Plumerias are small tropical trees native to tropical America, renowned for their flowers. Their common name, Frangipani, comes from a famous perfume of the eighteenth-century. Depending on the cultivar, they can grow up to 3 to 10 m tall. Moreover, plumerias are easy to grow, regardless of the region where you live.
Wild species of Plumeria are native to warm tropical areas of the Caribbean, Central America and N. South America. These are very diverse in growth habit and their flowers are always white-and-yellow. They are all deciduous and shed leaves during the cool, dry season.
On the other hand, cultivated hybrids of Plumeria rubra are found throughout the world, in warm mediterranean to tropical areas. They are recognized by the showy and very fragrant flowers called Frangipani, developed in a wide range of colours: white, yellow, pink, red, orange…
Plumeria flowers have thick, waxy petals, with a predominance of two colours (depending on the hybrid), varying from the center to the edge of the petal, as we can see in this Plumeria ‘Japanese Lantern’:
Plumeria “Japanese Lantern”
It is an old, classic, great cultivar of Plumeria, with drooping flower heads. Individual flowers have narrow petals, twisted at the tip. They are pink-red, with a small, brilliant yellow center.
‘Japanese Lantern’ is one of the few plumerias that blooms almost continuously throughout the warmest months – In the Canary Islands it can flower from April to December: 8 or 9 months per year instead of the typical 4-6 months of most cultivars. Some inflorescences can also survive to winter and start producing new flowers in early Spring.
The plant is very easy to grow and bloom. It is quite upright and thin at first but very robust eventually, becoming a long lived tree. It is perfect for landscaping where dense summer shade is required.
We ship a well rooted plant, 40-80 cm tall, sometimes branched, sometimes not. Usually an adult tip-cutting that can bloom in one year or less. Plumerias are leafless in winter and spring, so depending on the season, they can be shipped with pots or bare rooted in paper or sphagnum.
In our online store, Canarius, we have an ever-increasing offer of plumerias: Bali Whirl, Palermitana, Kauka Wilder, Sally Moragne… What is your favourite one?
