Oh man way to break my heart James! If yours bloomed will you bring me some flowers for my lei vase then?

At least I get to see Saigon Moon this summer. I don't think I will buy from Upland for two reasons. Their price is much much higher than everyone else's and they have never been nice to me. Maybe I should send you since Molly likes you better. LOL. I was looking at the Pop's Red, but their 5 Gal is $139.99. Yikes! I don't think I can afford to shop there.

Congratulations Lynn!!!

Beautiful trees...

John is a wonderful man and has gorgeous trees. Bud took me over to his house because of his palm collection.. I was so impressed with all of his trees as well as his palm collection. Those are palms that I can only dream about!!!

Hey James!!! I think there are issues with email... I sent you one as well. I'll send you another too!! Hope you are well...

Take care,

Laura

Laura,

John's yard is one of the neatest I have seen. Everything was so well laid out and organized. I loved being there. We had a nice chat and he was very generous with his time and knowledge. A lovely man.

James,
I emailed you too but I don't think you got them. :( Are you going to JJ's Open House?

Laura, were you at Bud's in huntington Beach? CA.? That is where he was so nice to give me an Aztec Gold cutting and he had HUGE trees and the most gorgeous Wildfire. roxanne

Lynn,
No prob about the WF blooms, my tree has a bunch of inflos on her, but they are only about an 1inch tall now, so do not know if they will be open soon. For some reason plumies that usually leaf out and flower first are not, and ones that usually bloom later for me in my patch are in full bloom...totally crazy.

Lynn and Laura,
I just checked my Email and the only emails Ive received are 2 from Bill and one from Jen...go figure, AOL sucks. I also checked the Spam folder and nada.

Oh Lynn if your Hilo B does not make it I think I have a HB branch that Is rooted (has leaves and an inflo on it) and you can have it if your HB does not perform, can bring it to JJ's if I can make it depending on my Knee and Shoulder, we can have lunch at the Fourseason Aviar by Johns house after my treat.

This post was edited by freak4plumeria on Fri, Jun 21, 13 at 0:04

James, so my messages finally got through! I thought I was going to have to send smoke signals or something really old school. Darned technology!

Lynn, those are some beautiful Wildfires you got. I hope they do great for you! I see you're having even more trouble than I am at keeping to 50, lol. On the bright side, I have a couple new coworkers I'm now sharing plants with, so many of mine can go to another good home. Yay, more space for plumies!

Jen,
No only 1 did the other day, along with Bills first email. I received another email from Bill today, so do not know whats wrong with AOL. I might switch to my Yahoo or Gmail account, just have had the AOL account forever so kind of sentimental.

Probably will send your Aurora cutting out Monday, its 2 tipped. Aurora is super compact, since 1979, its only grown to be about 6 to 7ft tall but super bushy. So do not expect her to grow quickly.

Cheers

James,

I would love to have your Hilo Beauty especially with inflo! I just want to have one red blooming plant this summer. Can I buy it from you please?

Additionally, am very worried about my Hilo Beauty especially after speaking with Bud and John. Both seem to think claws that stayed curled up for 4 weeks indicate a root problem. At this point all my plants except for the amputated Waimea, deceased Wildfire from Barbra and Hilo Beauty have leafed out.

I will take photos of the claws tomorrow. Do you think I should take it out of the pot and investigate the root system? I don't know what I did wrong or what I could have done differently. It was one thing to lose plants in the winter but I was not expecting to lose some in June! And Hilo Beauty and Waimea are over 3 feet tall. I am so sad right now.

Jandey,

I gave 3 more plants to my kid's teachers today. I have a few moms asking me about plumerias so I think I am known as the Plumeria Lady around school now. It's a wonderful feeling to be able to share their excitement. It's such a joy to be able to share these beauties with others.

James, you are too kind! I am over the moon! Only two plumies have ever made my heart skip a beat: Makaha Sunn and Aurora! Thank you!!

I sent the second message just giving you my full name in case it didn't show up with the email address. I live right next door to another Jennifer, though by now my postman knows that all long boxes come to my address :P

Hi Everyone!!!

James.. I think smoke signals like Jen mentioned, would work better than these computers.. LOL.. I have been told that others have sent emails and i haven't received them either.. not sure if GW is acting up too. They have other issues.. I will send another email and one thru GW.

Cheers!!

Roxanne.. I did have the pleasure of visiting Bud at his home and he is one special gentleman!!! He can climb his trees better than i can and he is 91 years young!! He was very gracious to me and my DH while visiting Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa. He knew i loved Palms and that i grow them here in VB,, so he said "lets go.. I have someone i want you to meet.." so.. off we went to John's house. I was so impressed at his collection. He has grown these gorgeous trees from seed and they are huge. I know "simi" has visited him and looked at his Palms too. Unbelievable!!!

Hi Jen!!! Sounds like your heart is beating fast right now!! ;-) Good!! Love it when we can get so excited about something special.. couldn't happen to a more gracious lady than YOU!!!

Lynn.. I hope you get that Wildfire figured out.. Sounds like you need to check that rootball like James mentioned. That will be the first place i would start!!

Good Luck!!

Take care,

Laura

I also picked up a Wildfire from John today! What a nice guy. I ended up sticking around for over an hour chatting about plants and surfing. I was also originally going to pick up more than one WF, but John talked me into Saigon Moon instead. My final score was a Gardenia, which based on the photo that John had of it, is probably Psycho.

Pictures!

Wildfire:

Saigon Moon with inflo:

Gardenia (Psycho??):

Jandy and Laura,

Aurora Borealis and Tropical Aurora are different... Jandy I am sending you Aurora B... I still do not have the Tropical Aurora, but hoping soon..lol

Daogirl
Before JL was selling Gardenia there was a Japanese guy who was treasurer at the time for the So Coast Plumie Society which originally started in the South Bay @ South Coast Botanic Gardens in Palos verdes before it moved to OC (Forget his name now....old timers disease..might have been Derrick or Darryl..lol) and he originally found Gardenia aka Gardena (as he found the plant in Gardena, ca) aka Psycho White. So old timers who had the original from way back still call it Gardenia, but it has been renamed couple time since...so all are correct names.

Beautiful plants Daogirl! You ended up with 3 just like me except I didn't get Gardenia and opted for two WF instead. Aren't his plumerias healthy or what? I am very happy with mine. Hopefully yours will bloom this summer too... at least we know Saigon Moon will. :)

James if you get Tropical Aurora you better get me one too! LOL

James, don't worry, I have no interest in Tropical Aurora other than academic. It's your Aurora I've always loved!

You, Lynn and Laura love purple much more than I do, so I hope you all get a Tropical Aurora somehow.

Lynn, did you happen to see if John had a shippable size Wildfire maybe for Barbra? I know she'd be very happy to have another one.

Jandsey,

I checked with Barbra and she has decided to wait until next year. :)

Yes I hope we find Aurora Tropical! That will be sweet!

I do have one rooted Mary Moragne...good size. All I have to do is find it ;))

freak - thanks for the info, that's what I was hoping to hear!

Lynn - I'm really hoping for inflos on WF - I asked John how long the tips get before they bloom & he looked at my plant and said "about that long." So, I'm planning on playing "Eye of the Tiger" for the plant every morning to get it motivated. LOL! I can't wait to see the Saigon Moon blooms, though.

Hollis

Daogirl,
Your 3 tip WF looks like it could bloom this season, usually on younger plants it take min about 1ft tips or longer. My old WF blooms on 6" or 7" now. But remember "A watched pot never boils"..lol Patience is a virtue when it comes to plumies and most good things in life.

Cheers

Lynn,

Congratulations on Wildfires! That is one of my favorites.

It also was the cause of incredible grief last month!

I wanted a Wildfire REALLY badly last year, but it was hard to find and very expensive. I finally found one a woman in San Diego was selling - about 2.5' tall, three tips, and two inflos - both blooming. It was really beautiful. And REALLY expensive (maybe not $599 Kapalua cutting expensive, but what is?).

At first it didn't like its spot in my yard very much. I found that with too much sun, the flowers can look brown. I moved it to a somewhat shadier area and it was gorgeous there. Two inflos of stunning joy. What a beauty.

This year, as I planned where to plant plumerias in the ground in the terraced hillside behind the pool (It was pretty much barren when I moved here 2.5 years ago), I gave Wildfire a prominent spot on the hill. And WIldfire, in a year, had grown a few inches and gone from 3 tips to 5. My pride and joy.

Last month, some people were working in my yard and when the left, I was doing my 3 times a day survey of my plumerias (7 times when I'm actually home) - and found 3 of the 5 tips on the ground! My remaining Wildfire was now the size of a small cutting. I did not take it well. Needless to say, I wore black for the rest of the week, played some Mahalia Jackson music daily by the remains (Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen and In the Upper Room) and woke up in sweat a few times - yelling Wildfire! Those were tough times.

I finally found another Wildfire (I wanted something a little taller than what John had). This baby was 5' tall, 6 tips and an inflo!!! I bought it and took it to my car. WARNING PLUMIE LOVERS: Before reading the next paragraph, make sure that you are sitting down, or in the office of a registered botanical counselor. You have been warned.

Well, as I was placing the amazing new Wildfire with inflo in my car, (something I have done a hundred times before, I even keep special plumeria "neck" and side pillows stored in my car) - I heard the seller say the 8 words you NEVER want to hear - "looks like you just broke off the inflo". She was right, the little inflo was on the seat.

I think I drove around her block around five times - wondering how, with 6 tips and only one with an inflo - a tiny one that didn't stick out - did I manage to only damage the inflo? It was surreal. I couldn't believe it. I was dangerous around Wildfire - yet I loved it so! Thank you to Allison (toomanydogs) who helped me through this tragedy.

Oh well, the new Wildfire is on the hill. Even with the large microscope I got just for this purpose, I still don't see an inflo (but this is what I call The Season of Hope, when you wait and wait for any signs of inflos to appear, so anything is possible). Do love that Wildfire, though.

I do agree on Upland - not always friendly, I stopped going there for a while because of that. On the positive, that's how I found Island Plumeria. Lately Upland has been friendlier - so who knows. Definitely not cheap, though.

Lynn, I've been to Island and Jungle Jack's this month (got a Grove Farm at Island and a Firestorm and TBred Tracy at Jungle). Both very friendly places. Did want to tell you - I believe Matthew at Island had a Pop's Red when I was there a week or so ago, and at probably half the price you saw the other one.

Laura - John's garden is beautiful. Loved the palms. I've bought quite a few palms for my house, but they're much much younger. Huge at John's. It was so nice to see what many of the ones I have will look like when they grow up!

Sorry to bum you guys out with my horrific Wildfire story. May not see a bloom this year, but the season of hope is still upon us. GROW, INFLO, GROW!! PLEASE!!!)

well, here is my Wildfire from a plumeria show/meeting in Huntington Beach in '09. This year, each tip has an inflo. Total of 4.

I bought Pop's Red from Mathew (Island Plumeria) back in April and it will bloom next year.. he had quite a few at the time....such a nice guy!

I have always wanted to go to Upland...too far away. roxanne

Roxanne, I am quite envious! 4 inflos on 4 tips! Amazing.

yes, I am soooo excited! It really has holding power as well and a great scent. Need a few more. I have many "new to bloom for me" ones I will be posting soon and it is the best year for inflos I have ever had. YEE-HAH! roxanne

Roxanne,
Loving the pic of your Wildfire, captured the reds in it!
Wildfire is one of those plumerias that are worth the wait when if finally blooms.
Thanks for the show

Regarding Upland Nursery, I think everyone gives Upland , Malee and Ed a bad rap, I think it is a cultural thing and a personal space/protective issue also. I think that Malee and Ed are just a little guarded as some plumeria people can be very intense and demanding, some even take what they want without paying for it, aka broken branches, so I think it offers them some boundaries and protection.
Also because of Malee and Ed's accent they are not that talkative, thus they try to avoid too much interaction.

I do agree that Upland needs to re-examine their pricing on the readily available plumies to be competitive, but Upland has their own seedlings that Malee does release once in a blue moon (usually there is a waiting list of people who have previewed some of them with there request in her request book as most are GORGEOUS and unusual.).
Just to give you an example Malee took me and another plumie friend on her golf cart and gave us a tour of her HUGE/Expansive plumie forest that is locked away. The private Plumie patch is @ Upland but behind locked gates (you would not think it was there or is that HUGE), and you do need a cart, bike, moped, something to get around in there as it is such a huge lot with trees (huge trees not little shrubs of Bill Morange, Paul Weissich, Daisy Wilcox, Ammarons, Sariah's, Sally M, Wildfire and on and on, etc, etc, etc). It took us about half an hour on her cart to see her private plumie grove.
If Malee was not that nice she would have never offered us a tour knowing that it would take up a lot of her time.

So rule of thumb might be go without expectation so you wont be disappointed, just be pleasant, low key and do your thing, and never pressure her for discount or certain varieties...
Not everyone will like or get along with everyone, I personally have not found Marilynn of Marilynns Garden all that fuzzy or warm. The times in the past when I did go to her she was very dry, curt and demanding even though I had a commercial account with her. I do know many that find Marilynn lovely and sweet so go figure, basically I just stopped buying from her once I bought everything I wanted from her.

Ok only my 2 cents...
Cheers

Freak, its been good and bad for me with Upland, but I am giving them another chance. I need a "First Lady" plumeria for the "West Lawn" section of my yard. Malee in particular has always been nice to me - maybe not "Tour nice" - I may need to start being nicer myself! I want that tour! I do know what you mean, though.

Malee and I are more social in our chat not so plumie centric as I have or had the stuff she offers except for her seedlings. I put my name and request in her book and never got a call..."Ring, Ring" saying come and get it...lol I actually buy more of her rare imported plants and fruit trees like her "Suga Sup" Kumquats, she smuggled...oops imported this variety from Japan (not available in the us except for her plants at the time). Malee had 5 in 5 gal for 200.00 each , I bought 2 from her.
So thats what makes me think she is friendlier if your not so plumie centric, plus Ive heard her say stuff about plumeria people that was kind of on course of what I was saying...
Personally I haven't been to Upland in couple years now, sometimes would go once a week in the past....

Simi since I do not know you I can not jsay that you need to be nicer, you may want to be just more social in conversation, and if you go back enough were they know you by name then you might ask her for a tour, or she may just offer. Again just my 2 cents...

Cheers mate

This post was edited by freak4plumeria on Mon, Jun 24, 13 at 1:59

Think of Upland as the Rolls Royce dealer of plumeria, sure the product is expensive but the quality is exceptional. If they are really busy with a lot of customers be patient and just check out the rest of the nursery. I bought a cinnamon tree from Malee which is doing quite well planted next to my prolific Celadine and a Bauhinia Candida. I really, really want a rooted Fafa from them. I am on the list, we'll see.

Roxanne, it is worth the trip. Think of it as a pilgrimage. In mid summer the number of blooming plumerias they have is overwhelming.

TMD...I would love to go and time it with the trip to JJ open house...our anniversary weekend (38) and I have been dropping hints like crazy! I have one from Marilyn I would like to I.D. other than saying blue ribbon pink. It is a great one that I got from Rogers Gardens in the very beginning of the addiction... :-) I too have a Bauhinia...Purpurea though...love it. Her nursery is in the city of Orange, right? roxanne

p.s. aloha to toomanydogs...

George, my heart hurts for you, but I also nearly snorted coffee out of my nose reading your post. You are hilarious! We all get it, though, and I felt the same when I opened my box of Desert Sunrise to find two scars where two of the three inflos had been knocked off in shipping--boohoo.

In the ground your two Wildfires should be very happy and hopefully inflo soon.

LOL George! Well not at your Wildfire heartbreak but more about how you related the story back to us. I have always enjoyed reading your posts and I have missed you my friend.

Thanks for the head's up on Pop's Red... unfortunately (or fortunately it's a hike for me and there are only so many weekends I can make DH drive me around hunting for another plumeria I don't need.). Besides it's kind of hard to hide your addiction from your spouse if they are the one driving you. LOL.

Roxanne - gorgeous photo and 4 inflo on 4 tips? That's unbelievable! I cannot wait for mine to bloom. Please hurry!!

James - everybody loves you so that doesn't count! I can only speak from my experience... I had 3 interactions with Upland and all 3 times were not good. They wouldn't even give me the time of they day even when they weren't busy. As far as their quality I only find them so so. Compare to my plants from Island Plumeria, JJ's, Marilynn's, SD Sale, and recently John's, they barely stacked up. I mean my Charlotte Ebert that I paid $99 has the UGLIEST graft I have ever seen! What an eyesore. For the price they charge I would expect much higher quality and some customer service.

I am happy that some of you had a great experience there and I get it that not everyone you meet will like you. But I just expect a little common courtesy when you run a business that's all. In a way I'm glad though... because I'm such a compulsive buyer that if they were nicer to me I would go broke. So this is a blessing in disguise! LOL

Lynn,
I glad you found John. He is a wealth of knowledge.
He also has some great looking plumeria. I was their last year and got WF, Gardena, Kaneohe Sunburst, San Miguel, & Sundance from him. We were on vacation and had to ship them back to Texas. Attached is a pic of his Gardena.
Lonnie

Jandey, thank you, I appreciate the sympathy! Still having flashbacks, though.

Lynn, I haven't been on here much lately, but I do have a lot to share. Just planted a hillside with plumies. I think I'm afraid someone will say - you did it all wrong, start again! Will write about it soon, though, would love to get feedback. It's been a really eventful year, sorry I haven't shared more. Good to be sharing again, I've missed you guys.

Lonnie,

John was so gracious and generous with his time and knowledge. We chatted for well over an hour. Still chatting as he helped me load up my van. Talking about Rolls Royce of plumerias, his are second to none. And I am very picky. LOL. Super happy with the 3 plants I got from him. Will most likely do the garden tour with him and Bud later this summer, if not to buy then to fellowship.

George - I can't wait to see your hillside. I am sure everything will be just perfect! I love how you always get larger trees so I'm expecting to see a lot of blooms from you this summer! :)

Lonnie, WOW! Beautiful plants--what is he feeding them? I didn't know you'd scored a Psycho/Gardena; hold on to that one!

George, I'm looking forward to pics of the plumeria paradise you've created. Is the house next to you for sale? :P

Jen

Lynn
Wildfire from last year:

Arghhh!!! James you are killing me. I'm supposed to clean out my collection NOT add to it. LOL.

Another must have... sigh. Thanks a lot!

Lynn, those are great pics, the last one is much like mine. Grove Farm is hard not to love, its one of my favorites. And the scent is really nice. I thought of you the other day when I was at Jungle Jacks and they had this awesome blooming Rhonda. I remember how much you liked the scent - it was amazing. Beautiful flower, too. Almost picked it up, but I was already packed with the Firestorm, TBred Tracy and an amazing unlabeledpink/red.

Jandey - boy that would be a hoot, if we were neighbors. That would be fun. I think Plumeria sellers around Southern CA would throw a party if that happened, anticipating increased sales. We'd be looking over each others' fences to see what was blooming that day, maybe even throwing a double luau in the summer. Would be fun. My neighbor, after I moved in with my wall of plants (and this was before the plumies), went from one tree to two (I think I inspired him, though slowly). He was even happy when branches from my Lani's Beauty crossed into his yard. I don't think he's moving, but I'll let you know! By the way, I've got to seek your advise soon - I got this huge Celadine cutting earlier this year from the lady who's not good with plumeria identification, but has great taste. It's got about 10 inflos going, ready to open. Though the flower I pulled off (before it fully opened) had no orange or pink on the front (I remember what you told me once), it does have a slight pink on the back of the petal. It's definitely more Celadine like than the last one I got that I thought was Celadine - but is it? Will post pic soon. It does have the double line on the leaf. Can a Celadine have a litlle pink on the back of the petal if the rest is yellow and white only?

Jen,
If you ever get out to CA. you have to go see John & Bud. John told me next time when I had more time he would take us to Buds house.
I had a family dinner waiting on me, but was late because we spent so much time at John's house. I didn't want to leave. He had several rotting experiments too. I emailed him and got his potting mix recipe if you want it, Here are a few pics of his yard.

James, those are the prettiest pics of Grove Farm I've ever seen! Love the way the petals reflex and the graduating shades of pink. That should get some people ordering it!

George, that would be a hoot if we were neighbors! Wouldn't get any work done around the house for all the talking over the fence, hehe.

From what I've learned--and there are much more savvy growers here who can correct me if I'm wrong--I don't believe Celadine ever has another color on the front or back of the petals besides yellow or white. BUT, what you have could be a very close seedling of Celadine. It sounds beautiful, so if it blooms and smells like Celadine it could be superior to Celadine!

Lonnie, I'd love to go out there again. John and Bud sound like wonderful people and I'd love to meet them. And of course I'm always eager to learn from anyone who grows these plants!

I left John's last year an went to my cousins house for dinner. Low and behold look what he had in his back yard.
I came home with two cuttings from what looks like Grove Farm & a Rainbow.
Lonnie

A close-up.

Printmaster,
The plant looks like its growing like my Grove Farm, on the leggy side, it prob is GF....
Is the Lonnie and aka for Lani? Lani is suppose to be a red rainbow...?

Looks like you scored, CONGRATS!!!

Jen,
Did you get my Emails with your tracking info, sent it on Tues??? Your package is out for delivery to you per USPS...
Cheers

James, now MY email is not working, lol.

I left for a lunch break yesterday and went straight home to make sure a certain special package didn't sit baking in our 101 heat and, lo and behold, there it was! I can't thank you enough, my friend!

Now comes the hard part--should I do what you do and put it in water inside for a couple of weeks until I see popcorn?

Jen,

I've water rooted her before, gave a large one water rooted to Paula Furtwangler yrs ago in Texas. Hers was a big branch that broke off, if you look every tip had an inflo that was popping the norm for her, I water rooted this one. Here ia a pic of her 3 weeks before I shipped it off to Paula.

Cheers

This post was edited by freak4plumeria on Sat, Jun 29, 13 at 0:08

Thanks for the tips, James. I expected she might be difficult to root but I wouldn't dare attempt grafting. I'll put her in coir in a water bottle like my others. The coir has been better than other materials for me so far, a very good success rate after long callusing times.

Paula posted the most mouth-watering pics of those AB blooms a couple of weeks ago on FB--OMG! What a beauty! The colors just exploded off the page, as you can imagine in the heat and humidity of Houston. Do you have one of her Copperheads?

Jen,
Oh I didnt know that, thought AB was stolen back when her patch was stripped years ago when she was on vacation. I believe it was the year she got Aurora or the year after.
Did she ever mention how big her plant is now? With the heat and humidity I am curious about the growth habit in different climates.

Just remember Jen it takes a bit for her to root time wise. She dosnt necessarily rot, but just slow to root. She has bloomed on 1" tips so if she roots this season you may have blooms. Usually takes couple years for the blooms to look good/correct.

Cheers

Her photo of the blooms was drop-dead-gorgeous and I assumed recent, but she didn't photo the whole tree or even branch. I looked and tried to find it again but it was posted a couple of weeks ago.

Here's a pic from Friday that shows an AB bloom in a pansy ring, so she must still have it:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200138102044603&set=a.1049164518668.2007935.1512363401&type=1&theater

It makes me see red to think some *$#^% came and stole her plants when she went on vacation. It had to be someone who knew her. What a lowlife!

Glad to know she still has AB, though. I met her at the last sale and she seems to be a very passionate collector.

Jen,
It may not be someone who knew it, it was after a PSA Garden Tour at her house, she may have mentioned to people she was going on Vacation...don't really know. Again this was years ago.
But many have had theft where people even dug their way in under a fence. Hetty had her stuff ripped off years ago also, Doug Jones told me when he had his nursery in Solano Beach, someone I believe dug their way in and stole from him...more than once...
I know someone else in Orange County CA that had posted last year on MPG that someone was cutting branches off his prized plumies in his back yard, that his 8ft tall block wall did not stop them. I think there was an alley way in back of his property, someone probably had a van or SUV and was on the roof and was able to reach over and cut big branches off.

Thanks for sharing the info about AB and Paula. I did see the Pansey Ring pic, but AB didnt look the same as it does her color wise...

Cheers

I decided that I would wait until next year, and pick one up. I have a beautiful Wildfire that I bought last year from Emerson at the Ft Bend PSA sale. Its now about 4 ft tall, with a lot of tips in full bloom. I am going to concentrate on getting the plants I have already pre ordered and paid for. Who knows what else I might find at the sale. K, I am planning on taking pillows again so our plants can sleep on the way home from the PSA sale. Barbra