I have a few Hoyas that I've been wanting to get cuttings of, and the thought of ordering Hoyas has crossed my mind. I want to focus on obtaining cuttings of bella, Red Buttons, Pink Silver (quite a few of the pubicalyxes actually), javanica/multiflora, and maybe one new plant like rotundiflora. (Just to give any future traders out there any ideas lol ;-) )

The outside part of Xanadu may take some time to get going, but the Hoyas and other house plants are doing just fine.

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Oh my!

I have already ordered my plants weeks ago..lol

I'll share pics when feeling better:-)

Red Buttons is one of them. Boy did they take off once I took them from out of my house and stuck them in my greenhouse. I am excited.

Mike

Oh my!

I have already ordered my plants weeks ago..lol

I'll share pics when feeling better:-)

Red Buttons is one of them. Boy did they take off once I took them from out of my house and stuck them in my greenhouse. I am excited.

Mike

Haven't started ordering yet, still too cold to send cuttings here. When the weather warms up I'm going to order a new rotundiflora, though. And probably some other species too. Maybe siariae and heuschkeliana, and if I can find fitchii I'll definitively buy it!

There's only one problem - I got no more room for new hoyas; I got a puppy early this winter, and my best hoya window is in the "home alone-room". That means the window sill has to be empty. And I mean empty! No plants at all! The furry little demon is a Puppy of Mass Destruction!! LOL And she loves to jump up and sit in the window looking out over the garden (just like a cat!). My older dog is such an angel; she never destroys anything! I hope she won't get any ideas from watching how much fun the puppy has when she's in destruction mode... :)

Maybe next spring the young one has calmed down enough so that I can start using my favorite window for hoyas again. *keeping my fingers crossed*

Well, this year I'm somewhere in the middle. I'm not feeling the fever, where I just want to get a giant shopping cart, push it through Epiphytica and buy one of everything.

On the other hand, I still want to get to know some new plants this year, while I continue to build up better systems for the ones I have. I'll probably do some trades this spring - I like trading in spring best, because I feel like the plants get an extra charge from the pruning. The one plant I really want to acquire is Hoya sigillatis 'Atlas River'. I lost my plant over the winter, and it was a favorite. So, if anyone has a cutting, let me know and I'll trade you whatever I've got.

A lot of people looking for rotundiflora this year! It's a fast grower - you could probably get it through trade.

I think a year will probably do it for your puppy. It's amazing what a difference takes place right around the one year marker. Like a switch gets flipped in their heads. I think in some ways young cats are worse than young dogs, because they are have a strong motivation to climb (you always see farm kittens in trees, just for the hell of it), they don't remember to retract their claws, and they aren't very coordinated. So all your furniture gets claw marks from them scrambling up it, and all your delicates get knocked off the shelf. Of course at least they don't have the same amount of determined chewing power... Too funny that your puppy sits in the window!

I just got a batch of plants yesterday, so I thought I'd share some pictures. ^_^ These are from Joni at SRQ and I'm very joyful over them!

Hoya sp. Lata Iskandar A (SRQ 3138)
That leaf apparently leaned against a bar or something that got too hot, lol. I'm too happy to have the plant to care. I had originally pictured the leaves of this plant to be smooth and narrow, so I was really surprised when I saw the mother plant in Florida. It's really gorgeous at full size!

Hoya dennisii 'Gold Ridge' (IML 0955)
I've had this plant on my wish list for ages, but I put a lot of plants on my wish list, and sometimes I can't remember why afterward. So, I re-investigated this one and was like WHOA! Popping pink flowers, those thin teardrop leaves, and possibly better in cooler climates? Yes, yes, and yes, my friends. And did you ever see a more nicely established plant? This is my new love!

Hoya anulata (IML 0084)
So, last fall I got anulata fever and I acquired two anulatas back to back and loved them both. I'd avoided them for years because I'd convinced myself I wasn't a fan of white flowers. Well, you know what? Every time I see a white flower in person, I love it! They are just so fresh and charming in person. And anulata leaves are very pretty. Anyway, I discovered that Joni's favorite anulata was this one, so I was determined to get it too. And it is super cute. This is my favorite leaf size. Kind of around quarter sized.

Hoya schneei
Forgive how washed out this photo is. All these shots were taken around 11PM, so the light was unforgivingly dim and I wasn't in the mood to improve on it. I've actually wanted Hoya schneei since I first started collecting Hoyas, because it sounds like schnee (german for snow). But I had paziae, and then I got Iris Marie and tannaensis last year and well you know how it goes - it seemed extravagant to have another such similar plant. But then I figured: I have wanted this plant for so long and I LOVE this class of leaves, so screw it! I'm getting schneei! And I did. And none of you nay-sayers stopped me! (haha just kidding) And I love it.

Hoya dolichosparte (IML 1377)
This is actually one of the earlier plants I got from Joni. I think I got it from one of her summer $10 sales, back when she'd have everything on sale for 1 week, or something like that. Well, it always grew beautifully for me, but I lost it this winter. And I have to say, just looking at those nice healthy leaves after that long struggle this winter... it does my heart a world of good.

Hoya sp. (GPS-4098)
Pakeha has a flower photo of this plant if you're interested.

Hoya chinghungensis (SRQ 3095)
I've wanted this Hoya for so long because I love love love Hoyas like this. Partially because they grow super well in my conditions! You watch - in a year it will be a tiny tiny jungle.

I'm not feeling the fever myself, GG. However, picking up that lacunosa (I'm pretty sure it's a Sno Caps) at Wal-Mart not long ago made me hopeful about this year's growing season. Congrats on your new plants! They all look wonderful!

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Not yet GG, although I'm going to e-mail Gardino nursery asking to put me on waiting list for few minis ;)

Klea, most of my small leaf hoyas need haircut, so when is gets warmer I can send you some cuttings; have rotundiflora and both heuschkelianas plus seedlings from last year pod on yellow one :), looking forward to see what will grow out of it.
At the moment need to move hoyas inside, as its going to deep into 40-ties tonight, crazy weather is affecting even south Florida this year! Lost buds 3 times already on couple of plants due to cold!

Aggie

Well, I was at Lowes yesterday and all I saw there was a big curtisii, some DS-70s, and a wayettii, so nothing there for me. Still, when my friend who was with me saw the DS-70 he fell in love! WHAT?! I was outraged! I've tried so many times to get him to come into the other room to smell the amazing blooms on my DS-70, and he gets seduced by a non-blooming basket of it at Lowes?!

I'm starting to suspect that my collection is a more overwhelming shopping experience than an actual store.

What minis are you waitlisting, Aggie?

Aggie: You are very kind! But as I live in Norway I think the postage would be very expensive, and it would probably require paperwork too (customs). I'm very grateful, though! :) When I read about how you guys are trading and sending cuttings to each other, I must admit I get a little jealous. LOL Fortunatly there is a small "hoya community" here in Norway too, and we trade amongst each other. And sometimes I order from a nursery in Sweden. :) I'm going to order rotundiflora from that nursery when the weather warms up.

@ Klea, I keep forgetting about borders ;), and yes it's so nice to see people trading here on forum!

@ GG, for now: H. kanyakumariana, krohniana, memoria and pubera (picta). If I can find it will get javanica, not a mini but such nice flowers! And I have only 2 lacunosas, so more temptations coming my way!

@ Aggie

Picta is just awesome blossom extra awesome. I know you're going to love it. :)

@ Klea

Haha. I think sometimes there's a lot more talk of trades than actual trading. Some people are super good at lining up productive trades, but a lot more people struggle with it. Even over here.

I'm in another camp. Pretty much telling myself I am not going to get anymore this summer. So I won't be tempted, I don't even take a look at the hoya nurseries sites.

We are moving soon (again) and as I grow outside, I'll have to relearn the culture specific to my climate again.

But, one exception, I would give about anything for campulate type trades lol Those I grow in S/H, so climate does't matter as much.

Renee

I've gotten an order from Gardino's, mostly because I figured I better get it in early because they do tend to go out of stock on some stuff pretty early. Thankfully, the mail service was good to me this time. After the bad luck I had last summer and then again in December with an order from Joni (priority mail, 10 days, Dec... you know how it ended...), I've been a little leary about trying again. It seems the only thing that went well for me in the last year was trades - thank God for trades, or I would have had practically NO new species last year!

Here are the ones I got - I think I already showed krohniana on another post...

It's such a cutie! I got a neobudica to replace one I'd lost - for some reason, though, I haven't taken a pic of it yet...hmmm.

H. pusilla...

And sp. pottsii from Cambodia...

Last but not least, kenejiana...

As always, nice sized plants, very well packed, didn't lose even a leaf in-transit.

Denise in Omaha

I'm giving in and placing an order with Gardino's on Friday. Not sure what plants to order, but that's not a problem that hasn't been heard of lol. I was thinking of going with Pink Silver or Red Buttons and maybe either paziae or rotundiflora.

Brad AKA Moonwolf

So GG, why did you have to go do that for?!

The bug was fully contented. Of course you had to poke it and tease it. Now it wants to feed again. Only problem is we're still tight in winters vice, and ordering plants is totally out of the question. The red and white box from Thailand will have to wait I'm afraid.

Last year I held out late in autumn before ordering any plants, and then only got five or six. The year before I got three deliveries from Aleya within four months. My friend asked me if I live in a mansion. Maybe there should be something like Plant Hoarders Anonymous or something. Probably that would only ending up in feeding the addiction even more.

And contrary to what I said before, I think I'm also inclined to try some of my failed ones.

Probably all the wait will give me time to put together a nice list though.

Kami

I just scored three Hoyas at our yearly local Cactus show. I was tickled to find rooted starts of Hoya pubicalyx cv 'Silver Pink', & 'Red Buttons' & cinnamonfolia.
I have been looking for H. lauterbachii for a few years now and I know I will give in and order soon.

@ Denise

That's a beautiful variety of pottsii you have there. Nice succulent leaves?

Whenever I see pictures of krohniana, I'm a little surprised I have dragged my feet on getting one, so I finally got a very nice {{gwi:937757}} from Jack.

I hear you on trades. Last year I was kind of avoiding trading. But I have to say, plants from trades always do so well. I don't really need any more plants (LOL), but it would be fun to do some trading if I could work out how to make it more painless. I think I'm just going to have to go through all my plants, list out how many cuttings I could take from each one, and then cross them off as I give them away. That's what the sane people do, right?

I have to inventory my plants anyway... ._.'

@ Kami

Oh dear. You took the words right out of my mouth. As soon as I hit "post" it was like I'd waved a magic wand and transformed myself from "I-have-too-many-plants-and-need-to-cut-back-girl" to "Just-tell-Thailand-to-ship-me-one-of-everything-girl."

@ Dorydl

I have heard Hoyas like to infiltrate cactus and succulent shows. What fun! If you end up taking a stab at lauterbachii, you'll have to let us know how it goes! That's one plant I'm too chicken to try. :)

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I was going to put together a photographic post showing the results of my Thai orders, but I ran out of time this weekend. It was a very interesting set of orders, so I might do so anyway.

I kind of lost my mind and ordered a bunch of super delicate stuff from Aleya "just to see what would make it." So, a lot of those plants are looking a bit tough at the moment, and need some time to pull themselves together. Those that aren't super delicate are in excellent condition. The darwinii is at most risk of kicking it. It has that look that cuttings get sometimes, where it looks like someone set them on the floor and had a military unit march over them. (*cough* just like elliptica) Even though, of course, it was as carefully snuggled into the box as the rest of the plants. I also experimented with getting rooted specimens from them for the first time, and the vials full of roots in damp sphagnum moss seem to have worked well in transporting species that haven't made it to me alive before.

Hoyas from Epiphytica, arrived 04-April

My order from Epiphytica actually all looks exactly as fresh potted up, as it does in this soaking picture - those plants haven't skipped a beat. Comparing the orders is cheating a bit, since Jacks' are all rooted, and includes fewer sensitive species. As you can see, though, he sent nice generous chunks to work with! I think the mitrata is going to lose a leaf, and the elliptica "dark leaves" is as upset as ellipticas always are when I masochistically import them. But look at that gorgeous swathe of caudata! (Okay, okay, it's buried under rigida "2x bigger flowers" but trust me, there's a lot of it.) That's the {{gwi:937759}} and I think the day it buds up, my head is going to explode with excitement.

Also noteworthy is the megalantha at the top. That group of similar leaves is actually two plants, the megalantha and the desvoeuxensis, and look how beautifully they both traveled! Amazing! You really couldn't hope for an order to go smoother than this one did.

And that's when we get to... the USPS (& customs)!

Guess how long these orders took to arrive?

Aleya: Ordered 03-26-2013. Shipped 03-29-2013. Delivered 04-05-2013.

Epiphytica: Ordered 03-27-2013. Shipped 03-30-2013. Delivered 04-04-2013.

That's right. The Epiphytica package was only in the mail for 6 days.... greased lightning... Hoya-style!

@GG Where about's you living.... I'm so jeaolus your Epipthyca order :)

GG,

You're so lucky when it comes to the P.O. I ordered some cuttings from Joni which she shipped last Fri. They finally got to me yesterday. She said she sent several packages out that day and all but mine arrived on Mon.!! I'm starting to feel persecuted by the P.O.!!

Looks like a blizzard here right now. SPRING, where ARE you???

Denise in Omaha

@ Paphia

I'm in Omaha NE. It's still brisk here, but the shipments of Hoyas look no worse for wear for it. Of course I wouldn't want to leave them sitting outside on the doorstep or anything... ;)

@ Denise

I know. I did shake in my boots a little when I placed the orders, thinking I might not be so lucky again this year. But the trend is holding so far. I don't know what's up with your luck. It's like they are running a campaign to drive you crazy.

My package from Joni did show up super smooshed, which was unprecedented. Clearly they set something super heavy on top of it. Luckily the plants were packed well enough that they were undamaged inside.

Do your cuttings look like they will pull through okay?

And yep, I'm dreading the walk home right now...!

Update on the cuttings:

Well, I think I am going to lose maybe... 1/4 of the Aleya plants I ordered. That said, they were delicate species, and the prices are a steal so you can afford some risk.

The Epiphytica plants still look outstanding. Just so hearty and bushy and in tip top condition. And Jack is so nice to work with. I just got an unsolicited email from him, checking in on how the elliptica was doing. Honestly, I always go through so little stress and frustration with orders from him.

And of course Joni's pretty cuttings all rooted successfully, but that's easy peasy!

I think they'll all survive, but I didn't think I 'd lose many from the 10-day ordeal in Dec., so who knows?! At least this time of year, they have a better chance of bouncing back.

I saw your list on this forum - geez-louise, girl, your apartment must be massive!!! Maybe we better get together and go to plantaholics annonymous. You: "I'm GG and I can't stop buying plants..." Me (pointing at you): "At least I'm not as bad as her!!" Haha!!

Denise in Omaha

I know what you mean - when they're in that middle zone, you never know which direction they're going to tip.

My place? It's not massive. It's just weird. Most people provide spaces for guests and socializing. I provide spaces for plants and books... hang the guests.

You'll never get me to PA! First I need to admit I have a problem!

/flee

Yes, really - where IS rock bottom when it comes to collecting plants? "Sorry, I can't meet you for dinner tonight - I'll be potting up new plants." No, that doesn't seem unreasonable... And far more believable than "I have to wash my hair."

How about this: "I got a part time job at Lowe's in the evening." "Why?" "Well, so I can support my plant habit, and then I also get first pick of the fresh plants when they come in!" Hmmm, Maybe a little closer.

I know! Scenario: husband comes home and catches you with a plant and some fresh dirt. "What are you DOING?!!" "Uh, nothing dear!" "You bought another plant, didn't you!!" "No, no, this is an OLD plant - I'm just transplanting..." "I told you there is NOT enough room in this house for one more plant and I'd move if you bought one more!!" You run over and pick up your 3rd duplicate of pubicalyx 'PS' and say "Ok, I'll get rid of this one, I promise!!"

LOL

Denise in Omaha

Where can I order cuttings of Hoya's ?
I am in Oregon .
Thank you

Ellsta,

We need to start a new thread - I'll start it for you...

Denise in Omaha

lol... declining social engagements due to pressing plant projects.

I know I've been there. What's worse is when you've already agreed to hang out, so you make people sit around with their beers while you get your Thai shipment in a water bath.

Here are my rock bottom candidates:

1. When you notice the dead look in your friend's eyes, but continue to talk about plants, figuring they "owe you" for that time they were boring.

2. When your opinion of a colleague goes down after they neglect to repot their office plants on schedule.

3. When you spend your whole time at a business conference being annoyed by the artificial plants "living" in untenable plant habitats (e.g. plastic orchids in full bloom behind the dark cave of a receptionist's desk).

4. When you start thinking of major purchases in terms of their weight in plants (e.g. This Zojirushi electric skillet is worth about 13 Hoyas).

5. When potting soil is just kind of ... always on your floor... somewhere.

I'm going to be a good girl this year and not buy anymore Hoyas. I'll focus on the ones I currently have and also tend to my African Violets.

I'm getting into Amaryllis bulbs and have been buying and growing them. Such beautiful plants, just like Hoyas!