Toba's Fire

From the late Richard and Evelyn Toba of Lahaina, Maui. Long bloom season. Responds well to heat, otherwise yellow. Early bloomer. 2"-3", hearty petals. Light, deep red veins from cup-shaped red-orange, star shaped center, vibrant yellow petals. Red and yellow underside. Fragrance is a very sweet herbal essence. Recommended for fragrance. Fruity. Blooms always start out a little splotchy. Can bloom on new branches in the same year. Doesn't produce a profusion of blooms all at one time, but it has continued to bloom all summer, with many buds still appearing. Forms large, very full inflos. From the same pod as Uncle Robbie. Doesn’t branch well. Hard to root, but can be done. Easy to root. In Memorium: Tobas Fire continues to burn brightly! Plumerias.com had the pleasure of interviewing Richard and Evelyn Toba in preparation for a story in the Plumerian section of noted plumeria people. Sadly, we have recently learned that Richard passed away earlier this year in 2007. Richard, now 70 is the embodiment of the the aloha spirit. Recently having won the Outstanding Older American for Maui County, Richard is all about giving. During the plumeria high season months of April thru July, Richard wakes up every morning seven days a week, at 3 am to pick flowers from their one acre plumeria grove. Richard jokes that he feeds the plumeria trees with special glow in the dark fertilizer, so that he can see the flowers in the early morning hours. It’s an amazing story of dedication, as he then gives the flowers away for free to the senior citizens center. Richard’s wife Evelyn and others at the Senior Citizens Center then string the flowers together to make leis for sale in the local community to generate funds for local high school scholarships. It takes Richard five to six hours a day to pick the 5,000 plus flowers needed to create the 100 leis. The Tobas have a wonderful home on their one acre of 100 plumeria trees. Richard is quick to note that he planted most of the trees from cuttings with some seedlings that he has raised as well. Some of the older trees were planted by Evelyn’s mother, who used to live there. Most of the trees today are 6 to 10 feet high, with 8 to 10 foot diameters. Richard has some amazing new seedlings that have become great new bloomers. Some are seedlings of Duke and others of Kimo, but there is one seedling that we are calling “Toba’s Fire”, a beautiful new cultivar, a bright lava orange with deep red borders on the petals. Richard and Evelyn, both natives of Maui, have a long tradition of the aloha spirit, he is quick to note that all of his plumeria cuttings and seedlings were given to him with no cost. “If you see a wonderful bloom and ask a Hawaiian for a cutting, they will never turn you down or take your money” that is the Hawaiian way of giving back. Richard tries to keep his plumeria trees low, so that he can pick the flowers easily, but as you walk with him talking about each tree, its heritage and the differences of the blooms, you can’t help but get lost in the middle of the grove being surrounded by thousands and thousands of multi colored blooms. At one edge of the property, you can see an innovative technique that Evelyn’s mother used to keep the plumeria trees shorter, by tying long rubber straps to mid-section of the branches anchored by concrete cylinders on the ground. I have never seen this method before but it definitely caused the tree to fan out more. Slow growing. Poor branching after blooming. Tall grower. Sets seeds, but very few seeds in the pod.