Large Plumeria Tree in San Diego

[Palms1984]

I know of many large Plumeria trees in my neighborhood. However, this 51 year old Plumeria rubra 'Makanani' tree is the widest and one of the tallest I've seen in San Diego. I estimate it's width at about 30ft/10m and height is more than 20ft/6.1m tall. This tree takes up the whole front yard! I took this photo on August 26, 2010.

Edited May 26, 2011 by Palms1984

[Palms1984]

This is another Plumeria tree which is located in Coronado and is 2 stories tall. I think it may be Plumeria rubra 'Charlotte Ebert', however, I'm not positive.

[Palms1984]

A closer view of the flowers from the Plumeria rubra 'Makanani'.

[Tropicgardener]

The first photo is impressive, one of the largest that I know of in Queensland is in a nursery in Bundaberg.....it is probably the size of the one in your photo but has a massive trunk.......It is close to 100 years old and has been subject to many cyclones in it's life and as a result has been blown over a few times. As a result it is not as high as the age of it would suggest.

[Mandrew968]

I'm sure Hawaii has bigger ones, no? That is a large Frangi pani in the first photo...

[Peter]

That's a huge Plumeria Andy!

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

That Plumeria is impressive, and although they get bigger in Floriduh, they don't get much bigger.

[Palms1984]

I'm sure Hawaii has bigger ones, no? That is a large Frangi pani in the first photo...

I'm originally from Hawai'i and yes they do get larger there...however, maybe just a slight bit wider.

[Palms1984]

That Plumeria is impressive, and although they get bigger in Floriduh, they don't get much bigger.

I've seen plumeria trees taller than the first photo, here. However, I've never seen one this wide. In fact, I think the second tree pic might be a little taller than the first tree.

[Palms1984]

That's a huge Plumeria Andy!

It sure is...although, I'm convinced there must be larger and older trees around San Diego.

[Palms1984]

The first photo is impressive, one of the largest that I know of in Queensland is in a nursery in Bundaberg.....it is probably the size of the one in your photo but has a massive trunk.......It is close to 100 years old and has been subject to many cyclones in it's life and as a result has been blown over a few times. As a result it is not as high as the age of it would suggest.

I know some plumeria trees (especially young ones) can be damaged by high winds here. I have a 9ft/3m tall tree which has had damage in the past. I can't imagine what kind of damage would be done in a cyclone (hurricane).

I do know plumeria trees are extremely long-lived. I believe the first one introduced to Hawaii (in the 1850's) at Foster's Botanical Garden in Honolulu is still growing and thriving (unfortunately, I can't confirm this).

[Palms1984]

The first photo is impressive, one of the largest that I know of in Queensland is in a nursery in Bundaberg.....it is probably the size of the one in your photo but has a massive trunk.......It is close to 100 years old and has been subject to many cyclones in it's life and as a result has been blown over a few times. As a result it is not as high as the age of it would suggest.

I know some plumeria trees (especially young ones) can be damaged by high winds here. I have a 9ft/3m tall tree which has had damage in the past. I can't imagine what kind of damage would be done in a cyclone (hurricane).

I do know plumeria trees are extremely long-lived. I believe the first one introduced to Hawaii (in the 1850's) at Foster's Botanical Garden in Honolulu is still growing and thriving (unfortunately, I can't confirm this).

[Daryl]

I have seen some photos of huge P.obtusa growing in Asia. The largest Plumeria I have seen in this area is this one...a large Pink P.rubra. The trunk on this is over 4ft thick...for scale, the fence on the left is 8ft tall. Each leaf on this monster is 14" long.

regards,

Daryl

[palmislandRandy]

Here is a pic I took last week of a Florida baby. Judging from the age of the house, this one may be over 50 years old.

Randy

[Kumar]

All these photos are wonderful. We have mostly the white variety here and they lose a lot of foliage in the dry season so the trees generally are not very impressive looking.

[Peter]

Great photos!

[Palms1984]

I have seen some photos of huge P.obtusa growing in Asia. The largest Plumeria I have seen in this area is this one...a large Pink P.rubra. The trunk on this is over 4ft thick...for scale, the fence on the left is 8ft tall. Each leaf on this monster is 14" long.

regards,

Daryl

Daryl:

I've seen where you've posted this tree in the past. Wow, this tree is extremely impressive! It reminds me of some of the very large, old trees I've seen in Hawai'i. Do you know how old this tree is? I'm guessing over 100 years old (based on the 4ft thick trunk size).

Edited June 1, 2011 by Palms1984

[Palms1984]

Here is a pic I took last week of a Florida baby. Judging from the age of the house, this one may be over 50 years old.

Randy

Randy:

This tree has a huge trunk! This is a very impressive plumeria tree, also.

[buzzmonkey]

This topic definitely deserves reviving! I was in Key West this past weekend and was really impressed by the very old P. obtusas I saw there. Here is one that was particularly tall:

[Palms1984]

Those are beautiful Plumeria obtusa 'Singapore' trees. They grow here; however, are much shorter...the tallest ones I've seen here in San Diego are only around 12 to 14 feet tall. In Hawaii I've seen them really tall and wide like in your posted photos.

I drove through Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago and noticed while stuck in traffic some very large Plumeria trees which were wider and taller than the tree I originally posted. Plumeria trees have become extremely common in southern California in the last 15 years because of their extreme drought tolerance. This is a good tree for the extreme drought condition which we're experiencing in California, right now.

My tall and widest Plumeria tree is 13' tall and around 14' wide. It's a red, pink variety. Here's a photo.

[Alicehunter2000]

Plumeria is a tree? ... ....

Just know the 5 gallon potted variety...lol

[Palms1984]

This is a Plumeria obtusa 'Singapore' in San Diego, CA. It's in the Talmage Area not too far from where I live.

This tree should be bigger because the photo was taken on Sept. 15, 2011.

[Mahalo2]

This ENORMOUS Plumeria tree is not located in San Diego, But West Hollywood (Los Angeles area) on a side street just down from Sunset Blvd. I'm not sure of the specific variety, nut I have seen it in bloom and the flowers are reddish in color. I've attached some photos.   

Edited July 13, 2019 by Mahalo2

[HtownPalms]

Wow! Amazing plumeria trees. It's nice to see what they should really look like instead of spindly twigs in flower pots like I'm used to seeing around where I live.

[Mahalo2]

On 7/19/2019 at 7:11 AM, HtownPalms said:

Wow! Amazing plumeria trees. It's nice to see what they should really look like instead of spindly twigs in flower pots like I'm used to seeing around where I live.

Yes,  I love seeing large Plumeria Trees all around me...seriously, it never gets old to me, they're such gorgeous trees as you know!  

[Silas_Sancona]

4 hours ago, Mahalo2 said:

Yes,  I love seeing large Plumeria Trees all around me...seriously, it never gets old to me, they're such gorgeous trees as you know!  

Agree fully. Ever since living in Florida, ( few if any Plumeria where i grew up in San Jose ) looking forward to seeing large specimens again once out of the Desert.. One would think our heat would be perfect for growing huge plnats but growing them here, esp. to any real size/ proportion has been much more of a challenge than i'd have thought..

While all mine ( that have survived to this point ) are under shade cloth all day, lots of bleached / burnt up leaves after another summer of 105-115F super dry heat.. not to mention the battle i've had w/ spider mites due to wind blown dust and pretty much no rain here yet.  Larger plants i have seen ( aren't too many to begin with ) tend to be situated where they get overhead / afternoon shade, ( a must if you want decent looking specimens to start with ) and are a little stretched out.. not nearly as nice in form as those i'd see in Florida, and in S. Cal.  Can't wait to visit some of the growers' collections across San Diego / Southern Cal. i have viewed / bought plants from in the past. Let alone watch mine start looking a whole lot better ( and flower more again ) lol.

 

Edited July 29, 2019 by Silas_Sancona

[Deeds]

I hope someone knows about growing Singapore plumerias as I am about three blocks from the beach  La Jolla, CA, and my 3’ potted just isn’t doing much. I have several that are 15’ tall( not Singapore) and many in pots that do great. I loved the Singapore in Honolulu so ordered one a few years ago and it grows, kinda, but doesn’t thrive like the ones I’ve grown, given away, made cuttings from for the past 40 years. 
Are there tips about culture of this guy or shall I stick with what works for me. I welcome any advice. Thanks.