Frangipani (Plumeria ) advice wanted
 

I have one of these, grown from seed about 6 or 7 years ago. Initially
it grew as a single stem, but about 4 years ago the growing tip got
frosted (mea culpa!), and it put out two side shoots, diametrically
opposed. These have continued to grow, and it's now an ungainly 'Y'
shape, with central leg about 10" tall, and the arms about 14" long.
The ends of the arms have the normal healthy bunch of leaves which
appear in the early summer and generally last until January or so,
when they drop and the plant goes semi-dormant. The arms puts on about
4" of growth each year, but show no sign of flowering, or of putting
out any more side shoots.

It's in an 8" pot in well-drained gritty compost, in a SW-facing
conservatory maintained at a minimum of about 10C over winter. It gets
fed and watered regularly during the summer and autumn months, but is
kept dry during winter.

What can I do to get it to be a bit more interesting? I'm reluctant to
prune back the arms to encourage them to branch as the cut ends will
bleed milky sap like fury, but is this the only solution? Perhaps I
could root the bits I cut off. Some flowers would be nice....


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
I have one of these, grown from seed about 6 or 7 years ago. Initially
it grew as a single stem, but about 4 years ago the growing tip got
frosted (mea culpa!), and it put out two side shoots, diametrically
opposed. These have continued to grow, and it's now an ungainly 'Y'
shape, with central leg about 10" tall, and the arms about 14" long.
The ends of the arms have the normal healthy bunch of leaves which
appear in the early summer and generally last until January or so,
when they drop and the plant goes semi-dormant. The arms puts on about
4" of growth each year, but show no sign of flowering, or of putting
out any more side shoots.

It's in an 8" pot in well-drained gritty compost, in a SW-facing
conservatory maintained at a minimum of about 10C over winter. It gets
fed and watered regularly during the summer and autumn months, but is
kept dry during winter.

What can I do to get it to be a bit more interesting? I'm reluctant to
prune back the arms to encourage them to branch as the cut ends will
bleed milky sap like fury, but is this the only solution? Perhaps I
could root the bits I cut off. Some flowers would be nice....


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

I know nothing about growing them here but I got told on Madeira they take a
long time to flower from seed so you may be better off with a cutting. I
have never seen one in the UK so a holiday may be in order (good excuse!)

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)

On Mon, 1 Aug 2005 08:52:33 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:

I know nothing about growing them here but I got told on Madeira they take a
long time to flower from seed so you may be better off with a cutting. I
have never seen one in the UK so a holiday may be in order (good excuse!)

Thanks Charlie. I can see a trip to the compost heap coming up!


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

This is what the website 'The Plumeria Place' had to say about seedlings:

Plumeria are easily grown from seed, but the time requirements may be
objectionable to some who would prefer the more rapid gratification of
flowers produced by a cutting after one to four years opposed to the two to
five years from a seedling. Since plumeria grown from seed may exhibit some,
all, or none of the characteristics of the plant that produced the seed,
many find the extra year or two well worth the wait because there is a high
probability of producing a formerly unknown flower variety. The image above
is an unnamed seedling, planted in 1989, of unknown parentage. The flip side
of this coin is that not all plumeria grown from seed are really worth
keeping since they may be poor bloomers, never bloom, or have other
objectionable qualities that make them "a child not even its mother could
love".