It's almost summer (feels like it already at least in St. Louis) and most plants have already pushed out most of their new growth. Sure a few bamboos are still shooting, but pretty much everything else have finished their spring growth spurts.
It's hot and dry in some parts of the country, but here in St. Louis the heat is gone and it's cooler than normal -- very wet too!
I mentioned a while back that my plumeria seemed to be having trouble, the tiny new leaves turning black and falling off. I've since learned that was most likely due to "black tip fungus", and have been debating what I should do about it.
As is usual during the winter for me, I spend a lot of time looking at the plants under the lights in the basement. Once in a while I notice something that has me puzzled.
I've been growing plumeria for a few years now. Maybe I should amend that to I've been trying to grow plumeria for a few years now. I started with some cuttings which rooted and did pretty well, but then did not overwinter well for me.
Two springs ago I tried growing plumeria (or Frangipani) for the first time. I bought a couple of dormant cuttings (sticks), potted them up, and watched them flourish over the summer. Then I brought them into the garage for the winter and both died and rotted instead of going dormant as I was expecting. Then late last spring I decided to give it another try, bought three more less expensive cuttings (received six!), potted them again, and waited.
Way back in July I planted some Plumeria cuttings. If you remember, these were my second attempt at growing this plant -- my first two from the previous year did not survive the winter in my garage. They both rotted even though they received no water for at least 5 months.
Last year I tried growing plumeria (Frangipani) for the first time. I started them from cuttings, which look like bare sticks, and the two that I bought both rooted, leafed out and looked great by the end of the summer. Unfortunately, they did not survive the winter in my garage -- they both rotted. So a few weeks ago I ordered some more cuttings. I chose a different company this time because they were cheaper, and I figured if I was going to lose the plants over the winter again there was no need to grow expensive cultivars.
Last year one of the new plants I tried was plumeria. I bought a couple of cuttings (which looked like fat sticks), planted them in pots and waited. They eventually woke up and formed nice little plants.
Back in the first week of May I planted some Plumeria cuttings, and I thought today would be a good time to let you see how they're doing. This is what they looked like back in May:
So it's Saturday morning, 6:30 AM, sunny but cold (45F) and windy. How should I start my weekend of gardening? By planting some sticks!
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