Last year, my bulbs were in lawless conditions. I bought a children pool and put them in it in their pots. It was easier to water them this way. I just poured the water in and they all got some. But then some rains came and completely drenched the bulbs. They were neck up to the water and they stayed that way for a long time by the time I noticed it and let the water away. So I ended up with most of the bulbs shrunk to tiny bulblets that I didn't think would even survive. Then I had to move to the new house, so I unpotted them, cut the leaves and put them in the new wine cooler I bought for this purpose to make sure that the bulbs do not freeze down. A month later I noticed that the wine cooler froze down and even killed about 10 bulbs. I returned it to the store and just bought a huge standing fridge that had the freezer part separately. I kept my bulbs in that fridge. Then I planted them up from Summer, hoping that they would still come back to me. And to my amazement: More than 50 percent FLOWERED! They shrunk, they were sitting in water, they froze down, they were in dormancy for a half a year or LONGER, and they BLOOMED! I am still floored by some of them. Now, they are out in the flower bed, fattening up. I hope they enjoy the situation. So you see, once they want to bloom, they just bloom, even if they kill themselves.

Hi penlyn, Plumeria are heavy feeders. You need to fertilize them in order for them to bloom. Florida sand is more or less an inert hydroponic growth medium unless it has been heavily amended with compost to make it resemble soil. They will do well with any complete fertilizer; many people like to use a fertilizer with a higher middle number in the belief that it encourages blooming. Also they need lots of water when they have leaves. They donÂt like standing water, but they like frequent watering when they are in active growth. Because you are growing them in sand, drainage should not be a problem for you. During fall and "winter", reduce the amount of water you give them; donÂt water or water once in a blue moon if they shed their leaves and go into dormancy. Hope this helps. Philip

I loved them all - especially Chrysler Imperial!!! Wow those are beauties!!! I'm still waiting to get my potted roses out of the garage. Oh well, all good things come to those who wait. :) Thanks so much for showing us the beauty of your roses!! Carol

Interesting subject. I suspect that correct culture and the genetics that are bred into the cross may have a big influence on bud and flower production, and also blossom numbers....especially the number of flowers that will open all at once, and how long open blossoms stay on the plant. It seems that Adenium breeders (I'm just guessing here) release plants for sale that are NOT perfected, and that would be culled under other circumstances due to bad genetics. I think if blossoms looks different, have novel, or new colors, have double/triple petal count, etc...in short, any plants that will sell, get released by major breeders. Nowhere have I ever read, or recall, on any Adenium breeder's sites, any Adenium forums, noted by any seller, that Adeniums were specifically bred for bud/flower count, flower substance, bud retention, for disease/insect/rot resistance, fertile blossoms...etc. I recall not one thread, at least I can't find them, that discuss the virtues of any particular cross or the progeny, resulting from that selected cross. Dimmitt comes close, with his breeding lines, but where are the Dimmitt plants, and where do you buy one? Ko's seeds, and seeds from other noted breeders might produce some superior flowers, but what about the other important aspects of plant genetics that were mentioned above? It seems that when it comes to Adeniums, flowers are the goal, and little else matters. Are we just growing some inferior mongrels that have pretty flowers, and poetic names? Just asking. Perhaps all the dogs, inferior plants, do in fact, go into the Adenium compost piles, before any selected and named Adenium hit the open market....but I don't know for sure if we are buying and growing the best of the bunch. My cynical guess is that motives for profit, allow some lousy plants, but, with nice flowers, to be released. Frank NYC/7b