Plumeria or Frangipani

Although this is a plant I admire, it was not until this last winter that I found out its name. A friend told me about a plant that is quite commonly grown in Australia and was wondering where he could get one in Crete.

As luck would have it, I had photographed the blooms of a plant that I was trying to identify, which was growing in the garden near our house and my friend took one look and confirmed that it was what he was looking for.

Plumeria rubra grows as a native in the South America region and is well known as the staple ingredient of the flower garlands that are worn in Hawaii (another common name is the lei flower). It is now naturalised in many tropical and sub-tropical regions.

The plant was named after a French botanist (Plumier) and the often used common name of Frangipani derives from the Italian family who first produced a plumeria scent.

The plant will grow into a very large shrub or small tree and since identifying the first one I have seen a number growing around the place.

This eye-catching small tree is growing in Sissi.

All the plants that I have seen are of this white with creamy-yellow flowered variety, but there are many named cultivars with a wide range of flower colours available.

It is a deciduous plant that carries its large leaves on the tips of its bare stems. In fact the leafless plant looks quite odd in the winter, some might say architectural.

The plant pictured is growing in full sun, and this is a situation that it prefers. It is in full bloom, whereas the one growing in the shade next to my house does not have any flower buds yet.

As previously hinted, the flowers are strongly scented. In fact, they smell stronger at night. This is because they are pollinated in the wild by moths.

Although they do not produce any nectar, the moths cannot resist the scent of the flowers and visit them anyway. Once a person has smelled the scent they generally become hooked, too, and the Frangipani becomes a “must have” plant for the Cretan garden.

They do not require much care, nor do they mind dry summers. They do, however, require water for establishment and respond well to watering during the driest months. This picture is of a young plant, also growing in Sissi but on a dry site, which, although healthy, is only just starting to produce leaves. (Both pictures from Sissi shown here were taken on the same day.) They also respond well to an application of slow-release fertilizer when they first break their winter dormancy.

A word of warning: Plumerias are related to the Oleander and, like their “cousins,” they also have a milky poisonous sap.

I have been investigating some sites on the Internet and some of the flower colours that are now available are mouth-watering. They also retain their scent (which is often lost in other species).

If anyone has seen any of these different cultivars here, please let me know.

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