My Dwarf Singapore Pink is a pleasant surprise this year.

I have to say that one of my favorite plumerias is my Divine. It blooms often and reliably. The downsides to it is that the flowers are not very large and it goes dormant very early (I start losing leaves in Ealy September on my Divine, but my other plumerias dont start losing leaves until Late October).

Pretty Princess is a disappointment to me because the bloom times are not great. It has never bloomed earlier than October for me. But the blooms that I do get are very nice and fragrant so I do like it for that!

Very nice pics! Thanks for sharing!
-Alex

K, your DSP is gorgeous, even without blooms. Did you just get it this year?

Alex, I bought Divine for my mom at Christmas but it hasn't done much yet. Hoping it blooms maybe next season for her.

I also bought my mom Paul Weissich with an inflo and was just expecting it to bloom a nice peachy yellow but with the San Antonio heat the flowers were a rich pinkish orange with almost red veins--stunning! That was another pleasant surprise. Wish I'd had my camera that day!

The Kauka Wilder I got for her was a little disappointing. It's a good-size graft that has really struggled all summer, like Honeypot, never putting out more than a few misshapen leaves. If these were the only two varieties I'd seen I would think plumerias weren't suited to our heat and drought. But looking at most of my others I know better:

At the top of my list of pleasant surprises are California Sunset, Kaneohe Sunburst, but a few others are very close in ranking too, like the J105 and Evalani.

California Sunset: When I bought it last summer, it was big and healthy but had no inflos. It started blooming since March, and is still blooming now on new inflos:. Love the colors, the scent, the keeping quality.
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Kaneohe Sunburst: My longest blooming plant. Can't beat the deep dark pink with the orange/yellow center which I was never able to fully capture with my camera.
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J105: I got it as a 1 tip rooted plant last winter, not expecting much from it this summer, but it pushed out a huge inflo and bloomed beautifully. The flowers are at the top of my favorites list, even though they hardly have any scent.
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Evalani: Bloomed and leafed out beautifully only a couple of months after I rooted them as cuttings!
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One with a disappointing performance was Japanese Lantern. It did push out an inflo and bloomed for me during the winter (because it was in a 1-gallon pot, so I could keep it inside by a sunny window) but it wasn't a deep red, and after the inflo was done, it did not even branch, and continued to grow into a tall long stick.

Jen, I forgot to say that your grafted Makaha Sunn is the best graft I have seen to date! Usually the edges at the graft area are not that smooth and even. The plant looks very healthy. Congrats!

Jen,
my DSP is two years old. Its in full sun almost from dawn to dusk without a problem. I'll save a cutting for you in the spring.

Sun, your photography is consistently fantastic! Every time I see your KS shots I think, "Really must get that!"

Luc at FCN did the grafting of two tips off the big MS cutting I had; the other one looks just as good. He is truly very skilled. I thought it was interesting how different the color was on the donor trunk.

With the cooler nights I'm starting to see fiery coloring on the new claws of Makaha Sunn and much more red on the tips of J105, Leona, GAO, and some others.

K, that is so kind of you! Thanks!

Hello Everyone,

Hi Jen!!!

Great thread!!!

Now where do i even begin..All of the pics that you all have posted are sooooooooo beautiful!!! I love them all!!!

My Makaha SUnn looks just like yours!!! That is a favorite of mine and imm so happy to have found this cutting from a very generous person in Florida!! Thank you!!! I cant wait to see the blooms on this beauty! After reading about the story from Bud, i have been searching for this one and finally found it! Thanks to Carol for grafting this for me!!! SHe did a great job!!! As always....

KMS..Your DSP is a real Beauty!!! Love the look of your tree! So healthy and the foliage looks so green and full!
Thanks for the help on the greenhouse...im sure ill be asking more questions... : )

Sun,

The Kaneohe Sunburst is a real beauty!! I love the color.
My cutting was one that i brought back from CA and didnt do well, so i had to recut and start over. It did root but it is small. At least i have it and it will grow. I started with the cutting about 4-6 inches. Never thought it would take, but it did!!! So dont ever think that it can be to small to root, because it just might!!! : )

ALex,

My DIvine has been a great tree as well, Very strong bloomer and has grown twice the size since last year!!!
Its still a compact tree, but has really filled out quite a bit!!! Love how long the blooms stay around on this DIvine. I think this is a must for everyone's list.
Sorry to hear about your PP.last year it did well for you.
Hopefully, next year it will be the strong bloomer for you!!!

MY dissapointments this year have been some cuttings that i brought back from CA that are very special to me. Im still in the process of rooting one that came from a special tree. My California Sally has taken her sweet time to root. I have had to recut her and try over due to root rot. It seems when you want a particular one to do well, it will be the one that gives you heartache. Im hoping that it will do well. I do have leaves starting to form from the cutting, but no roots yet. Sparky has done the same for me. Had to recut him and start two different cuttings. One is going
south to a dear friend and i hope she has better luck at rooting this special cutting!! : )

My other dissapointment was my Lavender. I thought from early spring that i had seen some indication of an inflo starting to form. It didnt do anything this season, and its been one that i have been anxiously waiting to see.

So i think that this spring, this one and many others will get a good root pruning and get repotted in some better mix. : )

Here are some pictures of some of my favorites...
J-105

Last but not least...a pic of my daughters dog with my daughter...She is my biggest and most "pleasant surprise"
I am a very happy mother...some of you know that she had a very tough summer... but all is fine with her and im a very thankful mom!!! so, this is the last of the pics..showing you that she is well and her little one is showing off a bloom from one of the last remaing ones that i have this summer...

Life is good!!! : )

go give your love ones a hug... : )

Take care everyone,

Jen,
Thanks for this great thread...What a great way to show the joys of the summer and to share some of the dissapointments that we can work on to fix for the next season... : )

Take care everyone,

Laura in VB

Jen, what a great thread, the pictures are just beautiful. Now I know what I want on my wish list next spring. Laura your dog is just too cute for words. That picture would make a great Christmas Card. Barbra

Hi everyone,
By the time I'm getting around to posting on this thread it has gotten so long that I don't know where to start except that I think it's a fabulous idea to compare notes like this...
So here is my two cents worth:
- biggest surprise: a 12 inch tall, 2 tip Kauka Wilder that I bought as a cutting at the San Diego sale in April. It has been blooming nonstop for the last 2 months, and that in spite of the cloudy 'summer' we had.
- trusty Samoan Fluff: the plant is only 3 years old, has 17 tips with 7 new inflos and 2 left over from last year. This plant has been putting out flowers as if it had been warm and sunny every day. Granted, they don't last very long, but there are new ones opening up every day.
- disappointing: a Guillot's Sunset that I bought as a young rooted plant (with 4 tips) at the SD sale in 2010. It hardly grew at all this year and there is no sign of an inflo anywhere.

Take care everyone,
Iso

PS: I won a pretty big 'Moonlight' at this year's San Diego sale. Is anyone growing it / any feedback on that plant?

Hi Iso! Glad to hear Kauka Wilder bloomed for you! I know you have not been too happy about the foggy summer, so it's nice to have some colors in addition to the white Samoan Fluff.
I agree with you that this thread was a great idea to compare notes (thanks, Jen!). I find it very interesting that some varieties are disappointing to some but grow nicely for others, and vice versa.

Hi sun! A few times this summer, when you posted your wonderful pictures, I was very tempted to invite myself up to your yard to get my plumie fix. It always amazes me how different the climate can be just half an hour up the coast. I'm keeping my fingers (and toes) crossed for a good plumeria-friendly summer next year...

Iso