Absolutely, positively, JEALOUS!!!
Just beautiful Bill!

Soooooo beautiful Bill!!

Kasie

They are all beautiful but I especially like that Playful. Is that an easy one to root? Do most of the nurseries such as MPG and the like sell it? I'm already thinking ahead to next year. lol I was really hoping that my Teresa Wilder would boom this year but no such luck. The plant looks great and this is the second year I've had it. Seeing yours really makes me want to see it in bloom. Maybe next year.
Karyn

Karyn- The playful is sold by Armstrong nurseries out here and is probably the cheapest of the bunch. I think I paid $10 for a rooted plant last year and it is almost 6' tall now. Karen B has one too. It does fade toward white rather quickly which I do not care for as much as a flower that holds its shape and color. It looks best when it first opens. Bill

Hi Karen and Bill
Yes I have actually 3 playful.. the last not by choice from Home Depot,small one. I have 4 plumies that I planted in the ground this year. One is playful, double branch. It is growing like crazy about 4' tall a guess, large tall leaves, gives me hope for a bloom. I would love to see it bloom larger blooms, last year, were small. The second one is in a pot from last year, bloomed but never branched, is just getting tall! HOpe then mine will bloom. Yes they put out a deep rose pink bloom, next day is medium pink. third light pink then to white. Now what is pretty if you can be lucky and get large cascade bloom with all those colors. ammmmmm hoping with mine. nice fragrance. Yes from ARmstrongs.

Bill with your Nebals rainbow. I have a new cutting that bloomed, was the yellow with pink. But with 100 degree or so temps and food it has deep red buds and opens to deep reds, oranges and yellow in the center. Might mine be intense rainbow or the heat?
Karen B.

Gorgeous as always Bill...not quite as jealous as this time last year but almost, LOL!!!

Does Playfuls petals always fold back like that? She is quite pretty! Thank you for posting Playful and KS in the same post, I can now tag two of my plants with confidence!

BTW, what are the odds of me getting two KS's within 24 hours apart from two entirely different sources when I didn't see a bloom on either one? I have a 3 footer and one that is about 8 feet in it's pot, LOL! It has become my favorite flower!

Nice shots Bill. Keep those photos coming!

By the way, do you have a Penang Peach? Have you noticed the leaves are unique -- rounded on their ends and not pointy? Mine's getting ready to bloom. Will post photo soon. I think it's another one who's color is somewhat variable based upon temp, humidity, etc, (as is Nebel's Rainbow). What do you think contributes to the best color? Warm nights, humidity? Hot daytime temps?

Karen- need a pic. Sounds like intense rainbow more than Nebels, but I like intense very much.
Intense Rainbow:
{{gwi:1201104}}

Nebels with more pink:
{{gwi:1201105}}

Note: Nebel's is a thick, waxy flower and more rounded.
David. Yes I have Penang Peach but here in Calif it is more yellow with less orange than in more humid regions. It is a heavy bloomer but mine does not have rounded leaves (like Madras Giant). Bill
penang peach:
{{gwi:1201106}}

Well, hmmmmm. My plant, which is labeled 'Penang Peach' was purchased from a guy in Florida. It is a grafted one and looks like it came from Florida Colors originally. It had the aluminum tag, which FC uses. I have no reason to believe it's marked wrong. It does have very blunt leaf tips (not pointed like all my others). I thought this was peculiar to Penang Peach. I'll take a photo when it blooms and maybe we can confirm what it is.

Hi Bill,
Yes, think it is the intense rainbow, has the dark raspberry and whitish stripe on the back, very intense color flower, not waxy.. Is a mystery cutting from Maui gardens. thanks for the pictures

My penang peach from FC has the bunt leaf tips too, curls around. Not too pleased with the size that was sent this year, only about 8" tall..will take a few moons for this one to grow..is healthy and cute plant.
Karen B.

Hi KarenBofSoCa.- was the 8" grafted or cutting? Last year I treated myself with 4 grafted plumies from FC. It stayed in the 1 gallon pot for a few months. Then moved on to 5 gal. pots. Just right before the dreaded freeze I put them in the greenhouse(thank goodness I did) and they grew and grew. A couple weeks ago I potted two to the 15 gal. pots. Ammaron's Curly White is blooming and has split into 3 braches. Sariah's Curly Pink I believe has an inflo. Both plumies are so big. I ran out of 15 gal. pot and so Grapette and Magnum Opus are still in the 5 gal. pots.

So Karen, the way you've been taking of your plumies will not take a few moons to grow...it will grow super duper soon:)

Kasie

Karyn & Karen B,
My Playful has been blooming nicely this summer. I was never at home at quite the right time to get a picture of all the shades of pink, but here's the shot I did get.

and then I got a closeup of one the blooms just opening...too bad the one right next to it was starting to brown. Almost had a great photo.

Hi Kasie,
I get the grafted plants from Florida Colors.. so paying $20 for a 8" plant was irritating. Now the lower part that has the roots is probably longer could guess hit 12". But you have to put so much into the soil to make it a plant and fit.

NOWWW never thought of going up to 5 gallons! really to make it grow.. Put all 3 of my last ones in 1 gallon, recommended. Sooo you take them up to increase the size... penang peach is tiny in a one gallon too. I never ever thought of that.

now your comment grew and grew. I have never yet had a FC plant grow that much. Aztec gold is a second year plant, in 5 gallon pot, put it in the ground. I am getting massive leaves, but no inflo to take it up and branch. 3 singapores, one singapore is doing well in a 5 gallon. but pink and dwarf delicious in one gallon.. hmmm. I never thought of taking them larger. Will check this out tomorrow. May do the baddddd and take them larger. thanks.
Karen

Hi Quatpaw.
Fantastic..your blooms on playful are fantastic., big cascade of blooms different color. I have never got to see this! My first plant was playful, grew and grew, went to bloom put out one flower and it froze. It a special plant for me, cause was my first one.

So now have another one planted in the ground growing like you cannot believe over 4' tall, want to see it bloom! was small flowers last year when I bought it

. So happy for you yours bloomed. well we are warming up this weekend, hope for a possible larger blooms, watching for an inflo! thanks for showing your blooms.

Karen,
I bought my Playful last summer. It didn't look like much, just a two foot single with a few leaves. It got a little taller over the first summer, but not much else until the inflow showed up this year.
Good luck on yours...hope you get nice big blooms!
Vivian

Just beautiful! I'm jealous too, my blooms came so early in the season and seemed like they were gone so fast!

Cboz- Here I am just a few hundred miles west of you and my season is running very late. Many of my plants are just now showing inflos and will bloom in Sept and October. 2007 has been one of the strangest years I have experienced with the freeze in January and the late season for flowers in the summer. Is it global warming or just a freak year. Bill

Hi Bill - am hoping it's just a freak year. I think another one of the freeze and I'd throw in the towel.

Kasie