thanks to all for your posts! mike - i would be more disappointed in a plant unable to stand on its own than in waiting another season for blooms. so if i see no evidence of branching, i will definately 'top out' my plant. right now the plant is still small (esp in comparision to some i've seen) so i will do nothing this year except to continue to read these posts and learn all i can about plumeria care. i do hope i will have blooms next year! i will make a decision about topping off as things progress. thank you so much for your instructions on how to do that. as you and wildcat have stated that branching happens after blooming, i suspect my best course would be to try and enhance blooming - not just for the blooms but also to avoid a 'leggy' plant. is this assumption sound? i will definately be re-potting into plastic as all have suggested this is better than clay for my plumeria. i do think i will wait until spring to do so though. thanks again Jo

Haliotis- I also have had to dog proof my plumies and if you look in the picture you can see the fence connected to the green gate. the second pic is looking at the other side of the green gate. This is not pretty but it keeps the rascal out of the plants. Another suggestion is that if you plan a showcase yard, take the time to look at many plumies and purchase the ones you want in ten years. I am a decade in and I find I am digging up plants and replacing with ones I really like. I have several long hedges and at first I just planted what I had, but later ones I selected plants to grow next to each other (ie. calif Sally next to Aztec Gold next to Daisy wilcox or grove farm/intense rainbow/cerise/Puu Kehea) Planning can be like painting where you arrange colors, shapes or scents to fit what you want to see. Now I take flowers or pictures of flowers and line them up until is see what I like. Another benefit is that you buy the quality plants that you want to see as your taste in flowers develops. The comment, "but they are all beautiful" is like all gems are beautiful. Likewise, what each person likes is up to the individual- Bud like big, Dave like multi-colors, Joe like a blend of colors- they are all right for their own taste. Thus if you determine your taste, buy to your taste, then you sit and enjoy exactly what you like- that is until the next damn hybrid comes along that pops your eyes out. Bill

I think your stackers can be a good thing for you, but I do think you need some sort of "deep storage," and it does NOT have to be there. it might be easier if it were, but oh well. You live in the real world. So you'll need to find some other place to keep papers that are longer term, not needed for reference, but needed to access now and then. So use the file box or tote, and go get it when it's "paperwork processing time." And what goes in there is stuff you don't intend to refer to in the next four months. Stuff you *will* refer to can stay in the stackers. As I mentioned before, I think if you live with it for a while, your eyes open to what's working (which you have), you'll figure out for your own situation what's just permanently floating in the stackers and should get filed away (or tossed) You say you have more kitchen storage, which is great, but maybe spend a half a cabinet on a file box for stuff that's not in action at the moment? Insurance forms (unless you can download), etc.? I think a long-term, ONGOING project like the Girl Scout project *belongs* in the stacker. You need to look at it, put stuff with it, etc., every week or so, maybe even more often, so of course it goes in a high-profile spot. But paid bills don't go there. (some people even TOSS their paid bills) Personally I would--do--stick the report cards in deep, deep storage. "Heirlooms & Mementoes" storage, deep in the closet. I don't refer to them again, but if I needed them for some reason (not sure why--not even applying for a new school would require them), I could dig them out. I agree w/ you about your need to get tougher--I think most of us have a procrastination problem (well, mayb enot Ginger, LOL, but *most* of us). I have only JUST this year gotten good w/ schoolwork papers. I toss 'em pretty rapidly. Fortunately, my son's teacher has a "sign and return" stamp, so I know which ones she wants back; the rest go in the trash. I figure, if I haven't had time to discuss them w/ the kids in the 2 days following when the papers came home, it'll be too late to make much of a difference. I'm lucky, in that there's not usually much to say--"oh, I see you skipped over that one; watch more carefully" is about it--bcs they usually understand their schoolwork. They get sloppy, but I don't need to spend much time on that. I try to review the schoolwork briefly when I'm doing the school forms (the ones that you won't let leave the backpack? wise you! I got that concept last year, an am enjoying it this year), and try to deal w/ them the same way. It would be harder if I needed to review stuff with them--if they were struggling w/ the concepts. I used to try, to reinforce by reviewing, and finally just gave up--I never had time to, and decided that, since the kids were basically doing fine, I didn't need to be their tutor, too. It has saved me no end of time and guilt. I think if DD was having trouble w/ fractions, for example, and I wanted to sit w/ her for 15 or 20 minutes to coach, I'd have a tougher time, but I might still not want to keep the paper. Or, maybe that would be the ONE paper I kept, and the rest got tossed. I have gotten absolutely RUTHLESS about paper. I had a basket that was collecting paperwork I needed to "do something with" or "might do something with." And it just ended up really dragging down the house. Ostensibly it was for bills to pay, but other stuff went there, too, and it was just a huge mess. I went through it in early Dec. when my mom was here, and was amazed at how useless all that stuff was. I throw SO much out now. (I know what you mean about keeping your hands out of each other's paperwork, but are you SURE your DH couldn't give you one of his 4 drawers? Not for frequently used stuff--your stackers should help w/ that--but for deeper filing? You really need some place, and I bet he's got stuff that could go--4 drawers is an awful lot. Think about it, send up a trial balloon. You wouldn't have to OPEN the other drawers, so your hands would still be off his paperwork...)

Hi Bea!! Thanks for the pictures and extra information!!! It certainly helps to understand what could be happening with your cutting. i did read again that your cutting is about 10 inches long and you say that the soft part is in the middle and is about four inches. Its always a good idea to let it callus before you pot up to root, some may pot up immediately.. But IMO it's best to dip and seal as soon as it's cut to prevent it from losing it latex. If you choose to not dip, I would turn it upside down to let the latex stay inside the cutting and from draining before it seals itself from its own latex. Let it sit for a week to ten days and then pot up to root. Sometimes newer growth ( green cuttings) are a little more fragile in trying to root verses the older hardened woody cuttings. That doesn't mean that it can't be rooted. It's true that this isnt the best time of the year to root, but if you use a bottom heat source like a seedling heat mat, it will give it a better chance to root. Even in the best growing period ( early to mid summer) it can take 6-8 weeks to see roots form, so trying to root now with the cooler nights can take longer. Your friend was very kind to give you this cutting and I'm sure you would love to see it root and have a beautiful tree, so let's try and save the cutting and get you started!!! Others have their opinions and ways to root. We could hear all sorts of ways of rooting and being down in Florida will help!!! if you can keep the cutting warm and most of all having bottom heat that will be a great way to start. Growers such as Jim Little in Hawaii likes to root in 100 percent perlite and my friend Bud Guillot roots cuttings ( after they callus) and will stick them in the ground during the peak growing season in California. He also uses containers to root. You mentioned your friend who has a nursery told you to plant it in sand? Did you put this cutting in a container filled with sand? If it was my cutting, here is what I would do.. i would take a pin ( sewing pin) and gently prick the soft area and see if it has white latex that will ooze from the slight prick into the stem. If you do see white latex then I would proceed with trying to root the cutting in a better fast draining mix. I would also advise you to even root it in a clear cup (I like clear solo cups or a medium size cup from Starbucks) that way you can see rooting activity with out poking or pulling on the cutting when you get curious if the rooting process is working. Makes sure you cut drainage holes in the bottom of the cup so it can drain properly when you do give it moisture. Keeping the mix on the dry side is always best and giving it a little moisture is alright . I will give my initial cutting a good watering and then I will let it dry out and wait until you see some activity. It is alright to mist the soil to give a little moisture during the hot months since it will need it. But only a little . It does not like to be in a wet mix and if it is, it will likely lead to root rot . Keeping the cutting in direct sunlight isn't necessary because you really just need bottom heat. Sometimes if you put it in direct sunlight while rooting , you will have issues with sunburn on the cutting. Once it produces leaves, then I would start to acclimate it to direct sunlight. This can take 8 weeks or longer this time of the year to see a cutting root. I have cuttings rooting throughout the summer and I still have some of them rooting in my rooting bin. ( only a few now..) They are on a heat mat in my greenhouse that isn't heated ... I don't have the heater on at this point in time. I will bring them inside once it gets cooler and place them on heat mats since the greenhouse will be used to store the dormant trees. ( with just a little heat using a automatic thermostat ) We do advise once it is potted up to start the rooting process to leave it alone and give it time, however.. If it is a wet and sitting in a wet mix or even sand, I would take it out check out the bottom of the callus. See if it is free of fungus and free from any signs of rot. If the pin prick test shows brown ooze or even no signs of any white latex, it could be a sign of stem rot. You could always wait to see it it does harden off if you decide to repot the cutting and put it on a heat mat. The odds of it rooting if it has mid stem rot is really. Unlikely. It really is a small cutting to cut, but if you see that you dont have any option to save this beauty, you could start cutting to eliminate the soft area and cut until you find clean white tissue. Always make sure to clean your cutting tool in between cuts with isopropyl alcohol to keep the cutting tool clean to prevent further exposure of any fungus, bacteria etc. You want to try and keep the new end clean from the rotten area from where you are separating it on the stem. i like to use several mediums to root my cutting in my clear cups. I like to use a mixture of Firbark, Perlite and a peat mix. Or you can use a Gritty mix which works well too. Or you can use perlite like Jim Little... Just make sure it not a heavy mix that will hold to much moisture. Good luck with your cutting., if it doesn't work out, don't be disappointed because we all have had cuttings that didn't make it. When I first started I did have a few that died on me and everyone will have the same trials until you get a good feel as to how to keep the cuttings happy ( bottom heat etc) the biggest mistake that most people make is leaving them outside with the rain when trying to root and also peeking at the cuttings by poking and lifting them out of the container to check for root growth. Living in Florida gives you a great advantage because you have many gardeners who grow Plumeria and we all like to share cuttings. I live in Virginia and we can't find any trees around here. So I relied on friends from around the U.S. As well as nurseries in Florida, California, Hawaii and Thailand. It would seem that nurseries north of the Florida border don't stock them like the other places I listed. See what you can do and if it doesn't work, I'm sure we can find more cuttings for you to start this spring. I'll be more than happy to send you a few little beauties if you are interested. Remember when starting any new cutting that is cut from a tree, remove the leaves from the cutting . Always leave new leaves that form from the rooting process. i hope this has helped.. Here are a few pictures of my cuttings in the rooting bin and another to show you how I keep the stem secured in the clear cup so it stays stationary. The leaves you see in the picture are new leaves forming from the rooting process. The cuttings were clean and free of all leaves . You want to secure them so there isn' t any movement to prevent any roots from breaking when the rooting process starts. ;-). I use pieces of styrofoam that I cut into cube pieces. You can find thes 8x8 pieces at Michael's Arts and Craft stores. I like the soft pieces and not the hard styrofoam. Just stick them inside of the cups or container and make sure they are secure!! Good Luck, Bea!!! Laura Here is my Kapalua cutting that took 3-4 months to root. It was one of the hardest cuttings I have ever rooted. I took this cutting from my mother tree that is about 8 feet tall. I was thrilled to finally get this one to take. ( tried two other times with this variety and lost them This variety is known to be a difficult rooter ) So it happens.. Always try and start with a known easy rooter like Miami Rose, Celadine. They can easily be found in Florida!! Have fun!! Remember.. No worries if this one fails.. It has happened to us all!!! Al.. Mahalo for the kind comments.. ;-) Laura