Update on the Black Thumb

I, friends, have a much bemoaned black thumb. I excel at killing plants, like it or not. To add insult to injury, I have certified Master Gardeners and horticulturists in my family. They say talent skips a generation, and you should have seen my Mimi's garden, but this is one ability I did not inherit. And yet, every once in a while, I give it a try. I was bitten by the "try to keep a plant alive" bug while honeymooning in Hawai'i - see, they've got lovely plumeria trees all over, and I really liked them. And then I came across plumeria cuttings (called nematodes) that you could bring home! And plant! So I decided to give it a try. (But I also brought one home for my sister, and my father-in-law. Diversification: my key to success!)

I almost left it too long (um, it had started to sprout in its bag! Oops.) but a while ago (a month? ish, anyways), I stuck my green stick in a pot, and brought it to work where I thought it would get more light. It looked like this:

Nema-nematode

According to the tag, it was supposed to get leaves in its first year, and flowers in its second. These are photos from last night (it is at home now, not at the office):

It grew a spike, and awesome yellow flowers!

The twisty spikes are flowers about to bloom.

Not only is it not dead, my plumeria is a total overachiever! Skipped leaves, and went straight to flowering. What this means for its future, I don't know (child prodigies usually don't turn out well), but I am SO PLEASED. Seriously, just look at it! The flowers totally don't even look real. Hurray for tropical plants and honeymoon reminders!

So pretty