SA Garden Catalogue: Frangipani

It has been raining daily lately so no need to water the garden except for the plants under the porch. Both the pink and white/yellow Frangipani have been in flower for some time already. Only the two planted in containers. The one on the ground seems quite reluctant after one initial burst of blooms. Anyway, some Frangipani facts:

SA Garden pink Frangipani in July (CNB 2012)

Common name: Frangipani
Malay name: Kemboja
Scientific name: Plumeria acuminata (for the Pointed frangipani) & Plumeria obtusa (for the Rounded frangipani)
Family: Apocynaceae, Periwinkle family
Origin: Tropical America




The Pointed frangipani are hybrids that come in many exotic shades of pink, red, yellow and white. The leaf tips are pointed. The Rounded frangipani has white flowers with yellow centres, ant the leaf tips are rounded. Frangipani loves the sun and is easy to propagate by terminal shoot cuttings. But personally, I have not been successful in planting any red ones.

This Frangipani planted in the ground flowered only once in
March and not since (CNB 2012)

In the 1940s, Frangipani trees were commonly planted in graveyards. Traditionally the Malays do not like to plant Frangipani in their gardens because it is deemed bunga kubur, the graveyard flower. So if you are anywhere near a graveyard you can often see the trees of mainly white flowers, and sometimes you can smell their fragrance, especially at dawn and at dusk, the supposedly 'eerie' hours of neither day nor night. (Ooooo... Just hope you do not come across a pontianak or two! Just kidding ... Mana ada hantu?).

For the Hindu, especially in Bali, India and Sri Lanka, the Frangipani is "temple flower" because the trees are planted near temples, and used in temple ceremonies. The Hawaiians and Polynesian islanders have used these beautiful flowers as leis of welcome and to adorn themselves since a long time ago. Of course the fragrance of the Frangipani has led to its commercial use in aromatherapy; perfumes, essential oils, soaps, lotions, and candles.

The potted white-yellow Frangipani in October. Flowering
since June, this is the second bunch (CNB 2012)