Nice to meet you, greedyghost! I'm heading straight to your trade page. My curiosity gets the better of me, often! I believe you'll fit in well, here. We're all a bunch of nutty hoya folks!

Have a safe move!!!

Carolyn

Welcome to the Hoya forum greedyghost,and the wonderful world of collecting Hoya's!

I too like many others got addicted to collecting and expanding my collection of hoya's,often with the help of the many enablers who feed my hoyaholic addiction....Seriously tho, they are a wonderful bunch of folks that have given me many tips and ID's and to them I owe a big Thank-you.

If you wish my list of Hoya's are also posted here on my trade page. Take a peak some time and perhaps there is a trade we can work out.

Once again welcome and hope to see you here often.

Regina

Hi GG,

So what's bringing you to Omaha? I heard a funny story a few weeks ago from a couple from Minneapolis - they were the parents of a bride (I'm in the wedding biz) and their daughter is having her reception at our facility later this year. They were in Omaha and getting ready to go back to Minneapolis - for the summer. They come to Omaha during the winter months, and they decided they would have been better of staying in Minneapolis this year. I thought it was hilarious that anyone would "winter in Omaha"!!

If you're still in town the weekend of the 26th, you might want to stop out at Mulhall's, our local nursery extraordinaire. My cactus & succulent plant club is having their show/sale that weekend, and I'll be selling quite a few Hoyas. Of course, most are fairly common, so you may already have them...

Welcome to the Hoya forum!

Denise in Omaha

Oh Denise, I'm laughing that you would bring up that couple's story because it's really not that far off from my own. I actually work for a company whose owner moved the headquarters to Omaha because HE can't stand the Minneapolis winters and finds Omaha a much more enjoyable climate. Okay there were other business-related factors, but I suspect it was really the weather because he won't stop talking about it! I've been traveling back and forth for part of a year now and I have to admit the difference IS noticeable... and my plants seem to prefer Omaha (perhaps because their windows at the corporate apartment aren't shaded by the neighboring buildings >_>;)

Thanks for the invite! I've driven past Mulhall's and always feel so curious to pop in. I'm supposed to go back Friday (to check on some neglected plants at home, among other things) so I don't know if I'll be able to make it - but I feel STRONGLY tempted, so we'll see ^_^. I'm a little worried about rubbing elbows w/a cactus/succulent club, though! I struggle with BOTH! (hoyas aside).

Welcome to the Hoya Forum greedyghost! Interesting name,btw! Good to have another soon to be addicted member,lol...

Thanks everyone for the kind welcome. I'm definitely looking forward to working out some trades. I think my brain melted a little bit from the sheer volume of possible expansion this group offers. Melted in a happy way, of course.

The name Greedy Ghost comes from a test that I received second-hand, as a method of determining whether a home has a ghost. You place a large coin (e.g. a quarter) in the center of a piece of paper, on the floor of a low traffic room, and draw an outline around it. Leave it alone for a few days and the ghost may move the coin, attempting to grasp it. I loved the story and will be sure to move lots of quarters around if I'm ever a ghost ^_~

Of course, the only ghost I've caught so far has pointy ears and a tail that likes being pulled.

Welcome to the forum, we are a livley bunch so there is always something to talk about and most of us pop in daily to talk Hoyas.
At first I though your forum name was greenghost, neat story about the greedy ghost though.

I have never been to Minnesota but from what I have heard it's a pretty cold state during the winter. I am about two hours from the most southern tip of Ontario so we are in zone 6a/b here which makes zone 4 sound really cold. Minnesota must be much like the Canadian province of manitoba, lots of lakes and beautiful coniferous forests with wide open expanses of grassland. Is Nebraska really all that much warmer, just one zone? From the look of it Omaha is a good distance from even the southern most part of Minnesota so the landscape must be much more prarie like vs Minnesota's.

Mike

I spent a summer in Toronto once and I didn't notice much of a difference from what I was used to. And I would have to say that summers in Omaha also feel quite normal to me. I think the difference is in the winter (surprise, surprise, right?) and it just seems to snow a lot more and be about 10 degrees colder all the time. I think Minnesotans have a bad habit of lording how winter-tuff they think they are, so I try not to comment. But it is fair to say there's an observable zone difference. I would say the upper 3/4 of MN is as you describe, Mike. Whereas the lower 1/3 is prairie (now farmland). Now, Omaha is tucked up against a beautiful region of rolling cliff and river and sweeping planes of windmills, so it's quite a pretty piece of the midwest, I have to say. And the people are wayyyyyy friendlier here. I'm not sure what that's all about!

Oh, good "plug" for Omaha, GG! I know for some people, the weather here is NOT a plus, but when you grow up with the wide variance in weather, a climate that stays consistent seems rather boring...

And speaking of weather, we've got a good ol' Nebraska thunderstorm moving in - it's getting darker by the moment, though as yet, I don't hear any exciting thunder. But they're talking up to golf-ball sized hail, so I better get out to my back porch and do some quick moving of plants!

Denise in Omaha

Toronto is a great city, did you enjoy your stay? I will be headed there to meet some Hoya friends the last weekend of the month, too bad the G20 will be in town and causing many transit related headaches I am sure.
I love to travel to the Northern parts of Ontario in the summer because it is breathtakingly beautiful but the winters are way too much for me. Zone 2 means all the plants I am familiar with down South are out of the question but I guess there is a whole new world of extra hardy plants to grow as well. canadians are apparently famous for complaining about the wearther, it's always too hot or too cold. LOL

Denise if you go on YouTube and look up Hail storm Okalahoma there is a video that is both terrifying and visually amazing. Hail the size of hard balls splashing down in a back yard pool, amazing.

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: Hail storm

Wow, Mike, that WAS a trip! It reminded me of that movie "The Day After Tomorrow"... I've had my little GH on the side of my house (off my kitchen w/a slider into it) since 2001 and it has roof glass. When they start predicting hial, I worry... It's tempered glass, but if it can break a windshield, I'm sure my roof glass would be vulnerable. And I tend to run out into it (on my deck) to move plants, even in the middle of the night. I have a feeling THAT hail could have been big enough to kill someone!! Yikes!!

Well, our storm only produced a few big wind gusts and a bit of rain in my part of town (a little worse in the west part of town.) Pretty lame... But I'm thankful for no hail!!

Denise in Omaha

Mike: I did love Toronto, enough to return since. I had my first Fuzzy Navel there, and thought I was pretty cool at the time, which tells you how young I was. You're right, it is a great town. Planning a trip to Banff this year, which will be my third part of Canada to visit.

TBH I'm pretty obsessed w/Canada... I have such good luck with Canadians. I think the only time a friendship with a Canadian has gone wrong was that time one introduced me to Anthony Trollope. >_>; But how much can Canada really be blamed for that? As far as I can tell, we can lay most of the blame on England.

Here is a link that might be useful: Canada = Better Than You

I drove from Chicago to Anchorage in a Uhaul, and later from Anchorage to Pennsylvania, again in a Uhaul. I was very fond of the parts of Canada that I drove through, and almost everyone everywhere was super friendly. I especially liked the Yukon, and the upper northwest corner of British Columbia that I drove through. Saskatoon seemed to be a pleasant city also. I did not like Edmonton much, but that could've had something to do with the dude in his truck that kept chucking empty plastic gallon containers out his window that I then had to dodge as I was driving behind him. Oh, and I had to wait in Edmonton when one of the tires blew out. So both times through Edmonton had their issues. And I really didn't like Winnipeg, although I did get to see the Northern Lights there.

I have yet to see the eastern part of Canada though. I feel like I'm the opposite from everyone else. Most people I know who've been to Canada have gone to the eastern part. I've only seen Canada from Manitoba and westward.

I have never been to Banff but maybe Alberta will be one of my next trips. I have a friend who is a chef at the Banff Springs Hotel so I really should pay a visit.

Quinn I would love to experience a cross country drive especially through the areas you mentioned. Many people ride the Via train from Eastern Canada to the West coast so they can experience traveling through the different landscapes/provinces, especially the Rockey Mountains.
Winnipeg is one of Canada's most violent citys so not a very good reputation.
I will be going to the East coast for the first time this summer for a wedding so I am looking forward to experiencing the maritimes. The first thing people will tell you about Canada's maritime provinces is that the people are incredibly friendly. I really have not seen much of the country which is something I need to change.

Mike

Oh, I didn't know that about Winnipeg, Mike! I guess that would explain the bullet holes in the windows at the motel I had to stay in, then. It was one of the only rooms available in the whole city, due to the Indigenous People's Games, which of course I had no idea about, since I was only passing through. It was actually attached to a bar, which I'd never seen before, but kind of does make some sense. Still, I was really happy to see the Northern Lights. I was surprised to see them so far south. Also, I guess I was happy not to have to sleep in the truck, ha.

Let us know what you think of the east coast. I have a friend who likes to visit PEI; I seem to remember she had good things to say about it. One of these days I will see more of Canada. But now I need a passport, which wasn't the case before. Oh well. I suppose it's probably a good thing to have a passport anyway.

wow Quinn. You have some crazy drives under your belt! You're making me jones for a good road trip.

You can see the Northern Lights even further south than Winnipeg. I've seen them on several occasions in north central Minnesota. I always figured, if those sightings were as impressive as they were, seeing them in Canada or Alaska would just melt my brain.

Mike, have you known anyone to take the above-mentioned train ride? I always think it sounds like a lot of fun, but I'm afraid it would end up being a disaster in some unpredictable way. Of course that could be all those train horror movies talking...

There was actually a Canadian TV personality, Valerie Pringle who did the trip a year or two ago and the whole thing was televised on her show. Passengers and rail employees were interviewed and there were cameras mounted on the train in different positions. I don't think it's the most exciting material for TV but the trip would be fantastic. I have traveled on the Northern trains and they seem a bit rickety but the Via service that runs coast to coast is top notch and thousands of foreign travelers make the journey each year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=LkQFNC6WhEI&feature=related

The Northern lights have been seen as far south as Texas but they are only visible that far South when the sun in experiencing violent storms and ejecting huge amounts of radiation towards earth. The sun is actually gearing up to another active period so the lights will be more visible than usual over the next few years. I have yet to see the Northern Lights in person but they must be spectacular.

I had to get a passport last year just to board a plane for an in province flight that took only 45 minutes. The process was quite painless and although there were many many people applying for passports due to the new laws things ran quite smoothly.

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: Banff to Vancouver

Of course you have the perfect link to answer my question. I'm starting to suspect that being Canadian is just a cover and you are some kind of super-researcher working for the CIA. Can't wait to watch! I'm totally going to ride a train across Canada. It Is Now My Dream

I think one day I'll have to plan a trip to see the Northern Lights in their truest glory. I guess sometime in the next few years of "active period" now that you've tipped me off.

Super researcher no but I have been hoping to take my mother on such a trip to see the rest of the country because she would enjoy that so much more than driving or flying. I find Youtube so useful if finding info like this, what a great resource it's turned out to be. I bet you could find some nice video of the Northern lights to. :)

Mike

I remember once when I was a kid we saw the Aurora all the way down in Oklahoma. I look for them each year when we go to our fishing cabin in Canada but the sun has been quiet.

Our cabin is right by the Railroad at a stop called Ghost River, Ontario. Really awesome place.

I lived in Central Texas, growing up, and Aurora was visible to us. . . BEAUTIFUL!

Carolyn

Tiger I had never heard of Ghost River so I looked it up, now that's Northern Ontario. I have only been as far North as Engleheart Ontario which is almost 900 Km South/East. You would be in some pretty wild Boreal forest there, must be absolutely beautiful. How often do you make it up to the cabin?

I found a good site on the Northern Lights
http://www.northernlightscentre.ca/northernlights.html

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: My Flickr set on Temaghami Northern Ontario

I didn't look at your trade list until now... whew, you've got a lot of gessies! What do you think of columnea orientandina? I tried growing that one once, killed it by not watering quite enough, I guess. If you're ever up for trading a cutting of that, I promise I will wick water it this time : )

I never made a trade list, but I put what I have on my GardenWeb page. It took a little doing, but I've decided I love having a grand list of what I have, as it helps me keep track of things. I can do the same thing in a Word document (and I have) but somehow it's not quite the same as having it online somewhere.

Upon second glance at your list, this caught my eye... petrocosmea Fluffernutter... ha. Any chance you have a pic of this amusingly named Petrocosmea? Fluffernutter? That just sounds like it's got to be adorable. Or hilarious. Either one.

So slick that people have seen NL so far south. Now that Mike's given us a solid start date (2013) I'm going to start planning a trek to north north north Canada then (possibly preceded by a train trip)! There are interesting videos of the phenomenon, but it's kind of like stars... you think your breath is taken away by the spectacular photographs of space, but when you are truly staring at a black starry sky with your own eyes your brain lights up on a whole different scale with your heart in your throat. I'm sure someone's done that research - hooking people up to MRIs and seeing how their brains react differently to pictures of plants versus actual plants (etc.) NOT to suggest that photography/video doesn't get you in the gut - I just think it's higher brain.

Quinn, You're right, my gessies have gotten way out of control. Now I don't know what I'm going to do when ALL my episcias are full size I've been meaning to take a peek at your list - I think I remember seeing some sneak into some Hoya pics in an old thread. I'll snap a picture of Fluffernutter tonight. He is pretty cute and has grown like a weed for me. I'm finally starting to understand how people can grow Pets to the size of dinner plates. Once they really get a foothold, they rock out. My orientandina is a newer acquisition and still pretty small, but I'd be happy to take a clipping if you were okay with trying your hand at a couple stubby ones. I think it's a really sweet plant even small and I can't wait to see it reach maturity. :3 :3

Here are some pictures of our camp and the scenery near Ghost River. I get to go once in the summer for a week but others in the family make it up there two or three times a year. It is so peaceful and refreshing!

Tiger, just beautiful - I especially love the last two photographs.

Quinn, meet Petrocosmea Fluffernutter (right). I pictured him next to Forrestii (left) to give you some perspective. They are both in 4" pots. Sorry for the lack of definition - my tripod's in Minneapolis

If you're in the mood for a Pet addition to your family, let me know.

Tiger your cabin looks like the perfect place to get away from it all.

GG I love the plant with the smaller leaves! I should try to grow some mini Sinningias in my terrariums. I tried once in the past with seed but did not get any germination. Any tips on raising Sinningia pusilla or Sinningias from seed in general?

Mike

Rrr'uh r'oh ('uh oh' in Astro the dog's accent, ha). I need more plants like I need a hole in my head, but those are very tempting! In any case, thanks for the offer! I will hold off for now, while I try and work out my rearranging situation. I'm planning on putting up a new shelf on my wall, to put some of my hoyas that are more unruly, shall we say, so they have a bit more head room. I'll see where I'm at after that. Plus, it may just be nice to trade something, and if I wait, I might have something to trade.

Wow Tiger...awesome pictures...so serene and peaceful! Love to spend about a week there!

GG, nice plants! Love the other one you posted also with the shimmery leaves.

Tiger, I wish I were there right now. It looks so lovely.

Quinn: I see I see. I thought it would be rare indeed if I met another female Quinn. I have long been keen on the name Jane though, for some reason, so... well done, you!
I just put down a propagation flat that included several petrocosmea, so if I don't run into problems, babies might be ready by the time you build your shelf ^_~ Wow, now I feel like I'm in league w/ Carolyn.

Mike: Forrestii I actually only have one Sinningia, so I have precious little experience with them. I totally agree with you that starting a little spatter of S. pusilla in your terrarium sounds captivating, though! If you ever get it started, let me know - I'd love to see the results.
Is your interest in starting from seed or having a little flock, because my experience with other tuberous gesneriads is that they self-propagate so fast by tuber you can hardly keep them under control. Kohleria 'Silver Feather' anyone?

Pug: Thanks ^_^*

For anyone interested in seeing the Aurora Borealis yesterday and tonight are perfect times if the sky is clear. There were reports of Aurora as far South as Seattle yesterday and possibly farther South.
Usually I am in Northern Ontario camping at this time so I guess I missed the show, maybe I will get lucky and see some Aurora tonight?

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: NASA Aurora CME report for early this week

Oh dear I'm in Nebraska tonight. Maybe I'll drive out into the country and enjoy the stars anyway. Thanks for the heads up, Mike!!! I've already told everyone I know that they're coming with me to ride the train across Canada and then look for aurora in 2013.