GREEN FINGERS
Plumerias don’t need a lot of attention to bring out their best, but the environment has to be right
Normita Thongtham answers a friend’s question about a struggling plumeria, giving advice for helping it bloom.
AFilipino friend of mine who lives in the US was enamoured with a plant he saw on Facebook. It was rather expensive but he bought it anyway. The seller was in the Philippines so he had it delivered to his sister, with whom he stays during his visits home. “It had flowers when we got it more than two years ago, but I have never seen it bloom again,” said the sister’s maid, Terry. I was surprised, as the plant in question, Plumeria pudica, is usually a prolific bloomer. What’s more, it blooms most of the year.
Native to Panama, Colombia and Venezuela, Plumeria pudica is a member of the Apocynaceae family of plants. Distinguished for their milky sap, the family comprises 200 genera and 2,000 species, which include trees, shrubs, herbs and vines. Among those commonly grown in Thailand are Adenium obesum or desert rose ( chuan chom in Thai), Allamanda cathartica or golden trumpet ( ban buri), Nerium oleander, simply known as oleander ( yito), Tabernaemontana divaricata or crape jasmine ( put jeeb), Alstonia scholaris or devil tree ( phya sattaban), and of course Plumeria alba and Plumeria rubra, commonly known by their generic name plumeria or frangipani ( lamtom khao and lantom chompoo) and their countless cultivars.
Age-old plumeria trees cover the whole mountain of Phra Nakhon Khiri in Khao Wang, Phetchaburi province. They were believed to have been planted more than 160 years ago during the reign of King Rama IV. Also planted around that time were the gnarled plumeria that are now still blooming beautifully on Si Chang island in Chon Buri province. In both places the trees surrounded palaces which were favourite summer homes of both King Rama IV and V.
Compared to its cousins, Plumeria pudica is a newcomer, having been introduced to this country less than 10 years ago. Commonly known as white plumeria, after its large bouquets of white flowers with yellow centre, or fiddle-leaved plumeria, after the shape of its leaves, which are also often described as spoon-shaped, it is now widely grown throughout Thailand. I have seen it blooming profusely from Bangkok to gardens 850 metres above sea level in Phetchabun, as well as in the coastal provinces of Chon Buri, Rayong and Chanthaburi in the east and from Phetchaburi down to Phuket in the south.
The plant that my friend bought was said to have originated from Thailand. I am not surprised, as many Filipino plant lovers and traders come to Bangkok to buy plants to grow in their gardens or to sell. Their favourite hunting grounds are the Chatuchak midweek plant market and the annual plant show at the Suan Luang Rama IX public park every first week of December. As I was writing this, a group of plant lovers from Manila was visiting plant nurseries in Nonthaburi province to find new cultivars to add to their collections.
As Plumeria pudica was brought to the Philippines from Thailand, it has been dubbed the Bangkok plumeria, to differentiate it from its long-established cousin, the plumeria also known as frangipani. But be it in Thailand or the Philippines it should be blooming profusely. What went wrong with my friend’s white plumeria? Why hadn’t it bloomed in the past two years?
My friend’s sister is also a good friend of mine. I call her “Ateng”, meaning elder sister, and it was when I visited her last March that Terry the maid showed the plant to me. It was about two metres tall and healthy despite being planted in clayey soil. However, it was placed in an area where it was getting very little sun, if at all.
I told Terry to move the pot to where the plant could get full sun most of the day, and to amend the soil with decomposed leaves or animal manure. I do not know whether she followed my advice about the soil, but the other day I received a letter from Ateng saying that the plant is now blooming. “It began to flower after Terry moved it to a sunny area several months ago,” she wrote. “It has been blooming continuously; right now it has flowers on every branch.”
Plumerias are among the easiest of plants to grow as long as you give them their cultural requirements, which include plenty of direct sunlight. They do not like wet soil, so plant them in an equal mixture of loamy or sandy soil and organic matter like compost and/or chopped coconut husk so that water drains easily. They can be planted in big pots, but they are best planted in the ground where their roots are free to browse for nutrients and moisture.
Plumerias are propagated by cutting. All you have to do is get some cuttings from a mature branch, leave the cuttings for a day or two for the wound to heal, or apply lime on the wound to make it dry, and then plant the cutting in a pot of moist river sand in a shady place. Alternatively, you can dip the fresh cutting in growth hormone before planting it in moist sand.
Water when the sand starts to feel dry to the touch. Within a month or two roots will develop; wait until they are strong before you transplant the tree to a well-drained place where there is plenty of sun. Water as needed until the plant is well established, after which it can be watered just once a week. Wait a few months, and your efforts will be rewarded with flowers, borne in upright clusters at the tips of branches. White plumeria blooms more diligently than frangipani, but the flowers are scentless while those of the latter are fragrant.
Plumerias bloom best in the summer, but with the right soil and lots of sun, they will give you flowers to enjoy nearly all year round.