Nothing heralds’ summer and thoughts of balmy days, beaches, sunshine and the coming of Christmas and holiday season quite like the fragrance of frangipani flowers.
Flowering from summer right through into late autumn this hardy long lived exotic tree comes in many forms and the flower colour range is mind boggling.
Growing Tips:
Plumeria species grow best in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate locations free of frost. Choose a full position with free draining soil. Frangipanis detest heavy clay, poorly draining soils.
If you have drainage issues, consider growing your frangipanis in pots. Look at some of the more compact dwarf varieties for container growing. Use Rocky Point Premium Potting Mix for best results.
Varieties:
- Plumeria rubra: most of your deciduous frangipani cultivars are derived from this species. They come in 100’s of colours and multi-coloured forms.
- Plumeria obtusa: This is the ‘Singapore White’ frangipani, sometimes also called the evergreen frangipani, although predominately evergreen in the tropics. There are a few dwarf cultivars of this species too with pink flowers.
- Plumeria pudica: cultivar ’Everlasting Love’ is a stunning frangipani with the whitest of white flowers and interesting arrow shaped leaves. The growth is upright to a height of 4m and is more of a shrub than a traditional tree shape. The one and only drawback of this variety, is the flowers have no scent.
Propagation:
Allow them to dry out for around 6 weeks before potting or planting. New frangipani plants can be easily created from cuttings. Take your cuttings and allow them to dry out for around 6 weeks before potting or planting.
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