Wake Up, Plumerias, Wake Up!

The unseasonably cool month of May brought us over seven inches of rain, almost two inches above average.  The combination of cooler temperatures, rain, and cloudy days kept my  plumerias languishing in dormancy. I feel like they hate me because they are almost a month behind schedule.

The back row is my blooming size plumerias. L to R. Orange blossom special w/seed pod, Ammaron’s curly white, J.L. Pink Pansy, and Miami Rose.

Front L to R. Four one year old seedlings, White Shell, which just underwent an emergency repot, looks like there might be some blacktip preventing the claw from opening. Hopefully it will improve since the application of Immunox. In the front right is a seedling of Celadine.

One of the exciting things happening right now is the seed pod is finally at the final stages of ripening after nine long months. I found a thigh high just in time to cover the pod before it started to split open. A regular pair of pantyhose would probably work even better, because the crotch could pull directly over the branch supporting the pod, but, by all means use whatever you have on hand!

At first, I thought the pod was rotting, as it blackened, wrinkled, and looked like just going mushy. Then when I looked closely I saw the bottom of the pod was splitting open. This is so exciting! I now publicly pledge, “I will sprout no more than 10 plumeria seeds.”