H. potsii 'Chaing Mai'
H. latifolia
H. marcophylla (variegated)
H. multiflora

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H. cummingiana is extremely easy from what I've seen growing it. It took a little while to show new growth. Only water when slightly dry.

H. lacunosa 'sno caps' is touchier about getting too much water. It will yellow, so give it a good drink and leave it alone. It's starting to shoot off new growth at many points.

H. mindorensis is gorgeous. I have her out back and she came to me with vines that were dying back. Make sure to cut at a point where latex comes out. I haven't had this one for too long at all, but it doesn't seem super picky yet.

My wish list is every rigida ever. What is with me and this plant? Even I don't understand it.

Lately I have really been into Hoyas with slender tough looking leaves like micrantha and parviflora, etc. I'm not looking for anything in particular, just looking to see new things. You know?

H. Bilobata - For me this one grows slowly, but it's so so cute. The leaves are soooo ridiculously round and chunky. Makes me smile. Not difficult, just slow.
H. Cumingiana - Best grown in high light. As goddess says, even though its leaves seem thinnish, it doesn't mind drying out a bit.
H. Curtisii - This one always seems like a wax plant to me - it grows behind my back and always looks ornamental. It does drop leaves if you let it dry out too much.
H. Diptera - So cute! Very easy.
H. Diversifolia - The easiest Hoya at all. I think this one is underrated. It's cool the way it looks like so many different plants in one.
H. Finlaysonii - I like this plant a lot. Some varieties are definitely prettier than others. These species with the decorative dark veins all seem to be pretty tough.
H. finlaysonii 'rippled leaf' - I told this one to open its buds on my birthday, but it hasn't, so far...
H. Fungii - Can you believe I actually avoided this plant for a while, thinking it was enough to have carnosa and dasyantha. It's totally different! Love those big velvet-backed leaves. I am so grateful to have it now. There's a reason people rave about it.
H. lacunosa (any variation) - Likes quite a bit of water. It eventually becomes large of course, but due to the small leaves it is still quite small at blooming size. Which means you can collect them all, right?
H. lanceolata ssp. Bella 'Luis Bois' - Oh this little punk hardly grew at all for me, for several years. Then it took off and bloomed almost simultaneously. Now I really like it. Do not put it in a bright window, because it burns pretty easily. If you give it lots of light you'll get those pretty red central veins. I thought mine didn't have this characteristic, but it developed them when I moved it.
H. bella - Love love love. Its leaves shrivel hideously when you don't water it frequently but it's actually pretty tough, just a drama queen. I once forgot a bunch of cuttings of it in a northern window all winter and only watered them maybe twice. And they all lived. It blooms for what feels like forever.
H. macrophylla 'variegata' - This one is infamous for putting out leaves/vines and dropping them if you don't water it plenty, so you really have to watch it when it is actively growing. It is not one that grows constantly, at least not for me, so you don't want to miss your window. Still, it is obviously very beautiful.
H. Meliflua - Very tough. I nearly killed my cutting and then it came back to life from a bare stump that stayed leafless all winter. I love it for that. Still haven't seen those amazing gooey pink stained flowers.
H. Merrillii - One of the best, for sure. The glossiest leaves of any Hoya. You can almost see your reflection in them.
H. Mindorensis - I have a sick compulsion to collect all the different varieties of this plant, but I haven't seen the flowers yet. The prettiest leaves are on IML 0768, but this collection is also the slowest growing. I almost killed mine this winter, but now that I re-rooted it, it has almost regained all its lost ground in a couple of months. Maybe that's all it needed all along?
H. Multiflora (i really really want this one!) - Good choice. No Hoya will reward you more, for sure. Although lasiantha gives it a run for its money.
H. Nummularioides - I actually killed one of these so I am a bit wary. Its leaves are SUPER SUPER plushy though, so it's worth it. I treat it like any other Hoya and hold my breath. It seems fine... no one else sux at it but me!
H. pallida - Great choice! No one ever talks about this plant, so when I received it in a trade last year I was astonished to see how beautiful it is. Totally normal care.
H. Paziae - One of my very favorite Hoyas. It grows so vigorously and always has new leaves, which are blood red and translucent. The flowers are quite sweet and dainty, too.
H. Pentaphlebia - I found this one somewhat difficult to root before it lost all its large thin leaves. Some of these big thin leaved Hoyas are trickier than you would think. Still, could it be any prettier?
H. Pubicalyx (any variety) - I have 4 and I like them all. There's a Red Buttons sitting behind me that probably isn't getting enough light and it has the most gorgeous nearly marbled speckling on its leaves.
H. sp. DS-70 - Very pretty - always reminds me of a box of faded velvet ribbons
H. Wayetii - I stuck this one and DS-70 out on my west facing balcony with no shelter to see what would happen. Needless to say, the DS-70 puked all over me. But the wayetii is coming through with a waterfall of new leaves much smaller than the old ones. It still doesn't have those magnificent charcoal black borders the Florida group gets, tho...

This is a super good starter list. You should be able to get most of these through trades if you are able to gradually build up something to offer in return. You kind of have to be patient before the trades really start cropping up. For me it took about a year.

I wonder about getting most of these through trade. Seems to me most would be mail order (I've been here since before the Hoya Forum began & done a fair amount of trading, especially w/ some of the earlier, founding members, etc).

Amber, why not focus on the more easily gotten from BBS, like the basic Hoyas (KP,KQ, various Carnosas). Especially since you're starting w/ a problem w/ mealies & unknown black spots already?

i have kp and kq... i think i have the mealies under control, last i saw them they were on my one rope and i havent seen any for a while now... also the black dots are on that same one rope thats had the mealy problem... i dont know what BBS is?

Here's my wish list:

H. finlaysonii "Ripple Leaf"
H. rotundiflora (formerly sp. Square Leaf)
H. cagayensis
H. mindorensis (would love to have this one back again)
H. vanuatuensis
H. heuschkeliana (both forms)
H. celata (formerly pubicalyx "White Dragon)

I didn't do much trading last year, but hopefully I'll get some offers soon.

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Well, I speak only from my own experience. I did acquire the majority of the plants on this list from trades, even though I wouldn't describe myself as a big trader. So, I consider her ambitions reasonable, in comparison to people who show up in the forum and 2 days later are requesting a Black Dragon or waymaniae cutting.

It goes without saying that, to trade, you must bring something to the table. And as with most plant communities, the preferred trade item is another Hoya. That is why I always recommend that starting collectors invest in less common Hoyas, versus EA plants, if their goal is to expand through trade.

An alternative strategy is when people have Hoyas they purchased locally and grew into fine specimens, from which they can offer generous cuttings. I'm not sure what happened to David/peanut, but I feel he was a credit to this kind of beginning. It was always such a pleasure to see pictures of cuttings flourishing under his care - boy did those plants grow!

Yes, GG David's a good guy; now that you mention it, I haven't seen him in a while either. We swapped last summer, sadly & I lost 2 of the 4 small Lacunosas he'd shared w/ me.

I'd be reluctant to enter into mail order on the less common Hoyas as you seem to be suggesting for newbies (as an investment strategy) before they learn basic care, I'd be afraid they'l lose both their plants & the money.

BBS: Big Box Stores like Home Depot, Lowes, etc. I've seen various pubicalyx there, sometimes a Curtisii & even some Polyneura.

Less common I've only gotten from a particular few (Denise, Sue Tran, Josh, gee I hope I'm not forgetting anyone, if so pls. excuse me as I value ALL of you you trade & swap among ourselves).

oh yea ok big box stores... i have looked around curriously at the local home depot and lowes and have only cound the compacta and kq or kp there, cant remember what one... i was actually quite bummed that i couldnt find any others since i already have kq, kp, compacta and compacta varegata

Yes, I do have some reservations about that recommendation, as no one likes to lose expensive plants. So, you certainly have a point there. I hope people will proceed with some common sense and self-restraint.

On the other hand, many uncommon Hoyas are as easy to care for as a carnosa cultivar. A classic example would be H. publicalyx Black Dragon (soon to be published as a separate species), which grows almost as vigorously as Pink Silver and is as easy to care for as any Hoya. This plant would be an ideal one to grow and trade and even learn on.

Of course, it's hard to lay hands on, so you wouldn't want to lose it right out of the gate, but maybe after you had generally got the hang of things. And, of course, you would have to rely on others to supply you with recommendations of less common Hoyas that are hearty enough for a beginner.

I mean, don't get me wrong. I did not build my collection for the sake of trading, and I actually rather dread trading season because I am so lazy about going through my plants and creating lists of plants that are ready to be cut. When people trade with me, no doubt they find me a bit of a PITA.

I enjoy trading with friends, but it is more of a social thing for me than a collection building strategy. I like the conversations and bonding that come out of it more than anything.

I just feel sympathetic toward people who are struggling to build their collection within a budget and get no responses to trade inquiries. And my feeling is that our community would only benefit from more people investing in less common Hoyas, because the more people who grow these plants, the faster they gradually spread out to everyone. We don't come back to this forum day after day just to tell strangers that's a Krimson Queen they have there. We are here because we're hoping to advance the genus, and that does sometimes carry some risk.

i agree 100% with you GG, i do want to expand my collection, not even so much as to say well ive got this kind and that kind but because i love plants and its so cool to me having a plant growing inside my house that originates on the other side of the world... also, wanting to trade (even though its just hangers right now) is only half because i have no money, the other half is being able to say that my plant originated from someone elses plant in oregon or california or colorado... and being able to cominucate with them and create a friendship with them over a plant is so cool. that may be why my other favorite plant besides hoyas is spider plants, because you can clip a baby off and give it to someone and its a part of your plant... then theirs will get big enough for them to share a baby with someone else, and it all branches out from your plant, its just so cool to me. i havent gotten too many offers for trades, but i have gotten a couple and im very grateful to those who have offered to share with me. its a cool way to bond with someone you dont know...

GG, love your (alphabetical) list!
As a newbie I'm taking it slow, got some hoyas from Joni, Gardinos, getting EA plants when I spot it.:o) The goal for now is to KEEP IT ALIVE! Simple hoyas for beginners are fine with me. Somehow I got mostly small leafed hoyas with few exceptions. In less than a year since this hoya craze got me and first tiny plants arrived, hoyas got way bigger, and I learnt a lot here on GW and all over the internet. It's a lot of fun, and I hope to keep it this way! If I can share/trade with other newbies who happened to start from different varieties it's great, for sure I can't buy them all and will not buy rare difficult ones now; don't have nerves and money for it!
Would like to get multiflora, curtisi, bella, sigillatis, linearis...
Funny, couple days ago while searching for old recipe I looked through 1996 planner and found short list of Hoyas with flower descriptions etc. I got compacta, loved it and I guess having my daughter that year help me forget about hoyas for years.

BTW Amber, I just sent you cuttings of H.carnosa plain green, H.lacunosa and H.wayetii.

Moonwolf, check my post on trade list. Although I just took cuttings from H. heuschkeliana (both forms) they are growing fast now, so mid summer I should have more! Got them from Joni when she had sale ;) Rotundiflora just sent some 5 inches of bare vine as well...

Aggie

Hi its Natalie from New Zealand my hoyas and sensitive plants are all inside now because its coming into winter here. Just a question will Tamarillos survive frost if under eaves of house. I would love any hoya not available in New Zealand really which are most of the ones you guys have already listed above. Anyone have any seeds i could try to grow?

I'm the most expert one in loosing expensive cuts, due to the long trip to Brazil........... but I just keep going, always!

yay aggie! thank you very much!!! i look forward to recieving those beauties!

Haha Aggie. That's Amber's list - I was just responding to it with my experiences. I hadn't even noticed it was alphabetical. I guess I was going too fast. I have to say I think your collection (and wish list) sounds like such a pretty set. I bet they look very well together. That's just what I did - traded with other newcomers. Then I could swap what I had without feeling too guilty about lack of selection or size. It sure can be intimidating to trade with veterans, with such amazing plants and generous cuttings.

I was thinking about it last night and I felt I should say that I do consider most of the ones we are mentioning, including those in Amber's original list, uncommon. Just accessible enough that members of our community have been growing them long enough to share.

I totally agree with you, Amber, that the best thing about trading is that feeling when you look at a plant and feel connected through it to the person who gave it to you. I am a very sentimental person and sometimes I think these GW members have no idea how often I am thinking of them, when a new leaf forms or my plant blooms a couple days after they post pictures of its mother's flowers. Occasionally, without my database, I will forget which vendor I got a particular plant from, but a trade plant never gets disconnected in my mind from its origin. I actually got a great deal of pleasure responding to your list just because it made me reflect on all the generous people who enabled me to get to know such lovely species. I hope if you're reading you know how thankful I am! :)

I've never had a tamarillo before, Nat. Can you compare it to another fruit? I hope you get an answer to your question, as it looks like a beautiful plant to own.

Aggie, let me know when your plants are ready to take cuttings from and shoot me an e-mail :-).

Brad AKA Moonwolf

My wish list lets see ALL OF THEM! I would really like:

Any Australis
lacunosa I have 6 but love this Hoya for the scent of the Flowers
Curtisii I lost mine when I treated for mealy bugs
hoya Bella
Hoya fishtail I had one but it did not agree with me
Hoya Kerri
a true bilobata
hoya cilata
hoya imperialis
hoya lobbii

I am sure I would love any Hoya but those above have got my attention. I have done some propagating last spring and this spring and will have some to trade soon. I like to trade at least a 4 inch pot size. any one whos got the itch to trade let me know!

LOL GG, I must be tired, didn't see resemblance with Amber's list;) Thought that you made nice list of "where to start"!
No matter who started it I may get couple new plants soon!

I think the weirdest ones are on my list ;)

The top one on my wish list is Hoya lauterbachii... I really really want those massive furry flowers, and I think it would do well here!

Hoya retusa is another one i would like, it is similar to pauciflora

Hoya darwinii - has bullate leaves for ants to live in :)

Hoya spartioides - has no leaves - it photosynthesizes from the green umbels which produce one flower each - it is a really weird one!!