Congrats! My pods usually take at least 6 months to ripen and usually become very soft and the membrane surrounding the seeds has kind of a friable texture. I can't remember if any have ever formed a hard shell. As long as the seeds appear viable I'd just plant them. If you plant them before they dry you don't have to worry about peeling them. karyn

I'm a bit confused about my plumeria ID. It was labeled Nebel's Soft Rainbow. I've only heard of a Nebel's Rainbow which this does look like but has more color. I've had it for a few years but this was the first bloom and I don't remember where I got it to confirm the ID. I'm lucky when it comes to Oriental lilies because I don't pay for them. Bruces suppliers in Holland send me bags of lily bulbs. Some are known varieties and others are testers not on the market. That big white one is just a number as is that orange and black one. I was PO'd because the deer ate most of my lilies once again this year. They wait until they are just about to open then eat just the buds. They don't touch the stems or foliage. They also don't touch any of the agapanthus that are growing in the same area. Karyn

Hey fellow Californians! Like Iris said, there are more of us than I had though! That's great! I am also in the Central Valley (sunset zone 9, USDA zone 9b) near the foothills of the Sierra Nevada (yes, those mountains are covered in snow in the wintertime!). I leave my brugs outdoors in the ground. Even if frost gets the leaves, they are completely fine, they might look ugly, but I simply think of them as decidious trees. They grow their leaves back as soon as the weather warms up. My brugs are over 10 feet tall each with zero protection in the winter and minimal summer water. I can only immagine the proportions they would reach if protected in the winter and given plenty of water in the summer. I've even had several seedlings come up where some of my brugs have produced seed pods and they all have grown all on their own for over a year. I think I will probably pot them up this coming spring and give them away.

They take about 6 months to ripen, give or take. The pod will begin to soften and discolor (not brown, just lighter)and the stem may yellow. I wait to open it until the pod is extremely soft. If the pod isn't soft when it comes off I'll let it sit a few days before opening. I've had pods with as few as 25 seeds and as many as 125, maybe more. You can call it whatever you want. Registering it is another story completely. It's always fun to grow a brug from your own seeds. Enjoy!