SimiDude,

Those are gorgeous blooms! Thank you for sharing. I hope mine will bloom soon. I have a HB that is pushing an inflo while rooting. Should be interesting to see in the next couple of weeks!

Kenny

WOW! Love the photos and decor to go with the plumeria. I was wondering, is Hilo Beauty one that is hard to root? What is the fragrance? I lost a HB years back when I first tried growing them from cuttings...was yours already rooted? mahalo,roxanne

WOW! SimiDude, that's fantastic. They look so good with the Christmas decorations. What's the other inflo in the room? Maybe a pink or yellow for Easter? Maybe your HB will keep going for Valentine Day. Good Job, Peg

Does anyone have a better way? The frost prediction for Ventura,ca. is below freezing in some areas here and I have thrown sheets over in the past and they often end up blowing off. Read of the sock over the tip idea and many of mine still have leaves and some inflos....Has anyone ever clamped the sheet at the base..or does it really blow in the wind then...we are clocking 30-35mph NW winds..I am moving the small new rooting ones inside to the sun room but all the big heavies outside are staying there...roxanne

Thanks, Kenny.

Roxanne, I got this tree last year, so it was already rooted. I have a cutting I'm trying to root now, from A-Piece-of-Paradise.org, and it's doing well, but it's too early to comment on how easy a rooter it is.

Peg, thank you very much. I kind of went all out. I even had a 16' screen outside playing "It's a Wonderful Life", visible from the sunroom windows, along with a floating fountain in the pool shooting up colored arcs of water in sync with the movie. Three miniature lit villages and about 30 various-sized Christmas trees. Six desserts. Color changing fiber optic tree and Rudolph with a really bright red nose. Subtle stuff like that. Tasteful, though, it all looked nice. Very warm.

As for Valentines Day - never thought of that as i didn't know if it would make it to Christmas. Would be appropriate, though! Should we start placing bets on whether it will be blooming Feb 14?

Roxanne, I just brought most of my plumies into the sunroom (it looks just like the pic above - but with 50 plumeria spread around, LOL), some went in the garage and some went in the shed (which I really need to turn into a greenhouse!). I'm getting some frost cloth from Island Plumeria this afternoon for the ones in the ground (the 12-foot Lani's Beauty, etc). Also worried about my two Cuban Royal palm trees - this is my 3rd shot with this palm species, and 32 degrees would probably not be kind to them!

Also digging up my mismatched socks to put on plumeria branch tips - luckily, what was a frustrating pain is now a savior - I have about 30 mismatched socks!! I also put patio umbrellas over a few of the trees. I think I may leave the plumies in the sunroom until March, when I'm going to plant many of them in ground. I got lucky this time that they were in pots and I could bring them in. I'll have to expand my plan next year!

Hi George(Simi),

I just love all of your pics especially the one of the Hilo Beauty inflo by itself (pic # 2) Simply beautiful!!!

Your table setting for your Christmas party looks elegant!!

I'm sure you and your guest had a wonderful time and i know the food was a big hit too!

Congratulations on having this gorgeous inflo hanging around for your party and then some...

Christmas Miracle? Could be, but i am guessing it is good Karma given to one who simply deserves it!

Happy New Year to you too!!!

Noone would have ever known that it has only been 14 months with your Plumeria. I woulld have guessed that you have been growing for a long time!! GREAT JOB!!!

Thank you !!!

Take care,

Laura

Hilo Beauty does readily bloom in winter for me when I bring it indoors (as long as it gets enough light). It doesn't go dormant as quickly as others. It seems to like warmer winter temperatures and cooler summer temps than some of my other plumerias.

I have rooted several Hilo Beauties and have not noticed them any more difficult than others to root.

thanks for all the in put...now it sounds like I need to add Lani's Beauty...:-) does it smell great too? Semidude...are you in Calif. and prepping for this cold front? roxanne

Roxanne, in my opinion, Lani's Beauty has a fairly nice scent. It's a beautiful tree, though (pic from this summer):

What a difference a day makes - check out the sunroom today!

The rest are in the garage and the shed. Patio umbrellas over some of the ones remaining outside. The 60+ cuttings are in a bedroom. I just put my mismatched socks on each of the branches of my Pop's Red outside (my neighbors are probably pretty concerned about me right now). Tomorrow I'll put frost cloth I just bought over Lani's Beauty and my Cuban Royal palms. Wish me luck!

Laura, thank you so much.

Roxanne, I'm in Southern California.

Peg, I only have one blooming plumie (the Maui Beauty cousin I have stopped blooming about a month ago). Just plumie and poinsettia. Actually, there are some amaryllis on top of the table, but they ran out of real ones at the store, so these are fake (I'm embarrassed to say!)

Hope the socks work. Or should I add Christmas lights, too? I have lots of those.

I have to say that it's been a challenge with the deeper reds here where I live. My Wildfire's flowers, for example, were coming out brown. Put the tree in the shade and got the awesome blooms again. Same with Hilo. Think I'll plant my reds in a shadier area when it's time.

Simi, love the sun room and what a wonderful place to have a party! Also love those pics with the party table in the center ready to host an entire party of plumeria sticks. Too good. Could we have predicted that plumeria would take over our homes in the winter? Not me, never saw it coming.

Beautiful flower, now I know why Andrew is on the hunt, lol.

Wendy

Again WOW! And my Wildfire on the morning sundeck still has blooms. I don't expect them to last thru tonight though. So. Cal. seems to have all the good weather. have given a few of my seedlings to friends in Laguna and they are worried about the cold as well....they will bring them in for the night.

So many plants to buy and so little time....roxanne

Well, I got to put the contents of my mismatched sock drawer to good use, covering the tips of my beloved Pop's Red (if I'm doing this wrong, or of anyone has some tips on improving my technique here, please let me know).

A big piece of frost cloth is covering my tall Lani's Beauty, although I had enough socks left to cover that one, too! It was just hard to get high enough on the ladder to get all the tips individually covered on that one. Boy, I hope my neighbors don't call the local news on this sock thing, although I can admit they must be shaking their heads at the change in their view!

Beautiful pictures! Congratulations on still having blooms so late in the game!
Love the socks on the plumies. Too funny. :)
I hope it doesn't get too cold where you are.

-Robert

so tomorrow night I go for the socks..tonight is still the sheets...even colder tomorrow night...already have 14 in the sunroom and all the others are too heavy to move in...fingers crossed....roxanne

It's 30 degrees on our sheltered patio right now and the air is dead still. Tomorrow night is going to be the worst, NOAA is predicting 27 degrees here in Riverside, CA. There are plumeria in the bedroom, plumeria in the garage, plumeria on the porch and plumeria outside toughing it out. Forget the socks, I'm going for entire long john outfits on those outside ones tonight! Who asked for this?

we woke up to 35 degrees and we are 1 block from the beach in Ventura....BBBRRRR for here..so far, if the wind would quit blowing off the sheets, I think they will be okay. Tonight is to be colder..roxanne

Allison, this is pretty awful. When I went to bed last night it was supposed to go down to 34 (up from earlier prediction of 32). But when I woke up and checked the weather readings, it turned out it had gone down to 28! And frost covers on the Lani's Beauty and Loretta had flown off. Live and learn, but I really hope they live so that I can learn in a less painful fashion. I really hope there's no damage on those few I have outside now, but I'll be paying close attention.

Roxanne, I understand the wind problem. I hope the weather is kinder to us tomorrow, but apparently it's going to be worse.

My neighbor was walking her dogs early this morning and took a photo of a puddle that was frozen over. That's so very unusual for this area. We have very little cold weather (below 37).

George, I hope your precious plants got through the night okay. FWIW, even if you lose some tips on the in-ground ones, they should be able to grow branches back from the trunk or even roots if they did indeed freeze. The ones with mature wood will take the cold better than the young ones, of course, but don't give up on any of them. I've heard of them coming back and growing again a full year-and-a-half after freezing and being cut back down to the ground!

WOW! What a spectacular holiday display! Love the gorgeous fireplace, and, yowza, that Hilo Beauty sure lived up to her name! Can't think of a better Christmas ornament.

Thanks for the excellent tip about Wildfire; I did notice the leaves on mine burn more easily in the sun than most so mine's in morning sun only. If it ever blooms I'll be sure it's in shade.

And thanks for posting the pics--what a lovely pick-me-up! We've had a prolonged cold spell here and I've been working so much my plants have been neglected. We have a big freeze coming, too, so I need to get out there with old blankets myself. Wish I had your sunroom to bring them into!

Jen

Thank you Wendy and Robert.

Jandey, you should see my Buttered Popcorn with socks on every branch, I covered my Lani's Beauty but a few tips broke through the frost cover and I had to put socks on those, too. I'm suddenly so thankful that I have so many mismatched socks, they served their noble purpose this week. Wildfire is a spectacular, detailed flower as long as it's not in too much sun. I'm amazed the Hilo Beauty is still blooming, it may actually make it to Valentine's Day! The fireplace is fake - I bought it when I was in an apartment and I promised the kids I'd get a place to hang their Christmas stockings. I have a real fireplace now, but can't get rid of the old fake one, it's so cool so I put it in the sunroom. It took me a month to put up all the Christmas decorations (next year I'm hiring a crew), but it worked out well and the home was full of friends and family. I'll let you know if I have any damage on the plumies from the cold.

Wow! your plant and the room and table with all the trimmings looks wonderful! love the glass windows looking onto the garden. It brings in so much light and it would have been a magical place for a christmas lunch...and now it is a magical place for all the plummies! :D A great collection you have in there now :)

Hi Simi!!!

Did I hear ... "YARDSALE?" lol.. love the socks!!! I wish i could see the expressions on your neighbors faces when you were placing the socks. I would be looking at each stem and placing them in certain spots and i know my neighbors think i'm off my rocker!!! ;-)

Those socks remind me of when we would would go skiing and we would head "off Boundry.." in Aspen and then drop off of a great ledge into "nowhere.." only to land in huge piles of fresh powder.. Ahhhh.. love those days!! Anyway, when we would all land at the bottom, all of our equipment would be scattered everywhere and we would all laugh and call it a "Yardsale" Goggles, mittens, skis, etc. I thought of that when i saw your socks on your trees.. Great memories!!!

I hope all of your trees are doing alright?

Please keep us informed..worried about you all in CA.

Sarah.. his table and setting is just beautiful..can you imagine the feast and the desserts too? That must have been one fabulous dinner..

Great job Simi!!

Take care,

Laura

Thanks, sbrow, the whole house looks like that around Christmas time, and the yard, too. I didn't think I'd be bringing the plumies in so soon after, but I'm new and learning. There are a lot more plumies there now than in the picture - and I still haven't taken down the Christmas decorations (although the wind just knocked down the 16' movie screen I built outside to play "It's a Wonderful Life" so that you could see it through the windows in the sunroom). Guess it's time to take all the decorations down.

Laura, that's funny about the "yard sale". I'll start using that phrase when this happens. My neighbor on one side only had one tree in his entire property. My yard was pretty barren a couple of years ago when I moved in. Suddenly he starts seeing hundred of trees popping up on the other side of his fence - foxtail and traveller's palms and teddy bear palms, black bamboo and Brazilian tower trees (I'm sure he wondered what that was - it looks like something from Jurassic Park) and a big plumeria (the Lani's). He lives next to the tropical side of my yard. I guess I must have inspired him, because he planted the second tree in his property and he called me over, he was so proud. The Lani's does dip partly over to his side, and he was happy about that, I told him I'd show him how to make a lei. So he's used to big things suddenly appearing on my side - although he must of shaken his head about the socks.

The cold was supposed to end on Monday, and I took down all the socks and frost cloths. Then I find out here that it's going to last one more night - so I ran out late night and started putting socks back on. I was worried about the other trees that were now uncovered, though. However, as of right now, just about everything seems fine. Only time will tell. I'm a little worried about the Brazilian towers and the traveller's, but hopefully they will be okay.

But the inside of my house keeps changing in big ways. The guy I bought palms from is helping a nursery liquidate Kentia Palms (they're closing) and some foxtails, too. But they have to be out of there by February. I bought 4, but there's no way I'm going to put them outside in this freaky winter weather. So I'm going to have some 11-13' houseplants for while, in the tallest part of the house (which is between the living room and dining room). So for a month and a half, till Spring, my sunroom will look like a plumeria jungle and my dining room will look like a tropical restaurant. As long as I don't attract any crocodiles or velociraptors, all is okay. Can't wait to take pics.

That all sounds amazing! I wana come live at your place haha. Thats so cute that the neighbor was all proud of planting his tree :)

And I'd love to visit Australia! We should trade places for a month!:)

Home swap!

SimiDude,

thank you for sharing! Your Hilo Beauty is STUNNING and I can't believe she bloomed all the way into the Holidays! What a sight to be behold.

Thanks for sharing that photo w/ the socks! That's fantastic! Now I'm going to have start saving my missing mates socks instead of tossing them out. :)