I live in the st.louis area, and we get some cold weather during the winter. I have a plumeria that I purchased in Hawaii that was just a stick. Now it is a flourishing plant about 7 ft tall and very bushy. It is almost getting to big to bring into the house for winter, any suggestions? I'm afraid to cut on it,maybe some one knows somebody in the area that would be able to do it for some cuttings, or I was thinking of buying a greenhouse. Any thoughts appreciate. Thanks

jbornhop. Even though you have said you live near St. Louis, why not take a moment and add your location to your profile and have it show when you post. We always want to know where one lives, whether giving advice or asking for advice.

If you go to the "Plumeria" forum, you can find dozens and dozens of posts (many by yours truly) about taking cuttings. Do you happen to know what specific variety your plant is? I take dozens of cuttings every year, because like you, I have to move all my Plumeria inside for the fall and winter months. In fact, just this week I have taken over a dozen cuttings. If I did not regularly cut my tips/branches, some of my plants would be over 20' tall. Again, like you, I begin my love for Plumeria while on Maui and brought back three tiny cuttings over 25 years ago. Believe it or not, I still have those three plants and now their bases (that started at less than 1/2") are 5-6" thick.

If you would like for me to chat directly with you privately, you can easily T-Mail me by clicking on my name and then clicking on "Send a T-Mail". I would be more than happy to help you.

jbornhop

It would be really helpful if you could post a picture of your plant. I'm happy to advise you on what to do. You already know that growing Plumeria in your zone is a challenge but you're clearly up for it!!

Here are a few pictures of my plumeria still trying to figure out how to post that I live in st.louis, any help appreciate

I think you click on that little "person" on the upper left side of the screen which takes you to your profile. Then click on "Change Your Public Profile", enter your zone and whatever else you care to, click on "Save Your Changes" at the bottom of the page, and it should show.

That's a nice looking plumeria.

Gorgeous plant!! Congratulations on getting it to bloom and thrive in your area.
If it were my plant I would try and keep it in one piece and overwinter it barerooted in a frostfree place. Plumeria go dormant in the winter and need neither light nor water during this time, they just need to be protected from frost.
If you decide to trim I would take three cuttings, leaving appr. 6-8 inches of stalk from which new branches will eventually emerge. You should know that you most likely won't get blooms on those new branches until the year after next. So - it's a big commitment!

Edited to add: I think that is a 'Celadine', the most common flower in Hawaii for leis. It has an outstanding fragrance, as well as great keeping quality.

@jbornhop - as you can see you can be 'summoned' by the system by using the member name with @ in front of it (without a space)! There are all kinds of great features on ATP. Another one you may have noticed is acorns: here is a little blurb describing what they are and how to earn them. You can give them to other members too!!
http://garden.org/special/acor...

if I don't cut this plant back, what are my options can I man handle it into the house and it will be ok?

When my plumeria were a manageable size, I used to move them into the house in front of a bright window. They go somewhat dormant, and stop growing, but they don't always lose their leaves. They did well and continued on growing to what they've become today. Be careful of spider mites anytime you bring them indoors. I broke many branches trying to get them in and out of the house door. Eventually, I built a greenhouse. This will be my second wint-er using the GH. But I am thinking heavily about trimming my tallest tree. She is a monster and quite a challenge for me to move, let alone get into the greenhouse! But I just got blooms on her for the second time in over 20 years. I really, really hate to stifle that especially because I don't have many trees.

This is the situation that I am in shadygreenthumb my plant has really started producing a lot of flowers this year and I love the smell of them. I think I'm leaning toward a greenhouse or just trying to bring it in the house for another wite because it pretty much stays green all winter. Any thoughts on greenhouses?

I'd stick it in the spare bedroom

As mentioned, you can go to the Plumeria Forum to get all kinds of ideas about different ways to overwinter plum-eria. As well as, you can go to the Gre-enhouse Forum to get all kinds of opinions about Greenhouses of all types and sizes to fit your budget. But if you can get it into the house still, that would be my first option. You would need to heat your gh in your part of the country and your cold -winters, and if you have room in a heated home, that would be ideal for now until you can plan all the details for next winter. Winter is just around the corner for you, right? I m-ean, nights below 50º is winter for a plumeria.