By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Panang Peach has a peach-like fragrance and hue.
The 10-petal Bali Whirl, below, is like the
common lei plumeria in color.
LEI makers believe that no island garden should be without a plumeria tree, an instant source of lei material almost year round. Jim Little, a professional grower of plumerias, says that having one plumeria tree is like having one aloha shirt or one swimsuit. One is not enough because they come in different colors and shapes. Actually, the variety of plumeria you might want to string in a lei may not be the most attractive landscaping plant. Plumeria:
Pick of lei makersThe best flowers for a lei are the ones with thick petals that give it staying power and that have the familiar plumeria scent. The good old yellow and white common lei flower is hard to beat, although Little is working on new ones in exotic colors that he has not yet released. But as an accent in your garden, the flowers with bigger, thinner petals in wonderful colors that have a better shape and more interest than the yellow and white may be a better choice.
Two of Little's newest prizes are Bali Whirl and Penang Peach, that he brought as cuttings from Southeast Asia four years ago, and which have only recently begun to flower. Bali Whirl is a double plumeria, with each blossom having 10 petals. The color and the scent are much the same as the lei flower.
Penang Peach is named not only for its color, but for its fragrance, which is close to that of a ripe peach. It has thick petals and Little thinks it will be a favorite of lei makers.
Little has three plots on the North Shore where he propagates and raises his plumeria collection but he'd rather that no one knew where. On a recent night, somebody drove a tractor into one of his fields and dug up a full grown tree. This is not an isolated incident. Plant thieves are a cottage industry among local crooks.
Fortunately, he had several cuttings from the stolen tree, and had also given cuttings to other growers. "Collectors trade. You have to cooperate rather than compete with other growers to improve the species," he said. "If you have a duplicate, you share it. Maile O'Donnell developed a yellow Singapore plumeria she named Mele Pa Bowman for her mother. She gave me a cutting, and one day I will hybridize it and name the new flower for her."
Many of Little's mature trees were originally collected as seedlings by Donald Angus on his travels. Angus, a botany and art collector, has introduced a number of plumerias to the islands. Others have come from the late William Moragne, who was manager of Grove Farm Plantation on Kauai and an early hybridizer of plumeria.
Little also credits University of Hawaii horticulturist Richard Criley for help. Criley has cultivated several of Little's crosses in his research laboratory.
You need some patience
Little, like some collectors, hybridizes trees from seed, a practice that takes patience because it will take at least three years to find out what the flowers will look like.
"That's not so bad," he said. "It takes seven years for orchid hybridizers to see what they've got." For the home gardener, he recommends buying cuttings from mature trees. These are usually about 2 feet long, leafless and callused at the cut end.
"When choosing a plumeria variety to grow in your garden, you have to consider four things," he said. He listed first the color of the flower, because the trees are in flower most of the time and you want a color you can live with. Then there's the fragrance. Lei makers say that lei flowers must be fragrant. The other two requirements, the size of the flower and its longevity, are more important to lei makers than to landscapers.
The basic colors of plumeria flowers are red, yellow and white, but hybridizers have made countless variations on these colors. Little's current project is to develop an orange flower, and he's pretty close to it.
All varieties of plumeria with the exception of the Singapore shed their leaves during part of the year. "They sleep for four months," Little said, "usually from October through January. Don't water your trees during this period. Wait until they start to leaf again in February."
Whether you buy a cutting or break off a branch from one of your own trees, Little gives this advice on planting it. "Hold it in semi-shade for 10 days until the callus at the cut end is quite hard. Stick it into a coffee can filled with potting soil, callus side down. Use potting soil, which is sterile, inert and free of pathogens, rather than dirt from the garden which isn't.
"Remember, patience is the name of plumeria growing. It will take about six months for the root system to develop. Then you can carefully take it out of the can and plant it in your garden. Pick a place with full sun, and dig a great big hole about half the size of a garbage can. Mix potting soil in with the dirt so that the soil is loose. That way, the roots can spread."
Don't give the newly planted plumeria much water because it will encourage a fungus to grow and destroy the roots. Once the root system is established, the plant can be watered, but don't overdo it. Little waters twice a week in dry weather and not at all when he's had some rain.
Plumerias don't need a lot of care, Little added. He has found that the only pests that attack his trees come and go in a sort of cyclical manner. "Ten years ago we were really bothered by the white fly, but over a period of time it just disappeared. Then we had rust, a fungus that attacked the underside of the leaf but didn't affect the flowers. Then that went away.
The current pest is a borer, a beetle that bores into the bark of the tree and sets its larvae. The new crop of borers makes the tree toxic so that it eventually dies. Little advises squirting liquid Diazanon into the hole.
Plumeria trees are hardy, colorful and fragrant, and when the leaves drop, they make great compost because they quickly decompose. All that, plus lei flowers. How can you miss?
Gardening Calendar in Do It Electric!
Send queries along with name and phone number to:
Evergreen by Lois Taylor, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Or send e-mail to features@starbulletin.com.
Please be sure to include a phone number.
Evergreen by Lois Taylor is a regular Friday feature of the
Honolulu Star-Bulletin. © 1998 All rights reserved.
