Isn't this gorgeous? I understand the common name is Frangipani, but I have always known it as the botanical name, Plumeria. The flowers can be white, yellow, pink, or dark rose.
These tropical plants look like a thick stick when you plant it. It is definitely a tropical plant, but it really does well in our area. They don't need much water. In fact, over-watering can make the root system rot fairly easily. I should use fertilizer more often. I keep my Plumeria in pots in an area that is watered with the sprinkler system.
In the winter, the leaves fall off and it looks like the stick I started with. In the spring, the stick will grow a new branch so a mature plant will look like a tree with many branches.
They can be put in the ground, but they cannot tolerate temperatures below freezing. My friend Kristen has a lot of mature plants grown in the ground. She goes out each winter and puts a styrofoam cup stuffed with cotton on each and every branch tip. I think she also wraps the plants. I used to keep a plant in the ground and I would toss a sheet over the plant. It must not have been enough because the plant died. I'm not as dedicated to caring for any plant, not even these beauties. Kristen gives her plants tender loving care and they are so big she has to cut them back in the spring. She gave me some of the "sticks" and now I have my plants in pots.
If you have such a generous and kind friend, the stick needs to be given a chance to dry out a little and heal over at the base. These new cuttings are most likely to rot
In the winter I tote the pots into the garage. They do not need any care whatsoever during their stay in the garage. Do not water! When the leaves start growing again in the spring, haul the pots back out and start watering lightly.
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