Dragon Tears
Splashed Blooms - good or bad? When a flower's color is uneven, streaky or splotchy, it's commonly called 'splash'. You can see splash in these Dragon Tears blooms as pink streaks or pink/white mottled colors. Other well known varieties, such as Miracle and Amazing, also consistently produce these striking splashed flowers. Splashing blooms can also strike fear in the heart of a grower, especially when it appears unexpectedly. Why? Because a virus can also cause splashing.So how do you tell the difference?
Seedlings do not inherit the virus from the pod parent, so it's safe to grow seeds from an infected plant. It's possible, but unconfirmed, that the genetics that cause natural splash are passed to seedlings. If anyone can confirm this, I'd love to hear from you!
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| Dragon Tears during hot weather |
- Natural splash is when the petal's color genes are unstable and switch on and off. If the tree is genetically predisposed to this instability, the splash will appear on all the inflorescences (inflos, for short). Keep in mind that it takes hot weather to produce splashing - I've never seen it in my cooler coastal garden. Other plumeria varieties splash randomly and only on one or two flowers - more on that in a future blog.
- Viral splash looks uneven and appears on flowers, leaves and stems - the infection will lead to the tree's eventual decline. This photo of Golden Leaf in a nursery in Bangkok, shows virus-infected leaves; the branches also showed the same uneven pattern. This is not the same as variegated leaves, which you can see in the grove on the Maya tree's leaves.
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| Plumeria showing virus symptom |
Seedlings do not inherit the virus from the pod parent, so it's safe to grow seeds from an infected plant. It's possible, but unconfirmed, that the genetics that cause natural splash are passed to seedlings. If anyone can confirm this, I'd love to hear from you!
If you'd like a more technical discussion of this phenomenon, read Dr. Kukiat's excellent post on splash and variegation: www.kukiatsgardens.com/SplashinPlumeriasInBrief.html
DRAGON TEARS OVERVIEW
HISTORYOur Dragon Tears tree, donated by Jungle Jack's Plumeria, was planted in 2016 from a 5 gallon container. Dragon Tears is the name given to a seedling bred by Jack Ingwersen in Northern Thailand.
Each uniquely colored, 3-4" strongly scented bloom will splash during hot weather, such as the flowers in this July photo. Look closely, and you'll see a young praying mantis that made this tree its home!
When we plant new varieties in the grove, we carefully choose its location based on its growth habit and tree shape.We already knew that Dragon Tears has an upright growth pattern, so we planted it near the main grove path. Its vertical branches will not interfere with passing vehicles - a problem created by the original 2011 landscaping layout. This is why it's so important to know a tree's growth habit and overall shape before you plant it in the ground.
Dragon Tears Flowers Change both Color & Shape based on Local Climate
Since the distinctive patterns are driven by high temperatures, expect to see a completely differently colored flower in cooler weather. The base petal color is actually yellow, and the petals are flat and wide! As temperatures rise, a red center extends outward, and the petals lengthen, narrow and twist. In extreme heat, the flower measures 5-6" across by 1" wide with a fiery pointed red tip. The marvelous scent, however, remains the same. GROWTH HABIT and BLOOM PRODUCTION
Look closely at the Aug 2017 photo - see how the leaves are curved instead of the normal flat shape?In 2017, trees across Southern California experienced massive leafhopper infestations. This adversely affected both the leaf canopy, causing 'hopper burn', and reduced the bloom production. Every tree in Arbo plumeria grove was affected.Since the Arbo does not use pesticides (that's why you see so many birds here), we're is testing natural methods of leafhopper control. I'll report on its effectiveness in another blog.
2018 - Grade A: Due to a very mild winter in Southern California, Dragon Tears did not shed her leaves, as shown in this January photo. As part of our naturalistic approach to grove management, the Arbo volunteer team did not manually strip the old leaf canopy prior to winter.The yellow color on the leaves is due to either sunburn or the tree shedding the leaves naturally. As new leaves emerge, all the old leaves will fall off.
At season's end, we'll measure all the trees and count tips and inflos again, and update this blog so you can see the grove's trees grow and bloom.
- Flower: 3-4" twisted blooms, often producing pointed 'pagoda' tips
- Fragrance: strong, similar to tuberose
- Growth habit: medium to tall V-shaped tree
- Branching: excellent, 2-3 new tips after flowering
- Flower production: excellent, new inflos on almost every tip
- Sun exposure in the grove: very good, with some morning shade
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| Dragon Tears and friend |
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| Dragon Tears initial tree shape |
When we plant new varieties in the grove, we carefully choose its location based on its growth habit and tree shape.We already knew that Dragon Tears has an upright growth pattern, so we planted it near the main grove path. Its vertical branches will not interfere with passing vehicles - a problem created by the original 2011 landscaping layout. This is why it's so important to know a tree's growth habit and overall shape before you plant it in the ground.
Dragon Tears Flowers Change both Color & Shape based on Local Climate
Since the distinctive patterns are driven by high temperatures, expect to see a completely differently colored flower in cooler weather. The base petal color is actually yellow, and the petals are flat and wide! As temperatures rise, a red center extends outward, and the petals lengthen, narrow and twist. In extreme heat, the flower measures 5-6" across by 1" wide with a fiery pointed red tip. The marvelous scent, however, remains the same. GROWTH HABIT and BLOOM PRODUCTION
Every year, the volunteer team measures the overall height and width of each tree, and records a typical season's growth. We also count inflo production and the number of branch tips so we can chart how well a tree is blooming. Dragon Tears is a strong grower showing inflos on 80% of the tips by early 2018.
2016 - Grade A: The dormant, 5 branched tree was first planted in early May. As is typical of the first year in the ground, the tree focused on growing a good root system. By the end of the 2016 season, the tree was 3' x 3' and grew approximately 12". In my own garden, I don't allow rooting cuttings or newly transplanted trees to bloom: I want all the plant's energy go towards growing roots so that I have a strong tree that can better cope with winter weather.2017 - Grade A: All of last year's branches bloomed, and each of them grew 2 or 3 new tips. The tree is now 3.5' tall x 4.5' wide, and grew approximately 8" since the 2016 planting.
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| Dragon Tears Nov 2016, first year in the ground |
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| Dragon Tears Aug 2017 |
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| Dragon Tears tree Jan 2018 |
At season's end, we'll measure all the trees and count tips and inflos again, and update this blog so you can see the grove's trees grow and bloom.
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| Dragon in N. Thailand with Chiang Mai Girl plumeria tree |
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| Dragon Tears flowers showing pagoda tips |
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