Name a Frangipani. Ask us how!

Naming frangipanis can be lots of fun, and often there is a story and a message behind the name. Here at Fancy Frangipanis, we are breeders and collectors of frangipanis, with over 2000 types of frangipanis in our collection that are unnamed. And currently, we only have 120 named selections.

Although we are a newbie to Frangipanis, the growth and enjoyment of frangipanis started before I, Andy, was born. Throughout her life, my mother loved planting them in our gardens for our family to enjoy. And my Dad even jumped on the frangipani bandwagon, collecting frangipanis and planting seeds on his farm in coastal Queensland. So as you can see, frangipani is in my blood.

Our journey has allowed us to name many of our selections based on the people we love and to commemorate and remember the people we lost. Names were chosen to represent how we feel about each flower when we look at it and what it reminded us of.

The lovely Princess Darcy with its crimson whirls against a frilly yellow and white backdrop, and Princess Abby with its star shape and vivid colour combinations are named after our two daughters.

The little princesses just love frangipanis and are always out in the garden picking flowers and bringing these home to put in floating shallow bowls of water or picking larger panicles of flowers and making them into stunning bouquets and arrangements. Each year they pick bags of flowers from the collections to take to their school for show and tell and then gift them to their teachers and friends.

Our daughter named one frangipani selection after one of her besties. It is called Lucy Lavender, displaying a stunning variety with a radiating crimson purple against a faint white backdrop which fades to a beautiful lavender in showy large panicles. This variety just glows in the morning and afternoon sun, catches the eye and has the most beautiful sweet perfume.

One of our long-term friends recently lost their battle with cancer, and she just loved frangipanis. She used to revel in each sunrise as a blessing. So we named one of our recent multi-colour selections Auntie Nellies Sunrise in memory of our dear friend. Her family has sourced over 40 cuttings of Auntie Nellies Sunrise, which will be gifted to close family and friends this year to plant in their gardens in memory of Auntie Nellie.

Take a look at this one-minute video from the well-known ABC Australia gardening host, Costa Georgiadis, sharing some breathtaking frangipanis that love the Australian climate.

As you have read, there are some lovely memories and stories behind the names in our selections that people have been asking us to share. We will, over time, share a few more stories behind our frangipani names.

We have also been asked if we would consider opening up the naming rights for some of our new hybrids in the coming years. We think this is a great idea and plan to release some images of new selections and run a competition this year for two new selections that require a name. This will include a story to underpin the new varieties.

Look out for a chance to name a frangipani or subscribe to our newsletter to receive notification about the naming competitions we will be running later in the year.