Happy hunting, Brad!

So, let me ask you (and anyone else who cares to answer). If you could choose among any of the EA offerings, which one would you MOST like to spy at your local box store?

Thank you, GG!

Hmm, I would love to find a hanging basket of any of the lacunosas, but the one I'm pining for is "Royal Flush". I have cuttings of "Sno Caps" and the aforementioned "Ruby Sue".

Slightly OT: I'll be picking out a few birthday presents for myself too while I'm up in the town where Lowe's and HD are located. I know I'll be getting another Sailor Moon and/or Codename: Sailor V manga AND (this is the icing on the cake): The CD soundtrack of The Rocky Horror Show: The Original Roxy Cast (1974)! Mom ordered it for me :).

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Royal Flush is a great choice. I was looking with envy at Floridians' pictures of their plants, thinking I couldn't really tell the difference between RF and RS, but now I definitely can. Mine has really transformed under its current lighting conditions.

What is that bella variegata they have on there? It looks like a different lacunosa cultivar. And what's the story with the Hoya lacunosa Albo name? Where'd they get that monicker from?

Hope you find some nice plants, Brad! And happy spring to you. This has to be the best season of all, the anticipation of good things to come! :)

GG, I think someone posted about EA now carrying bella. Not sure about the lacunosa Albo, but both sound interesting! Although it's not a Hoya, I would be thrilled to find a Lipstick Plant.

Lightning, thank you! I agree, I'm looking forward to and appreciating the sunshine and the warmth we are experiencing. It's another gorgeous day. I still have containers to plant for my Winter Sowing and my containers are sprouting like mad!

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Have fun Brad and find great hoyas!
My wish list from EA is long; curtisi, multiflora, linearis and any lacunosas I'm missing. My only blooming plant is a lacunosa with EA tag "mini waxleaf"... Would like to re pot, and maybe divide it but it's covered with newer ending flowers for couple of month now :o). Rest of the gang is still in diapers and no flowers expected anytime soon. I would love finding grown up plant for small starter $$ like EA, unfortunately big box stores down here newer have any.

Aggie

Brad goodluck on your hunt!!

Brad, their picture doesn't look like bella to me! Looks more similar to Sno Caps. Bella has a completely different structure. The Gesneriad aeschynanthus (aka lipstick plant) is a very beautiful one. Totally worth having!

Aggie, at the risk of sounding like I'm anti-EA, I just wanted to warn you that these plants aren't necessarily mature just because they fill out a big basket. What they are is a lot of immature starts together in one pot. Which is fine. I just wanted to be clear that it isn't going to bloom any faster than a small plant.

Geez, Brad. I'll send you a garbage bag full of lipstick cuttings! How about that?
I have a HUGE one from Rona. What a monster!

Thank you, Aggie and PerennialGirl!

GG, a Lipstick Plant has been on my wish list for quite a while. I've seen them for sale before and they are just stunning!

Laura, I'll e-mail you when I get back today :).

Dad and I will be eating at Red Lobster for supper for my birthday :). Yum!

Keeping my fingers crossed! If I find anything, I'll have to remember to take pictures when I get back!

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Do you have an ID on your aeschynanthus, Laura? It IS really fun to share vining Gesneriads since they grow so much faster than Hoyas. :) I think they look really good mixed together, too.

Good luck scouting out new Hoyas, Brad. Eat some hush puppies for me!

Well, lo and behold, I am the proud new owner of a Lipstick Plant! They had no Hoyas at HD and only had one pot of curtisii at Lowe's, which is where I got my Lipstick Plant. I'll try and get a picture posted tomorrow!

GG, sorry, no hush puppies! :( They didn't have them on the menu or I would have gotten them for sure! LOL

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Congratulations, Brad! If you've been eying them for a while, it's about time you got one!

Thank you, GG! Here it is!

{{gwi:78556}}

The tag says it's a variety called Caroline, but I'm not too sure. The scientific name is A. radicans. Gotta love EA lol. I'm thinking of names for this one. It'll be female, that's for sure. Dolly was one that came to my mind (after, who else, Dolly Parton). Any other suggestions for a name?

Brad AKA Moonwolf

I like Dolly. And that's a beautiful plant! ^_^ Thanks for the scientific name. You're kind of putting me in the mood for more vining Gesneriads and I really... can't... keep... argh.

moar plants. yum.

LOL GG, it sounds like I awakened a sleeping giant. Okay, so there's one vote for Dolly. Veronica (from The Archies comics/cartoon), Pizzazz (from Jem), and Janice (from The Muppets) were other choices I picked out. Two other singers whose names I like that I also picked out were Olivia and Tina.

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Looks a lot like A. 'Myra'.... Bloom pics online look like it, too.

I also have A. 'Mona Lisa'
Has a different leaf form. I bought it thinking 'twas a Hoya. HA! Nope!

Brad- wald0@mymts.net

the letter @ the endo of Waldo is a zero.

Laura, I'm sending you an e-mail :). I saw your picture of "Myra" and it does look an awful lot like my plant. I'll know for sure when it blooms.

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Ack! Unlike Hoyas, I cannot tell from one lipsick to another, by bloom. They seem so similar, to me. I pretty much know Hoya, and that's it! LOL

I'm no Aeschynanthus expert, but they can look very different from one another. I have an A. Kewform and an A. Thai Pink and an A. gracilis and they are easily distinguishable at a glance. Brad, I believe Mira is a cultivar of A. radicans, just as Ruby Sue is a cultivar of Hoya lacunosa. So, I wouldn't read too much into the similarity. Just keep your plant labeled as A. radicans. ^_^

Gotcha, GG! Thank you! I'll keep it labled as A. radicans :).

Brad AKA Moonwolf

AH! Yes, GG, I suppose that, for example, 'Black Pagoda' is easily identifiable while compared to A. radicans!
I think it's the A. radicans cultivars I find so similar!

Oh! I wanted to mention to everyone (who doesn't already know):
If you see a Hoya on your local Home Depot or Lowes website, you can order it online and pick up instore. No shipping charges.

Though I wonder if it would be better to put in a request for one of EA's hoyas and patiently wait. Then you could hand pick (and inspect) before purchase.

I wonder if any of the Lacunosa offered by EA are the commonly praised (easily blooming/ amazing smelling) Lacunosa I have heard of.. It's on my shopping list! But everywhere I have read they simply use "Lacunosa."

Ahhh. One of my personal favorites, lacunosa.
The plain one from EA is tagged "Mini Wax-leaf" and below is smaller writing "(Hoya lacunosa)"
And I believe the others are called 'Ruby Sue' 'Snow Caps' and the hybrid of these two, 'Royal Flush'

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.exoticangel.com/plant-library/species/hoya

Ren_Flowers,
EA plain lacunosa for sure blooms like crazy and it's flowers are fragrant! I got it half dead from grocery store, nursed it back to life (just by giving it less water than store and diffused light) and now it's flowering for 4 or 5 month! I would like to re-pot it some day when she is done, but no complains here as this is my only hoya big enough to set flowers :)

Hoya sightings in this area
Stripes (curtisii)
Krimson Queen
Krimson Princess
brevialata
Chelsea
from EA and Costa Farms-Beautiful plants

Forgot to mention that I've seen the new Lipstick "Twister" out in stores. It's a weird looking one but I'm sure lipstick lovers will want it.

Susan

Oh thanks Laura! Aggie too. That makes things much clearer :) I'm planning on keeping an eye out for the 'Wax Leaf' from EA then.

MINI wax leaf! Or you'll end up with a plain carnosa, instead of lacunosa! I have an EA basket of plain lacunosa, as such, myself.
Was about six months before it started to bloom. It's a good one, in my book.

Last weekend while grocery shopping got my second EA basket; it was lacking tag but it's green compacta. There was no way I could pass on it, so it went home with me. I don't know if this is record number of cuttings EA managed to stick in one pot, but for ten bucks I got 23 (!) vines ranging 4-12 inches in length! Now there are: original hanging basket, 3 and 8 in pots. It needed new home asap, as there was green mold growing on top of that muddy mess poor thing was growing in! Now it got very chunky bark based mix and I hope it will be happy in it!

AWEsome! Good stuff Aggie!

/Aggie LOL Yes, let this be our Hoya contest from now on. I dare any of you... ANY. OF. YOU. to beat Aggie's current reigning record of 23 starts in one EA basket. Go forth and idk, drive to Home Depot and buy baskets of million baby Hoyas. Then keep them alive.

/Ren All the lacunosas are wonderful. They are all easily discernible and every one is a treat. :) I started to say go forth... but then I realized I played that card already.

Also, I liked your analysis of EA strategy. Gave me a lol.

/Susan Twister does indeed look hilarious. :) :)

Ha ha ha ha! I will have to see if my EA lacunosa can beat that. I will have to remember to include the HANDFULS I've torn OUT, due to sick looking. deformed, infected leaves...

GG, you always make me smile!