Plumerias are one of my favorite tropical plants that no one is growing up north (or at least very few!). These flowers are well known for being the flower of choice for Hawaiian lei's. Their fragrance is delicious, but what I really adore is how easy they are to overwinter!
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Plumeria "California Sunset"- July 24 on Long Island
These tropical trees naturally go dormant during the dry season in the tropics. They lose all their leaves and don't require high light or water in the cooler months. All they need is a cool, bright room in the house for a winter nap and you'll be able to grow these trees for years to come. Sounds too good to be true? WELL there is a catch - see below....
 | May 18, 2023 - Long Island
 | July 24, 2023
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Plumerias will look completely bare through early summer because they take time to leaf out. You'll definitely want to spend the extra money on a Plumeria variety that is known to be an early bloomer and a "compact grower". Plumeria blooms come from a structure called an inflorescence (literally looks like broccoli). It's a head of flower buds that house all the blooms you'll get for the season.
 | You can see one of those flower inflorescences on the top left of my Plumeria "Jackie" in the photo above.
These bloom heads take about 2 to 3 months to mature and will last the entire season once they start blooming. Next year you'll notice new branches growing where the flower head was and you won't get blooms on that part of the plant. It's really important to spend the extra money on "compact" and "early blooming" plumeria varieties if you're growing these in containers. That way you get lots of branches (lots of flower opportunities) and the flowers mature early enough in the summer to enjoy them!
 | | My tallest plumeria is just one year older than my "Divine" but look at the difference in height! |
 | Plumeria Divine - July 13, 2023
I've had Plumeria vine since 2010 and it's still below eye level and blooms every year. I have two plants (cuttings I took from my original tree) and combined they have about 20 branches. That's 20 opportunities to make flower heads - and each flower head can produce hundreds of flowers.
Plumeira Jackie is "semi-compact" and is also a reliable bloomer for me. These blooms are larger. |
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| California Sunset is another favorite for me. The flowers are larger than Divine, but it's almost as compact! |
That's not to say I don't love my tall plumerias. I've had this Plumeria (probably "Salsa") since 2009. It's my first plumeria ever. It overwinters in the foyer in front of my parent's house. It actually blooms pretty reliably inside over the winter and never fully goes dormant.
Plumeria Inca Gold is a really nice early bloomer. I unfortunately had some issues with rot this year so it's looking a little messy. Despite the rot issues, it STILL is trying to produce a flower head. Pretty impressive. See below!
Plumeria Maya is a very slow growing variegated plumeria that I've had since 2010. Although it is capable of blooming, mine never has.
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