Q & A 

In New Zealand approximately 10-15cm a year for outdoors, but this is largely dependant on the conditions. They lose their leaves in winter, and are a lot slower growing than in the Pacific.  

They are a tropical plant so can cope with a lot, these are suggested ideal conditions only.  Ideal conditions are – north facing, sunlight 6-8 hours a day, sheltered, free draining soil, their back to a fence or wall, as this heats up during the day and acts like a heater for them overnight.  

Frangipanis are fine indoors as long as they have access to sunlight 6-8 hours a day during summer. One Auckland based friend has kept hers inside her house beside the ranch slider door and it flowered through till August.  

Frosts – Cover the plants or if in a pot bring inside, or away from frost areas. Frangipanis are grown successfully in the South Island by being brought inside the house or garage in winter. 

Too much wind –  you will lose the flowers, leaves or even branches, so take this into account when choosing a spot for your frangipani.

Wet feet (can cause roots to rot) – Don’t overwater (they can survive drought conditions) & make sure soil is free draining. 

Look for a wide shallow pot, as they have a shallow root system.
The pot needs to have hole/holes at the base for a drainage, don’t use a pot saucer (as this will cause wet feet).
Ideally the pot is lifted off the ground for easy drainage eg pot feet.
The frangipani will need to be repotted as the plant grows, to enable it to keep growing in size.

There are pro’s & cons of both. A pot can be moved around in winter to bring inside or under cover when there is a lot of rain, frost or wind. But in the garden you can leave & forget, but there is more of a risk of wet feet (root rot), especially if you don’t have free draining soil, pots are best in this case. 

When they are still in their planter bag you have brought them in, every second day (depending on the time of year). 
When they begin to lose their leaves start tailing off watering, & only a few times over winter while they are dormant and have lost their leaves.
Start watering in November, allow top of soil (finger test) to completely dry out before watering again, if the soil is damp they don’t need it, generally once a week.  

if you would like a tall, straight stem plant. 

Growing from cuttings means we can guarantee the colour of the flowers, and know when they will flower. Growing from seeds there is a minimum of 2-3 years before the plant will flower, but it can also be substantially longer. We have heard of up to 10 years & worst case scenario never.     

See above. FYI –  Seed grown plants are what most major NZ chain garden centre/nurseries sell. 

Useful West Coast Stoneware flower rings

Please email us info@matakanafrangipani.nz

A useful facebook group – Frangipani Growers New Zealand

We are not experts, these answers are from our experience & talking to other growers.