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andrew_scott77

Plumeria 'Scentsational'

14 years ago

Now I know I keep saying "No more, I don't have the room!" but I have to say, I came across some older posts when I was trying to find out info on Jungle Jack Orange.

I only wished I Would have known about this plumeria last week as I would have added it in to my Jungle Jacks order. Usually I am not fond of just white flowers but the fragrance description has mne wanting to find out more on this variety. I read so many diffrent descriptions of the fragracne but it seems that most people just say that it is one of the best plumeria for fragrance.

I wanted to know if it was a compact grower. I have read that Jungle Jack plumerias are bred to be shorter so people can enjoy the fragrant flowers and also to see the actual flowers better. IF it is a shorter more compact variety than it would work out better for me.

Mainly, I would like to get the opinions of people who have grown it or are growing it.

Thanks everbody!

Andrew

Comments (23)

  • 14 years ago

    I would not describe it as compact, but the fragrance is powerful, like Stargazer lily. The flowers are large and creamy white.

  • 14 years ago

    Thanks for the info. Man, I wish I had ordered there catalog before ordering!! Now I am just going to have to order again DARN IT! I hate when that happens...Yeah Right!

    So would you say that this is a tall grower? IS the growth leggy? I like your fragrance description. Not that it would smell like Stargazer but powerfull. I buy so many for there colors and not fragrance.

    There are some exceptions I guess, Celadine, Penang Peach(I was wanting this variety for it's peachy fragrance. Now it's one of my favorites!

    We have had a lot of rain lately. I was thinking it would be much more dry but this past week has been more wet than I was wanting. I am thinking I may have to repot some of my plumerias because there staying wet for too long.

    Thanks,
    Andrew

  • 14 years ago

    imo, the Jungle Jack catalog is worthless unless you have the same climate as Chiang Mai, Thailand and a good handle on color saturation adjustments. JJ has wonderful plants, but he doesn't publish basic information such as growth (except minis and compact), leaves, fragrance, or climate adaptability. John is a wholesale grower, and marketing is not his forte nor his interest, unfortunately. I'm lucky (tho not for my wallet) as his growing grounds are nearby and HD carries his plants, so I can easily see and sniff or just ask him in person.

    He also keeps changing the names of his plants, so there are many aka.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Scentsation

  • 14 years ago

    Hi Slave,
    Man I wished I had known this before! I wouldn't have ordered his catalog then!! As always, I appreciate all the helpfull info. I wished I had access to his plants like you do! Are the Jungle Jack plants much cheaper at Home Depot?

    What really frustrated me was that he billed me for my order last Monday. He told me then that he bills the same day he ships so I thought all this time that my order had been shipped all ready.

    When I talked to him today to find out if he had a tracking number, he told me that he wasn't sure that he would ask his wife because she had just shipped it yesterday!! I could have still ordered Scentsation!! Now if I want it that badly, I will have to spend even more money.

    I am really kicking myself in the pants for not calling sooner. Also the fact that he keeps changing the names on his plants just makes it that much harder for people like me who cannot get to his nursery to check them out. Grr now I am irratated!

    Andrew

  • 14 years ago

    IF anyone has this variety and can spare a cutting, please email me! I wished that I had ordered it from Jungle Jacks. I could do a trade but I probobly don't have any varieties that would be desireable. I may just have to wait until next year to get this variety!

    I tried finding another source for it but so far, no luck!

    Andrew

  • 14 years ago

    In John's defense, it's a one man nursery with his wife (nice lady) and a single hired worker helping out. That's why he's a wholesale grower only, and no longer sells on eBay - they simply are not set up for any type of ebusiness. Mom and Pop shop in every sense of the word.

    He's got an open greenhouse on July 9th and prices are typically higher than what HD charges (his local retail carrier). HD does not get the amazing ones, but still pretty good: CA Sunset, Divine, Thumbelina, Rhonda, Fools Gold etc. Scentsation at the open GH sold for $40 / rooting tube last year.

    Tho either unscented or oddly scented, CA Sunset, Grace (aka Gold Bouquet, Yellow Compacta) and Thumbelina are heavy bloomers here on the coast, often on every tip.

    Scentsation has the most powerful fragrance out of all my plumies so far. A lei would probably make me nauseous.

  • 14 years ago

    Diana, you always have such good info!

    I would add, Andrew, that after drooling over the one photo I could find of one of JJ's varieties, I ordered it and got a picture of it growing in Florida and the two look very different, in both coloration and shape.

    The conditions those catalog and web photos were taken under, as Diana says, are in Thailand and probably not possible to replicate for us, even me here in Texas as we get long cold spells.

    If you want a compact, great-smelling white, Dwarf Deciduous comes highly recommended. Phet Pachara is also supposed to have an incredible intense fragrance, and has a unique cream color as well. Then there's Musk Rainbow, which is a quite unusually colored rainbow that gets raves and grows compact. It's a Penang seedling. It's possible to find a lot of info about these varieties growing here in the US.

    Jen

    Here is a link that might be useful: Musk Rainbow

  • 14 years ago

    Andrew I purchased two rooted "Scensationals" from JJs last year. I bought them because of recommendations on this forum. A few things about my plants...Heavy bloomers, compact growth, mine have the tendency to grow wide and out...rather than straight up, fast growers, beautiful leaves, flowers stay fresh long after plucking, blooms are 4 to 4 1/2 inches in size, pure white with a yellow center and the smell, to my nose, is an extremely strong and sweet...gardenia scent. The most powerful scent of the forty trees I own. I can smell it several feet away. Very responsive to 'Sprap N Grow'. This season it sprouted inflos in early February and both plants have blessed me with over a hundred blooms so far and its still flowering.
    One other note...Next time I order a rooted plant from JJs I will not chose the potted option. I feel the shipping charges were excessive. My fault for giving them credit card information without verbally confirming actual shipping charges.
    I too purchased JJ's catalog and it was worth it just to see the different varieties. But be aware it does not show all of the varieties he sells. One note...I'm a serious amateur photographer and I wish the various plumeria dealers would invest in a professional or some of the photographers on this forum to photograph their plants and flowers. If they are relying on customers to use their catalogs and websites to determine the colors of flowers they are selling...most of the colors I see aren't remotely accurate. Sorry for the rant.
    Even though it has common white flowers..."Scentsation" is one of mine prized possesions and I have no regrets purchasing them. Hope this helps ....Manuel

  • 14 years ago

    Oh no... Now I want A Scentsation!!! As if I'm not deeply in trouble already (I'm already at the point of needing Rehab!)

  • 14 years ago

    Hi Jen,
    Thanks for the recommendations but I am stubborn and still want this variety..LOL!

    Hi Purdee,
    Do you mind me asking how much it cost? I have a feeling I will end up finding a way to get it this year. Probobly next week LMAO!!

    Andrew

  • 14 years ago

    Hi Andrew,
    If memory serves me right I think it was $49.00 each rooted. Enjoy!

  • 14 years ago

    This plumie sounds perfect for me. I love large flowers with strong fragrances and...I also love white.

    Maybe I'll go to the open house as my last experience ordering over the phone ended in a big ZERO. I appreciate hearing that John is overwhelmed because the whole thing was bizarre. I ordered J105 and was told that it would be shipped on Friday. Monday comes and nothing...I call and was told it would ship on Tuesday. A week later, still nothing. I wrote an email inquiring..no response. I sent a second email...zip! By the third email I was getting irate and said if it wasn't shipped the following day to cancel my order. I finally got an email saying the order was cancelled with no explanation on what the delay was. Huh?!

    His quality of plants and varieties are top-notch but they should hire help and improve the customer service. Buying in person seems to be the way to go.

    Tony

  • 14 years ago

    Manuel - I feel your pain about photos. It's funny that one good photo somehow becomes the marketing standard for all plants! Plumeria are odd beasts in the flower world - the blooms color/size/shape change with age, heat, soil, sun, root system, fertilizer... and on. Plus the seedlings may not look anything like the parent. No wonder my notes are full of contradictions! This is why PSA has almost Machiavellian rules for registration, as the bloom can vary so widely.

    Manuel - what is the growth habit for your Scentsation, and what area are you located in?

  • 14 years ago

    Hello Everyone...

    WOW..I go to work for a few days..and look at this thread grow...lol

    Hey Andrew...

    I purchased Sensational from JJ's several years ago...i still havent had an inflo on this beauty..

    I remember someone said that it smelled like a Gardenia..so thats why i purchsed this variety...

    Everytime i have ordered with JJ's..they have been wonderful...He (John ) is the one who even told me about the "Divine.." so im very grateful to John and his wife...I wish that i could go to the Open house...what fun that would be...Hmmmmmmmmmmm....thinking!!! LMAO

    I have the catalog from JJ's...when i look at all of those pics..i tremble...LOL

    Hopefully, my Scentsational will give me the gift of bloom soon...

    You all have me so excited over this variety again...Thanks!!!

    Hope everyone is staying cool...

    Before i left, I had to wrap white shelf liner around my pots that are located on the top deck...temps here have reached close to 100* I had to protect them...they look like they are all have white skirts on..lol But, what the hay..it works!!

    Take care everyone...

    Laura in VB

  • 14 years ago

    Tony - He's a wholesale grower - maybe it was frustration on both sides that made him realize that one-on-one orders wasn't viable.

    The good news is that he's handling many more retail outlets in the US and other countries (Italy, Oz come to mind). Over time hobbyists propagate and these wonderful plants will be more available.

    Andrew - you have mail.

  • 14 years ago

    Tony, I had the same kind of experience ordering Divine: no communication or shipping until I threatened to cancel. In the end I got a nice plant but they could sure use someone to process small orders like that.

    Laura, we're scorching hot and dry here, so I've plunged several of my black pots and put the rest into terracotta pots with some soil to fill in the gap between plastic and clay. It was a nice excuse to get a couple more decorative clay pots!

    Jen

  • 14 years ago

    Diana,
    Your email wouldn't open. I appreciated it thought but like I said, I am stubborn!! I am going to order this probobly Monday!
    Andrew

  • 14 years ago

    Not to pile on, but I too had a horrible customer service experience with John at Jungle Jack's. The details are not important--this is not about trashing him personally--but I do think that when you are the owner of a business, and you are in receipt of a customer's payment but have not yet completed delivery of the goods to that customer, and days and weeks go by and you don't communicate with that customer, and you simply ignore the customer's polite, patient, repeated requests for information--it's just lame, IMO, and bad business. And if you don't like customer service, or you're too busy to handle that side of the business, then hire someone to take care of it. I would never ever recommend dealing with the company directly--I don't care how nice their plants are.

    I have never done something like this before, and I feel kind of funny about it. But when I saw Manuel's post, it all came rushing back--how egregiously offensive the whole dealing was, how poorly it was handled. At least now I know that it wasn't personal--whew! And, I do think this is how the free market system is supposed to work. I'm the first one to shout praise for a business that treats me right as their customer. As for JJ's, maybe they'll figure it out...maybe not.

    Anyway, this is my first post on here, although I've been watching, reading, learning, silently for the last year and a half. My first blooms should open within a week. Thanks to all of you for the tons of useful information in this forum.
    Greg

  • 14 years ago

    Slave2thefur,
    First off what a unique web name! My Scentsations are vigorous growers. Recently one of my inflos fell off and it left 5 new branches. Typically its been 4. Some of that could be attributed to all the of 'insane' attention I give my plants...lol. The leaves on my Scentsations are the prettiest and greenest of all my plants. Strange talking about leaves instead of flowers!

    I live in Tampa, Florida. This past winter all of my plants stayed outside. However my neighbors thought I was crazy moving sticks around my yard trying to catch the warm and moving sunshine. But it was well worth it. I started getting inflos in late January. I got to believe it was due to how I protected my plumerias this past winter.

    For growers in warmer climates, I used large beach tents with plastic sides to shelter my plumerias during periods of frost. In the morning I would remove all the the coverings, leaving the skeletal frame, exposing the 'sticks' to the sun and cover them back up if frost is predicted at night. This technique was very effective in protecting my tips from damage and giving them maximum exposure to the sun during dormancy. Like I said 'insane'.

    One more thing I did not mean to start any attention to JJs quality of service. As I said in a post a few months back...the quality of their plants are outstanding...Manuel

  • 14 years ago

    hmm, I though that JJ plants were being sold at Lowes in Florida... can anyone confirm that?

    Manuel - to paraphrase a tag line "plumeria - the fine line between a hobby and an obsession". Who else spends so much time tending winter antlers?

    If you had met my previous cat, you'd know exactly why I chose that name =^,,^=

  • 14 years ago

    I've never seen JJs plumerias sold in the Tampa Bay area Lowes. Too funny about your name...lol

  • 5 years ago

    Does anyone have scentsational cutting i could purchase

  • last year

    any one selling sensational Plumeria Thank you


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