I guess I am a little odd in how I handle my dozens of plumeria from October until March. My plants are far too large and numerous to keep potted up during those months, but I have to bring them inside because of our freezes here in NE Mississippi. Sometime around the first week or two of October, I dig up/unpot all my plumeria. I shake off most of the dirt and pile them under an oak tree. I leave them that way for 2-3 weeks and during that time they lose most of their leaves. Around the end of October I remove what leaves are left (large ones, not the tiny ones just formed), hose off the remaining dirt, and once they are dry I will put them all in large, black, contractor's bags. These bags will then go into closets or under a bench on the closed-in porch and they will over-winter that way. They get no light and no moisture for 4-5 months.
Keep in mind that all these plants are rooted, unless I accidentally break off a branch or two. Regardless, every single plumeria goes in these plastic bags. They do lose some moisture during those months and are thus a bit "skinnier" than when I put them away. Generally speaking, the tiny leaves and flower stalks remain intact when I un-bag them in the spring. I have done this for many years and the only plant(s) I remember that did not grow in the spring were several 'Peduca' plants I got from Hetty. That variety has very thin stalks and they were simply so dehydrated that they never grew back. Even the occasional broken branches rooted in the spring. Now I know to only do this with nice, plump plants. In the future, if I have any plants similar to the 'Peduca', I would leave them potted up during the winter months.
