Love their violets. Their hoyas are tiny, though. I would recommend SRQ Hoyas and Gardino's (though I haven't ordered from Gardino's yet, I've heard great things) and skip Violet Barn. For hoyas, anyway. Again, great violets and other gesneriads, but not impressed with their hoyas. I received the one I ordered from them with only 4 leaves, and one leaf promptly fell off shortly after receiving it, so I was left with 3 leaves and a plant about an inch and a half tall. That being said, it's doing pretty well, but it will be years before it is big enough to flower, I'm pretty sure. It's not the worst thing, but when they're that tiny, it just gives you no leeway. You have to be really careful with watering and care until it becomes established enough to weather occasional neglect. And there's no way to take a cutting to save the plant if it starts going downhill, because there's really nothing to it.

I have received cuttings in trades that are about 5 to 10 times the size of the hoya I received from them. It was healthy when I received it, though, I will say that. And like I said, it's doing well. But I am not so patient that I want to wait years and years for it to even grow big enough to flower, let alone the wait for it to be happy enough to flower. I'm okay with this one, and I did know what I was getting into by getting it from them. If my whole collection was that small though, I think I'd freak out from impatience ; )

Hi Jojo,

I've never ordered from VB...but I agree with Quinn, I'm not a big fan of tiny plants when I order. I also recommend Gardino's. I've ordered several plants from them and they've all been healthy and good sizes. I've never had any problems with the hoyas from them. I've only ordered once from SRQ but have been happy with my plant, great customer service for both places...many members here have ordered from her and had great experiences. Also Ebay is a good source. Just make sure they have excellent feedbacks.
I see you're hooked...I knew it wouldn't take long,lol...

Here's the websites...
Gardino's

SRQ hoyas...Joni

I've never received their plants through the mail but go to visit the Violet Barn several times a year when passing through the area. Their violets and other gesneriads are gorgeous. All of the plants are incredibly healthy and well cared for, the place is very clean. It's always worth stopping there. In person there are many larger african violets and gesneriads available for sale BUT I have not purchased any hoyas from them because all of the hoyas that I've seen available for purchase in person have been very small. Too small for me to want to wait that long for blooms. I'd look elsewhere for hoyas but I have to highly recommend them for everything else tho :)

I received three of them this week. Small, but they have a lot of leaves and came very healthy across the frigid USA! I like the way they're packed to protect them from the elements.