Plumeria Blossoms Reach Their Fragrant Peak at LA Arboretum

The flower-watching, bloom-obsessed, petal-powered season in Southern California unfurls, in many minds, over a full half of the year, beginning around the middle of January.

That's when the first desert wildflowers begin to make an always wondrous wintry showing. Soon, California poppies follow, and the fabulous fruit trees of spring, then the dramatic lupines dotting our mountain peaks in June.

But our local flower fields and public gardens have their own fantastic floral calendars, those showy and scent-filled schedules that stretch through much of the calendar.

And in July, August, and early September?

One of the most fragrant flowers makes a sublime impression in Arcadia, at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden.

It's the plumeria, a flower that's associated with several spectacular spots, including Hawaii. But the garden's social media team points out that the plants, also known as frangipani, "... are actually native to the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and South America to Brazil."

Southern California is also lucky enough to see a burst of blossoms come July and August, and most definitely at LA Arboretum, which is home to the beautiful Plumeria Grove, which is "among the large public collections outside Florida and Hawaii."

And these fetching flowers are now in glorious bloom, with a season stretching for another month or so, into the middle of September.

Sunshiny yellows, all shades of cream, pinky mauves, tinges of blue, and deep roses, too: A single petal of a plumeria flower can boast a whole colorful cavalcade of hues.

And the oft-praised scent?

You can find it represented in several soaps, lotions, and perfumes, but standing before a plumeria bush, and breathing it in, is the making of a lightly fragrant but deeply memorable moment.

Adding to the late-in-the-summer showiness of this splendid specimen? It neighbors an area brimming with another picture-perfect favorite, hibiscus flowers, which are also looking large and lovely during these warm August days.

Make for Tallac Knoll to admire the new-ish hibiscus groupings — there are four in all — that were planted just over two years ago, in spring 2020.

Southern California's famous flower roll-out does, in fact, last well beyond the year's mid-point, with beautiful blooms adding August allure to our area's premier public gardens.

Visiting the Plumeria Grove is included with LA Arboretum admission.