In the Pipeline: A plumeria expert, and his name is Bud

The peaceful backyard buzzes and hums. A plump, ruby-red-chested hummingbird darts in and out of the dense foliage, and a walnut-size, iridescent green Japanese beetle lazily ambles among the many fragrant offerings.

On this warm summer day, water from a cool pond makes a soft sound.

What better place to be on a day like this than Bud Guillot’s backyard?

You may remember when I wrote about Bud last year. He’s the Army Air Forces veteran who was shot down over Berlin in April 1944, captured by the Germans and imprisoned for a harrowing 13 months at the infamous Nazi prison camp Stalag 17.

He was fed only weak soup and a piece of bread every two or three days and was forced to march with thousands of other prisoners at gunpoint as the Germans tried to evade those who wanted to liberate the troops as World War II neared an end.

Thirty days into the March, American GIs under the orders of Gen. George Patton arrived to free the men. Then Patton himself arrived.

Guillot, originally from Texas, eventually made it home to California, where he went back to work at Douglas Aircraft in Inglewood.

Today, at 93, Guillot is as focused and productive as someone half his age. When we last met, he told me how much he loved plumerias. He started planting and collecting them in 1950 and over the years has become a world-renowned expert in the sweetly fragrant plant. As he explained to me, the second plumeria society in this country was formed on his back patio 20 years ago.

“Next summer, when the plants are in bloom, let me know if you’d like to come over and see them,” he told me then. I told him I would love that.

My phone rang the other day, and I was delighted to hear that faint Texas twang at the other end of the line. “Hey, you said you wanted to come see my plumeria when they were in bloom, and now is a good time.”

I found Bud at his home, just as I did last year, wearing a shirt emblazoned with plumerias along with a gold plumeria medallion hanging around his neck. And his backyard had transformed from the last time I was there. The trees were now bursting with colorful and aromatic tropical plants. The tree in his frontyard, the first one he purchased in 1950 and transplanted from Culver City, was putting on a show all its own.

Out back, I received a quick education about the many plumeria species cultivated over the decades. Plumerias were first described in 1522 by a Spanish priest. They have religious significance in India, where the plant is called a “temple tree.” Hindus use the flowers as offerings to the gods. And they are iconic throughout many tropical paradises.

Bud understands the invigorating power of the plant. “Each one has a different flavor or fragrance,” he smiled. “Smell the lemon drop plumeria.”

As you might imagine, the brilliant-yellow, wide petals had a strong lemon fragrance.

The sweet, luxurious and tropical scent of the wildfire plumeria was harder to peg, but what a gorgeous specimen — a dark plum-colored flower with a light-blue streak on the petals and orange “eyes” at the center.

The Aztec gold plumeria may have been my favorite. Buttery yellow-white, its rich peach fragrance was sweeter than the fruit.

Bud has written a book about plumerias and he holds open houses to show them off, but he’ll never sell one. “I may trade with someone or just give away clippings for nothing,” he said. “They should be shared. They’re just so easy to grow and so wonderful to enjoy with others.”

Huntington Beach has many summer charms — the gaudy beach sunsets, fire pit barbecues and kayaks in the harbor being just a few. The day spent in Bud’s backyard with the blooming plumerias may be my favorite. They are exotic, rejuvenating and therapeutic.

And soon they will be gone. Bud will trim the trees once the Santa Ana winds blow in. Then next summer it will all start again.

The plant’s botanical name honors 17th century French botanist Charles Plumier. But I’ll never be able to see a plumeria without thinking of the name Bud Guillot.

CHRIS EPTING is the author of 25 books, including “Legendary Locals of Huntington Beach.” You can follow him on Twitter @chrisepting or at facebook.com/hbindependent.