Want to .....

learn more about Coral Coast Frangipanis?

They are strong and healthy new cultivars, growing completely disease-free, on the banks of the mighty Gascoyne River.

Where did ...

..these amazing brand new varieties come from?

Well, they began life as seeds, of course. This is the ONLY way to create brand new frangipani varieties. These seeds were, and still are, being sourced from around the globe. From setting a seed, to first flowers, takes around two years in the north-west of Western Australia.

Any young trees that flower 'unspectacularly' shall we say, are quickly removed, to make way for new youngsters. This way, our frangipani gene pool gets better and better. The possibilities for growing even more fantastic frangipanis from the seeds of these paddock pod-parents increase with every season that passes.

Our story began...

....in 2002 when a chance conversation led the writer (Paula) to join the newly-formed Frangipani Society of Australia. For me, having grown frangipani from seed for twenty years or more, I knew I would get blooms at around two years. However, what I DIDN'T know, was that though my rather boring Aussie common pinks always produced their own like, this would not necessarily be the case, if other genes were introduced. Exciting stuff, hey?

Playing with genes....

One of the best things about creating new frangipani cultivars is the sense of pride you get when something really spectacular comes through. This is especially true if you have done the cross-pollination by hand, yourself. There are now kits especially made for doing this, and I was one of five growers, worldwide, who was asked to trial the one you see me using in this image. I am working towards creating evergreens of colour and already have plenty pink and lemon blooms on evergreens of all sizes and shapes. I will cross back into these new evergreens with pollen harvested from my brightest yellow and red rubra trees, keeping my fingers crossed for more pods, with seeds that produce even stronger colours in the next generation.