Plumeria madness

As I mentioned in my mid-August This and that post, our local Costco warehouse has a variety of plumerias right now, $39.99 for a 3.5-gallon pot:

As I said in my post, “Maybe I’ll go back tomorrow and get one.” And guess what? That’s exactly what I did:

Plumeria rubra ‘Aztec Gold’ from Costco

If you’ve ever seen (and smelled) a plumeria flower, you know why I’m so taken by them. If not, here are some photos I’ve collected over the years:

Maui, Hawaii

Maui, Hawaii

Maui, Hawaii

Santa Ana, California

Oakland, California

Plumerias (called “frangipani” in other parts of the English-speaking world, like Australia) are shrubs or small trees native to the Neotropics (Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, into South America) and related to desert roses (Adenium sp.) and oleanders (Nerium oleander). They’re widely grown as ornamentals in other tropical regions, especially Hawaii. In fact, plumeria flowers are commonly used in leis, the traditional Hawaiian garlands, and worn in hair to signal hospitality, romance, or welcome. (One Instagram account I follow, Little Plumeria Farms on the north shore of O’ahu, has been growing plumerias for over 50 years.)

Plumeria flowers have a complex, intoxicating fragrance, variously compared to jasmine, citrus, gardenia, or peach, but distinctly their own. The scent intensifies at night to attract the moths that pollinate them. Between the alluring smell, the beautiful pinwheel flowers, and the fact they have built-in succulence (their stems store water for dry periods), plumerias should be the perfect garden plant. And they are — in areas where winters are very mild. Unfortunately, they start to struggle in temperatures below 40°F and will die at around 32°F.

Even though our winters have become noticeably warmer, we still drop below freezing several times each winter, even if it’s just for a few hours. Why then have I decided to take the plunge and get a plumeria? Because I’m crazy, that’s all. What gives me a morsel of hope is the experience of my friend Tracy of tz_garden, who lives in Livermore, 1½ hours away from here: She simply drags her potted plumeria into the garage in the winter where it stays dry and dark until the danger of frost is over.

Our local Costco had at least 10 different varieties when I was there. I spent a goodly amount of time looking at all of them, but ultimately I went for a yellow-white cultivar, ‘Aztec Gold’. (While I was there, an older couple was also looking. They chose a pink-flowering variety because their grand-daughters are into pink.)

As it turns out, ‘Aztec Gold’ is fast-growing and a very good bloomer, with large 4-inch flowers that have a strong peach scent. Here’s a photo of the flowers from Gardenia.net:

Yellow (and white) are my favorite flower colors, so ‘Aztec Gold’ is perfect in that regard. The fact that its flowers are larger than other varieties is an extra bonus.

Unfortunately, when I unpotted my plumeria trio from Costco, this is what I found:

Three sticks, only one of which had real roots. One of the other two had the beginnings of a root, the other had none:

Still, Costco has an iron-clad satisfaction guarantee, so if some (or all) of them die, I’ll go back for a refund. For now, I’ll hang on to the 5-gallon nursery pot, which has a rather interesting warning:

Really? Human or animal consumption? This smacks of lawyers covering their asses.

I stuck the three lightly rooted plumeria sticks in a large container nestled into the plantings inside the front yard fence. Plumerias love heat and need as much sun as they can get to bloom well. This spot should check all those boxes. My hope is that the gazania and cuphea next to and in front of the gray pot will eventually hide most of it.

Right now, this is all an experiment — another one in a long list — so who knows what the outcome will be. For me, one of the main things I love about gardening is being able to try new (and sometimes crazy) things, to improvise, and to be surprised. I’m a strong believer in taking chances and in serendipity.

© Gerhard Bock, 2026. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.