Many years ago my husband and I decided to visit a Plumeria show near our home. I had seen the lovely plants thriving and blooming in homes near my brother’s beach house. One of my sister-in-laws grew plumeria from Hawaii and from cuttings given to her in the backyards of friends. I thought it might be fun to try my hand at propagating one or two, so off we went to see what was available.

The first thing we realized was that most of the plants were little more than stalks without roots boasting tiny sprouts of green at the tip. The vendors assured us that all we had to do to end up with a lovely plant was to just stick the branch into some dirt and wait for it to grow roots. Given the incredibly high prices for the opportunity to maybe get a lovely specimen if all went well we were loathe to gamble too many of our funds for what might turn out to be a pig in a poke. We carefully chose a couple with a reasonable price tag and enough information to learn how to get them to grow.

That first year we mostly saw growth of the trunk, a few additional branches and green leaves at the end of each protuberance. It was disappointing not to see any flowers but we understood the need for patience. Upon advice from my sister-in-law we stowed our plumeria away in the warmth of the garage for the winter and watched the leaves fall and the branches become barren. We thought that surely they were dying but learned that they were simply dormant for the season.

Happily our plants, also known as frangipani, survived the cold months and by spring were getting leaves once again. During this second season they grew like weeds and greeted us with lovely pink and yellow blooms that kept coming throughout the summer. When the temperature began to drop again in the fall the plants were so tall that they would not go through the garage door without carefully tipping the dolly on which we moved them.

And so it went in yet another cycle with the blooms growing ever more profuse on plants that would no longer fit through a door. When fall came we had to lop off multiple branches with the assurance that the blooms would come again in spite of the trimming. Then we set the branches aside so that they might dry out during the long winter. When spring game we rooted them in small pots and hoped for the best. Our efforts paid wonderful dividends as we now had at least six plants ready to show their magic for the warm season.

As the years went by we made more and more cuttings and gave them to neighbors and family members who were anxious to try their own hand at keeping the plants growing and blooming year after year.

We eventually ended up with eight plumeria that we wanted to keep and gave away the extra stalks that we trimmed from our favorites year after years. As we grew older the massive trees became more and more difficult to move around so we selected the five best and gave away the rest.

Now we pay someone to move the plants back and forth and in and out of the garage. We are too old to lift the giant plants but not ready to give them away. We did not have time to trim them back last fall so we will have to do that task at the end of the growing season or they won’t fit in the garage next time. We should have a bumper crop of cuttings for anyone who wants to try to make them grow.

I’ve never been to Hawaii but I am told that the plumeria there live in the ground all year long. I suppose that I would have many more if I did not have to face the task of trimming them and moving them back and forth each year. I would be able to let them grow into massive clumps that spread out to show the gorgeous and aromatic blooms that make them so precious.

I have to visit Hawaii one day so that I might see them growing in the wild. Who knows maybe I will purchase some interesting breeds that I have never before seen and bring a sample back to my yard. I can tell you for certain that they are joyful plants with hints of the exotic that nothing else matches. I always have cuttings in the fall. Let me know if you would like a sample to grow or give away. You will no doubt be enchanted the first time one of the lovely blossoms smiles at you from across the lawn. There are few hobbies more rewarding than stopping and smelling the aromatic topical scents of plumeria which can be a mix of gardenia, jasmine, peach, coconut or cinnamon. It’s like having the tropics without leaving home.