I could add that it does occasionally get a little too cold here, often (most winters) too cold for banana palms to keep from freezing, but generally 40F+. So for a tree planted outside, it would be nice for a more resistant variety if some can take low Temps a little better.

Can't help you too much. Do you see plumeria trees growing in your neighborhood? I know Miami Rose is quite vigorous and tall, but I have no idea of the hardiness.

I live in a pretty new neighborhood, most of the trees were put in by the builder. I'm willing to put in a heat lamp or several at the base for the winter. Definitely something I'm considering. Would be nice if the heat lamps were temperature controled.

I have a nice dark red noid thats has been moved all over central fl since my mom brought it back from Hawaii in the 80's. It is a 10-12 ft tree now and with help survived the hard winter we had 5-6 years ago .. I also have a multi colored plant that came from seeds of the original. I have never covered it for the last 4-5 years she sits about 8 ft.... You are welcome to a cutting if your ever near the UCF area.

Aztec Gold. The Aztec Gold I have grows about 6-7 feet every year. I've never seen a plumeria grow this fast. I cut it down every year and make new plants because anything over 9 feet is too hard for me to take inside each winter. I gave my business partner about a 16 inch cutting before the summer and his tree if already over 6 feet tall. The only problem is that it grows so fast you have to stake it for a while but after the first year you should be ok. Branches have a nice thickness also. This is the only plumeria I've ever seen grow this quickly.

Thanks rednofl and hendo. I could possibly make it to the UCF area, and have no red plumeria yet. Interesting on the strong growing on the Aztec gold, I might have to consider that as well.

Right now I'm also contemplating the winter setup for any outside trees. Found some outlets that turn on at 35 and off at 45, that I could hook a heat lamp up to. Think that would be appropriate?

If you have winds associated with cold fronts I don't think a heat lamp will help much beyond a few inches from the bulb.

You'd need to cover your plant.

Hendo, have you had any success with plants that you don't bring in?

It doesn't really freeze here, much. It freezes enough to kill my banana palms, but I always get new shoots coming back. This keeps them generally under 4-5 feet, but I often get some bananas. ( I never cover them or put heat lamps on them.)

I was hoping that 3 lights or so would be just enough, as temperature lows are usually just at the freezing point or above, with average January lows around 49°F.

Greg, I live in Alabama and the winter gets way too cold here so I have to bring all my plants inside every winter. I have tested leaving one out during the winter and it didn't make it so all mine have to come inside. If your winter gets below 45 degrees then you probably won't have much luck leaving them out unless you put heat lamps on them and even then you will probably deal with losing a few branches each winter. My big Aztec Gold is planted directly in the ground but I dig it up each year and bring it inside. Aztec Gold is very forgiving and doesn't mind being dug up each year. You can also plunge your plumeria which is simply putting them in a big pot and digging a hole and sinking the entire pot in the ground and then you just pull the pot out of the ground each winter and take inside, pretty easy. The thing I like about my Aztec Gold is that it grows so fast compared to all my other plumeria's and blooms non stop. I cut mine back almost every year and it out grows all my plumeria's that I didn't prune. Hope this helps.

I might consider plunging a very large pot in the ground, and pruning it back to 7-8 feet every winter, so it stays manageable for storage, that might actually prove easier than the heat lamps, and allow for rooting cuttings, which dealing with frost damage would all be waste.

Then I might be interested in setting up a grow light in the garage or house, and maybe even getting some growth.

But really, it will be some time until I have anything tree size.

I don't know. Aztec Gold grows awfully quickly. You should get a 6 foot plant in three years from a cutting! The problem with pruning back is you remove the tips and chances for flowers. I suppose you could selectively prune maybe 30% of the branches each year.

I think Jeannie Moragne grows very large with large branches. Several of the Moragne and seedlings are large branch growers, My Guillot's Sunset is also a large grower.

tdogdad that is a good looking tree. Do you have it planted directly in the ground? Or do you plunge it? Sometimes I wish I didn't live in Alabama just so I could grow directly in the ground without having to worry about the winter. I have dreams of moving to a tropical climate just so I can grow plumerias, haha.

I live in So.Calif. so I have about 45 planted into the ground. My plants stay out all winter because it rarely gets below 40. Mine are accustomed to the cool weather. Several of mine are much larger than this Jeannie but I think the large limbs make it great as a tree. Many of mine are 10-15 foot tall so bringing them inside would be very difficult. If I was bringing a plant inside I would plunge into a larger pot set into the ground. I would drill many holes in the sides of the inside pot so roots could grow out then I would cut around the pot in the fall to cut off the roots and remove the inside pot and store. I would then remove the outside pot and toss the old soil and roots and use again next season with new soil mix.

tdogdad I'm a little jealous, haha. I have hundreds of plumeria's for my business nursery but it's a lot of work to bring them in the garage every winter. I turned my garage into a full greenhouse but I'm still very limited on the height so mine can't get more than 9 feet tall before I have to cut them. I'm hoping to get a big industrial greenhouse one day but until then my two and a half car garage will have to do. I would love to have a few nice 15 foot trees.

I have a 8 - 9 foot noid in my backyard that I would consider selling, and I am in Orlando. It is blooming right now so you can see the flower color/smell. I had it in a large planter for several years, and it sort of outgrew that, so I put it in the ground and it has been taking off. Let me know if you would possibly be interested.

Do you guys have problems with freezing, and frost damage? Do you do anything special for cold weather? It seems like Hawaii isn't much warmer than central Florida.

but most of Hawaii has no frost or freezing (only high on the volcanos) whereas the rest of us fear a freak cold. We in So.Calif had a hard freeze in 2007 that did damage from minor to severe depending on where you lived. You can cover plants with frost cloth and put xmas lights near the base or bring pots under an overhang. The last several years have been pretty warm at my house so no black tip or other damage. Florida gets an occasional wave of cold air sweeping down from Canada so they have concerns too.