A frangipani that’s all Aussie style

My aunties were frangipani collectors. I don’t know this from childhood memories of grand trees blooming in their back yards, or fragrant fresh-cut flowers in vases, but because at family get-togethers they would give each other stumps.

I thought it was a pretty funny gift, and also that the stumps mustn’t be much good seeing as new ones had to be given so often.

I’m now on the frangipani bandwagon and last year bought a stump online from Scented Garden Frangipanis. The cutting, which arrived in the mail and was only around 30 cm long, is now a good size and already producing wildly impressive flowers . It’s an Australian hybrid variety which was bred by Scented Garden to be hearty, disease resistant and to suit the various hot to cold climates we have across the country. It’s gorgeous — the colours in the pic are real, I’ve just changed the background.

I’m pleased the stump love gene was one I inherited. And to know that kids really are taking in what we say and do, even when it seems so incredibly unlikely.