Thanks for your input, jedoba TX9b. I'm hoping it will be a small, graceful plant with a beautiful flower. I already have a white plumie nearby (Dw. Gem), so a different colour would be welcome. I will post photos when it comes into flower. And although I've not seen a dwarf frangipani that looks anything like this before, I was hoping someone else out there has, and could let me know what it was. Knowing its possible parentage would at least give me an idea as to what to expect from it ie. size, growing habit, flowers etc. (I guess I'm wanting to know, is it a chihuahua or is it a french bulldog?)

I like it, too. More like a miniature poodle. Agree with previous poster, red on the reverse tends to indicate some flavor of red. LB

Very cool looking tee!!

Rob

Update on my dwarf plumie. It now has its very first inflo, with one flower close to opening. Its a lovely lollie pink on the outside, so I'm itching to find out what it will look like once it opens up. Really thought the inflo might drop off the plant before I got to see any flowers, as a couple of weeks ago the hot, dry, balmy weather we've had since November suddenly got replaced with overcast, wet, and much cooler conditions (yesterday we had 11mm of heavy drizzle). It is beginning to lose its lower leaves but, so far, not the inflo.
Also, this plant and its "seed-sister" both have decided they like growing parallel to the ground, rather than upright. I tried to correct this when I potted out this plant, by planting it in a more upright position but it doesn't want any of that and is growing horizontally again. I guess that's how its happy. Will post pics when/if this flower opens up. Sorry if I'm going on, but I've been waiting over 4 years for this, so to say I'm a little excited is a bit of an understatement.

Wow, it's gotten a lot bigger! Look's real healthy, and it seems the inflo knows which way is up. :-)

Rob

You might want to think about staking it? Your inflow means probably three heavy branches developing, one or two pointing further downward. You may be the "natural" type, but I have had a similar "stringy" plant bust off close to the ground, in a wind, and it was two years before both parts recovered. El Bee

Thanks Ibinupland. Yes, it has three new branches at the inflo, two forking out and one going up (none going down). Its growth habit has always been a bit of a worry (for the very reasons you said) and I did try staking it early on, but staking has limited success where we are. Our soil is basically just dark coloured sand, so stakes don't anchor at all well and strong winds have a tendency to simply pull them loose, even if I hammer them in quite deeply. Also, the garden bed is really narrow so there is nowhere I can put the stakes far enough behind the tree to be of real help (either side - yes, the important behind - no). This morning I brought up the "overlean" issue with hubby, who is an engineer (and who often comes up with good, if unconventional solutions to problems). He said the plant's lean was concerning him too (particularly as it will become even more off-balance as it grows) and was thinking of attaching a padded, spring-loaded coil to the underside of the trunk to help slowly and gently bring it upright, but he wants to think on it a bit more.

Yes, we engineers are such deliberators. lol

There is always a way to stake a tree, usually several.

But, it needs to be done. They break easier than you might think. El Bee

I found out exactly how easily they can break back in 2012. Here shows the beheading of my musk rainbow after a severe tropical storm came through.

That's a shame, but somebody made a valiant effort!

El Bee

Yes, I did try to brace it up as best as possible, as we knew the cyclone was headed for us, but the winds were just too strong. My profile picture is of the musk rainbow, taken around a month before the storm hit. A penang peach has now taken over that spot in the garden.

This is easy. Fancy fix to satisfy the engineers: Let's say the tree would be 5' tall if it was vertical. You build a 5' tall triangle from 2" genova pipe using 2 - 45* fittings, 1 - 90* fitting, 2 - 7' pieces of pipe and 1 - 10' piece of pipe. The engineers can do the exact math for side sizes after deducting for space taken up by the fittings, but these sizes should be within an inch of the sizes needed. At some point after you set an anchor, assemble the triangle and slip it over the tree so the 10' base is against the outboard masonry edge (seawall cap?) and the apex points inboard. The anchor you set should be tight to the inboard stone edge opposite the seawall cap (?) on an imaginary line that is 90* to both masonry edges and on the trunk centerline. Secure a cable to the apex of the triangle so when the cable is tight the apex is over or slightly inland from where the plant exits the soil. The triangle can fall toward the anchor in the sand but will provide a solid anchor point at the apex (eye bolt through the fitting) if you secure the tree to the apex using any of several methods that allow you to tighten the cable a half inch or so every few days.

The triangle's base can be MUCH narrower (3'?) if made out of wood, or if you can find appropriate genova fittings.

Alternately, drive a 10' piece of rerod 5' deep directly opposite the direction the tree leans against the inside line of cement and brace with your choice of bracing against the masonry on the outboard side so the brace contacts the rerod about 3 ft above ground, then secure the tree to the rerod and tighten a little every few days.

Alternately, dig it up and replant so it's oriented in a vertical position. Stake it and check regularly so things don't get out of hand.

Alternately, chop it close to the ground and wait for it to back-bud, then make sure the new shoot doesn't stray from vertical.

To attach a line to the plant, slip the cable/chord/wire ..... through a piece of garden hose and wrap the hose with rags or equine coflex wrap.

Al

Okay, this is what I am attempting before anything else: I've gotten a length of soft material staking tie, attached it to the frangipani and then tied it up to a lower frond of our foxtail palm (located opposite the direction the frangipani is growing). I have pulled the frangipani's trunk more upright by just a few inches (so the plant isn't straining). I will continue to tighten it on a regular basis. I figured this was worth a shot as it is visually the least offensive thing I can think of, and have also taken into account that there are very few places that stakes can go due to most of the yard being paved, and the fact that stakes come loose so easily in our sandy soil anyway. Whatever I end up doing, it has to have absolute minimal impact on the surrounding area as this is our main focal point from our house and is our entertaining area (there is normally an outdoor dining setting on the paved area behind the frangipani). By the way, thanks for your input, Tapla. Will let the engineer in the family go over your main suggestion (with chopping a last option).

I'd just put a stake next to the plant on the 'house' side of it. Use several ties. The over a period of several months tighten the ties an inch or two. Plumeria stalks can be fairly pliable, especially when the plant is dry, so it should not be hard to rectify this over a period of time.

If for some reason that method doesn't work, you can always dig on one side and lift the plant more upright. But I would definitely keep it staked for a while until the trunk gets some girth and strength.

Gorgeous foxtail by the way! I've seen many of them nutrient-deprived and yellowish.

Well, have we got this figured out, or what?

Foxtail? To me, that looks like a superb King Palm, but what do I know?

El Bee

Definately a foxtail (Wodyetia bifurcata), El Bee. They are one of the few palms native to Australia and are indigenous to where we live (coastal Queensland), which is maybe why it is doing well. By the way, thanks for your help, you said there are always ways to stake a tree, so I took your advise and found a way.

Dave in NoVa. We can't put any stakes on the house side of the frangipani - everything around it is, quite literally, paved (it would have been my first choice, otherwise). That's why I've resorted to this outside the box alternative, which I'll give a chance before attempting more drastic measures - theoretically it should work. Regarding the foxtail palms in your area, if they are inadvertently being fed with fertilizers containing phosphorous, then that might go some way in explaining why they aren't doing so well. Australian soils are very low in P and, as a result, our natives are highly sensitive to it (it will eventually kill them), and one of the signs is what appears to be iron chlorosis, but is actually a sign of phosphorous toxicity. They also require a frost-free sub-tropical to tropical climate to be happy, I don't know if that is an issue where you are.

Flower bud on plumie has unfurled ever so very slightly this morning. Will post a pic when it fully opens.

Oh boy, the foxtail!! They are one of my favorite palms!!

They carry them in our local garden stores and I know I could grow them for perhaps a decade. However, I so rarely see them growing outside here because they freeze during those rare freezes we get.

No, I mean stick a stake in the ground right next to the plumeria (well, a few inches from the trunk), but on the side that faces the house. If that Foxtail frond starts moving and blowing in the wind, it could just pull that plumeria up suddenly and break the top off.

Dave in NoVa. Your idea about staking directly close to and behind the frangipani is a good one, and was actually the first thing we tried - our soil is simply too loose and sandy, the stakes worked their way loose and kept falling over rather than taking any load. As for the palm tree, I tested the frond before attaching it. That close to the trunk the frond is very rigid and hardly moves at all - even when I bounce the frond quite vigorously, that particular part of the frond goes up and down by a maximum of 1" (sideways is negligible). The thing I have to keep an eye on is when that frond is due to self-clean (there are two fronds that will fall off before its turn and now that summer is over, that shouldn't happen until at least November).

I humbly stand corrected! Foxtail Palm it is, but I had to google it to be sure. Also, a good clue to your location, since they are native to Australia. Around here, in Southern California, King Palms are not rare and not common, either. In fact, seems to me that the Queen Palm and Mexican Fan Palm are by far the most common, with the Sagos a close third, and I know they aren't palms.

Anyway, Kerrie, you sound like you are capable of staking that critter any way you see fit. Main thing is, it should be done.

Good luck! El Bee

Finally! Mini-me's very first flower finally opened today. Lovely, fruity fragrance, too.

Beautiful!

You are way ahead of us. Mine are just showing claws and a few baby leaves. El Bee

But we're in the last month of autumn here, El Bee, so this will be the last of the beautiful plumie flowers for us until at least christmas, possibly later.

I'm into Australian birds, used to have quite a few lories, (Rainbow) now only have my Moluccan. My plumaria usually go dormant between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have about 25, I guess?

I count 14 now I believe.

I'll make you Southern Hemisphere folks a deal: we'll show our flowers this Spring-Fall, if you show us yours during our dreary winter. Well, mine isn't so dreary, but it's not warm enough for flowers then.

Is it really lilac or a is it a cool pink jedobaTX9b? It's a simply lovely colour, either way. I'll have to let the other "southerners" show you their winter garden, as I specifically chose only plants that flower in the warmer months, as that is when we are always outside, enjoying our garden and entertaining area. I can send you a picture of my bromeliads or cordylines if you get desperate for some winter dreary.