I grew up in tropical parts of Australia where frangipani trees are very common. In North America these flowers are often associated with Hawaii because of the lovely leis that are made from their blossoms, but they also grow in other American states where temperatures are mild.

This tree needs 14-15 hours of sunlight a day and temperatures above 50F. They grow into trees, which make quite a mess when they drop their large leaves, as the leaves are hard to rake up.

I brought a cutting home to Indiana from Hawaii some years ago and have grown it in a large pot, and it winters in my warm basement and now barely fits through the door when I drag it outdoors each Spring. But when it blooms in late summer, it transports me across the years, and I delight in its perfumed flowers and the memories they evoke.

The flowers are pinwheel shaped with five petals of good substance and are usually white or pink with some yellow. Mine are white with yellow, and I pick them and float them in bowls of water and inhale their scent, which is slightly like jasmine.

I drag the pot back into my basement when the weather cools, and then it drops its leaves all over the floor and the plant looks like a stick in a pot.

It is a plant that grows easily from a cutting, but it takes six weeks or so for roots to form if it is in a warm bright spot in a mix that includes peat. Don't hold your breath!

Note: Graduates of Indiana University will recall this plant is mentioned in the school song because someone apparently thought it rhymed with Indiana!