Frangipani Origins
Frangipanis originate from the dry areas of central America. They are essentially desert plants. They are good at getting moisture from the ground and they are good at holding moisture in their wood. They also like hot temperatures and can handle full sun. However, they are not good at living in soil that is constantly wet.
Frangipani Varieties
Plumeria are renowned for their fragrant, vibrant, eye-catching flowers, with every species exhibiting the classic combination of white petals accented by a yellow center. While pink variations appear across certain Plumeria species, the majority of colorful displays are attributed to Plumeria rubra. Plumeria rubra boasts an extraordinary range of hues, including shades of red, orange, pink, and purple, making it the source of most cultivars cherished for their exotic appeal.
Propagation
Some frangipani species can only be grown from seed. When grown from seed, there are slight variations in structure, leaf shape and possible flower between each seedling.
When a frangipani is grown from a colorful rubra, it is likely to create an original colourful flower. Some famous people in the past, like Bill Moragne, propagated hundreds of varieties, some of which have become well known worldwide. Notably, Cindy Moragne and Sally Moragne, both named after his daughters.
However, most frangipanis are grown from a cutting. The only way to ensure you get a beautiful flower is to propagate the frangipani from a cutting from a parent tree with a beautiful flower. Frangipani plants grown by a cutting will have the same flower as the parent plant.
Pruning
Pruning a frangipani usually means removing big branches rather than snipping off tips. Small frangipanis don’t need pruning at all however large frangipani trees can benefit from a careful prune. Large frangipanis can produce an excess of branches causing them to get crowded. Some branches will naturally lose out and die off naturally. A good way to prune a mature frangipani tree is remove dead branches first. Then, if you want to thin out the branches more, remove the shorter branches that are not getting sunlight and losing out and are likely to die in the near future.