in the center along with the purple back drop of color. Clare Corre has Siam Lavender, her pics online look a bit different than Kukiats. I have Lavendar Star which I was told is an aka for Siam Lavender. I got my Lavendar Star along with Hetty from a European Seller that lived between India, Denmark I believe as he was Danish and Florida. Noam Champa was the name he went by and was friends with Kukiat and others in Thiland, I believe he was staying with Kukiat as a guest in the 2000's like 2005. Noam Champa sold plumerias to help support an Indian Ashram where he stayed when living in India. I had bought a bunch of plumies from him over several years and donated some money to his Ashram, in turn Noam gifted me a Violet Star plant as a gift with purchase in 2004/2005.
So check out the pics and tell if you think they look similar or the same. Again base color purple on the petals with the Fireblast/star design in the eye.

Cheers
James

This post was edited by freak4plumeria on Wed, Oct 29, 14 at 3:24

These are all very similar if not the same looking flowers to me. I wouldn't be oposed to getting one of the three varieties. James do you know where to find a good size cutting in our area?

I did talk with BBB and they will have all of the flowers on my list except for the tropical Auroria next season.

Bryan

Thought I'd chime in here. Clare got some of Kukiat's rare stuff back before I started distributing for Kukiat. They are very good friends and, if she did get something new, she will not release anything as such now because she understands Kukiat's schedule of releasing plants. I cannot say exactly what she has or does not have, but, when Kukiat sends me plants to release, they are now exclusive in that respect. Clare is also a friend of mine, though we are both pretty busy these days and aren't able to talk as much as we used to. She's a real sweetheart.

Anyway, Purple Serendipity is one I named for Kukiat (among several others). This is one that will be released this Spring. As per my agreement with Kukiat, I typically release the best of the newest on Ebay. Shortly thereafter, I offer them on my site. Tropical Aurora is one Kukiat does not release to anyone. This is because his wife loves this plant and doesn't want it released and subsequently having the bejeesus grafted out of it by everyone and their uncle and it being sold everywhere, Looking at the pics, I don't blame her. This year, though, the new releases are Purple Serendipity, Black Magic, and Vishnayara Maroon. There might be another surprise in the mix, but as it stands at the moment, these are the new releases. Fireblast is also very exclusive. I have not been able to keep these in stock each year due to demand. However, there will be a significant number coming out this year--grafted this time, due to the losses incurred the past couple of years trying to sell them all rooted. All are grafted by Kukiat himself. In fact, any of Kukiat's plants that are grafted are done so by him personally. Marble Ice Cream and Fantasia, not to mention Dreamsicle, Teufel, Scarlet Night, Edelstein, Dwarf Orange Sherbet, Silk Road Spice and other faves will be available.

A word on Purple Serendipty: It has probably the largest purple flower to date, reaching 4+", in flower size. Most other purples tend to be much smaller. This is not a renamed flower but one of Kukiat's own seedlings. If you visit his Facebook, Kukiat Tanteeratarm, he has a cool collage of many varieties of purple plumeria flowers, all lying together on the grass and PS is quite obviously a lot bigger and really stands out.

Hope this helps. I'll try to answer questions as I am able, but as most of you know, I can't find a lot of time to post on the forums these days like I used to a few years back. Plus with Facebook now, it can be a bit overwhelming trying to keep up with it all. I do tend to respond more quickly to email though when through our site. All that being said, I look forward to warmer weather and the growing season. This winter "Ick" is really a bummer.
Brad