another angle

Congrats, Susan! Those pesky hoyas and their jumping into the cart habit! Mine do the same thing.

Do you see how at least one of those vines (maybe more) is growing all-green leaves? If you let that continue, the green will gradually take over the whole plant, as those are more efficient and more fast-growing vines. If you want to maintain the variegated (two-color) look, then you should cut off the all-green vines where they start being all-green and root them in a separate pot or pots (label it "Hoya carnosa 'Rubra' reverted", or simply "Hoya carnosa"), or give them out as gifts or whatever.

Or just keep it all together as is if you value the full basket more than the variegated look.

OR, if not, another option is to go back to the store (or to another location) to find a 'Rubra' that has not started reverting, and exchange.

The pot will look slimmer if you cut, but hey - TWO plants for the price of one! Silver lining.

One of the same jumped in my cart last week.
Problem was that a it pulled a Hindu rope in with it.
A good thing about it though is that they were half
price...love when that happens.
Enjoy your jumper.
Karen

Greentoe: Actually the reason I bought the plant was because of the light green solid leaves. This hoya is different from the KP and the difference is very noticeable once I got it home.

Wow, Karen, half price? That's great. Wal-Mart usually sells EA at $12.97 while Lowe's and Home Depot sell them at about $14.97.

> Actually the reason I bought the plant was because of the light green solid leaves.

Oh good. I was afraid I was bringing you what could be perceived as bad news.

> Wal-Mart usually sells EA at $12.97 while Lowe's and Home Depot sell them at about $14.97.

HD increased their prices in the last few months, at least in my area - those baskets are $18 now.

Susan, it actually IS a 'Krimsom Princess' that has reverted. And I wish they wouldn't use the supposed synonym rubra because there IS a carnosa rubra that is all green that is very different from the typical carnosa and very different from 'KP'. I've grown it for several years and thought it was misnamed because of the use of rubra when referring to the old trade name 'Krimson Princess.' But a few years ago, I sent a piece to Carol in Hawaii to get a good ID on it and she consulted with DL and he said carnosa rubra is the correct name. Here's the REAL carnosa rubra...
{{gwi:924920}}
A closeup of a particularly nicely speckled leaf...
{{gwi:961521}}

I do love the 'KP' nonetheless, in every way. It frustrates me that it won't stay variegated, mind you, but the green shoots I take off and root are far more attractive to my eye than the typical clone of carnosa. I love the deep midrib that gives it a cupped appearance, and the leaves are narrower, longer, a very bright green - it makes a beautiful plant! And it blooms easy. You got a great deal there!

Denise in Omaha

Interesting. From what I've read, trademarks on "Krimson Queen" and "Krimson Princess" names have expired and now they should be called Tricolor and Rubra respectively.

To my highly untrained eye, Denise, your pics look like Hoya motoskei.

Here are a few links I was able to dig up quickly:

http://www.psthehoyan.com/psthehoyan10_2.htm

http://daves garden.com/guides/pf/go/57702/#b (copy, paste into browser, remove the space and press enter - GW would not let me paste this link)

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hoya/msg0901302423341.html

http://hoya.wikia.com/wiki/Hoya_carnosa_cultivars

While we are here, what's the most correct way to label the reverted rooted cuttings of these things?

GT, I know there is controversy over the rubra name. Maybe there is a difference between 'Rubra' and rubra. Initially, Carol thought it might be fungii, but I was pretty sure it was not since I grow fungii and it seemed not similar at all to me. But of all the people in the field of Hoya, I trust David Liddle the most. As I said in the last link you provide, I am absolutely positive, with utter certainty, that it is not motesky. Motesky, to me, looks like a wide-leaved clone of carnosa. Rubra has succulent, rather convex leaves that are somewhat succulent.

On the other hand, I suppose it could be one of those clones that RFG refers to, like Dapple Gray or another, But until I get a definitive ID I trust (as much as DL), I will keep it labelled rubra.

Denise in Omaha

I have Denise's 'rubra' and it is a gorgeous hoya! Love, love it! I guess I'm stubborn but I don't think my KP will revert. I have started removing some of the green leaves from the KP because I love the picture of Denise's plant that reverted. They seem darker to me, tho. My new plant has light green leaves. I could always hope I have something different. LOL!

Susan, I think mine is pretty identical to the one in your pic...

Denise in Omaha

lol Denise. I should shake my fist at you for wasting so much of my time tonight. ;D I'm sure if David Liddle says there is a Hoya carnosa (ssp.?) rubra, it does exist, but I dug for a good 30-40m and could not find another mention of it. Where did you get your plant and have you met anyone else who has it (who didn't get it from you?) Did Carol get any other details from him about its origin? I'm really curious about this.

Annnnnnyway, Hoya carnosa rubra is something most of us are ignorant about, but Hoya carnosa 'Rubra' is not. It definitely is the patented name for the carnosa cultivar we know better by the expired trademark name Krimson Princess. I doubt we need any more links after all the nice ones GT dug up for us, but I'm partial to this little explanation here. I don't know that you can hold out much hope, Susan ... Exotic Angel has a finite catalogue of only about 20 Hoyas, so when it comes from EA, we pretty much know what it is. This conversation reminds me a lot of when I went to the chicken forum to have the experts tell me whether I had a hen or a cockerel and even after they told me it was a cockerel I still held out hope until it started crowing... (I still love his little feathery butt, tho, and I'm sure you still love your beauty, too!)

You may have two of the same plant, but you're still doing A LOT better than me, since i once bought two DS-70s and convinced myself that one of them was brevialata. (I finally got the real brevialata this year - thanks GT :P)

I've also bought the same plant twice on at least 5 other occasions because I wasn't keeping track of my inventory well enough.

So, yeah, feel free to crown me Krimson Ditz (if that Trademark name hasn't already been taken...)

This post was edited by greedyghost on Mon, Jun 16, 14 at 20:37

btw lol @ enterotoxigenic

That's when they get most dangerous! When they start a chain reaction.

Also... weird name choice!

GG, sorry you had to take one of those taxonomic tirades, as I have so many times!! I feel your pain, girlfriend! And yes, I know there is plenty of evidence about rubra or 'Rubra' being associated with 'KP', which is why I sent a cutting off to Carol, hoping she could help me out. Now I know every ID is not 100% right, but when she said DL felt the ID was right, closing the door on the subject felt right. I got the original plant from Bob Smoley, who I know has some questionable IDs, which is why I was not sure... (Not knocking Bob - I've gotten some real gems from him!!)

If someone comes up with a photo of a Hoya that looks like this one with a hint of a provenance, I'll be happy to change my labels. Until then, I will trust DL's opinion (may his Hoya-lovin' soul rest for eternity!)

Denise in Omaha

Oh, I am not questioning your label, Denise. I can run with the theory that there are 2 plants running around with the name rubra. I was just trying to work out whether David Liddle said your rubra was a different cultivar or, as I would assume from your lowercase r, a ssp. of carnosa?

It looks like Bob is still selling Hoya carnosa Rubra - I would be interested to see if it's the same one he sold you back in the day. CB also mentions this plant in Smoley's catalogue, and at the time she wrote the article, she did not believe in a second rubra. But she mentions that he didn't supply a photograph of the plant, so it appears to be an educated assumption, not one of her ironclad beatdowns.

The whole KP discussion brings to mind how GLAD I am that I got into Hoyas in a day and age when carnosa cultivars are not the centerpoint. I think I would have banged my head bloody over all the subtle cultivar variations and concocted names people raged about back in the day. At least nowadays when we get into ID arguments it's about which species are analogous or tagged wrong, not whether there's a difference between carnosa Apple Bottom and carnosa Poobaroo. We're so lucky to have too too many Hoyas to play with. :)

This post was edited by greedyghost on Tue, Jun 17, 14 at 0:55

GG you are something else! LOL!

I still say the variegated leaves on the Rubra are not as crinkly (for lack of good description) as the KP.

I like the KP rubra the best. Pardon my nonuse of the proper Hoya names or punctuations but names and blooms aren't really important to me. I buy Hoyas for the foliage only.

Susan

pshaw. You don't have to use the correct name except in the context of trades. I was mostly just clarifying for any lurkers reading along that might want/need it. Once these forum discussions occur, you never know when someone's going to read it years later and end up confused or misled.

And there do seem to be (maybe) better lines of KQ and Chelsea, so maybe you got a superior line of KP from a different originating greenhouse than your first one. Who knows. You'll find out as it grows in your conditions, if it keeps the traits you admire, or grows more similar to the other one.

GG...I wasn't being fussy or anything...I'm just saying how I am about my houseplants.

Love reading your threads! Keep on, keeping on.

There are very distinctly different clones of the Krimsons, IMO. I've had several of each. Some have larger/smaller leaves, some have a lot of concave leaves, some a lot of convex leaves (I'm sure there are botanical terms for both of these phenomena...), some have leaves that are (as you put it, Susan) crinkly and others are very smooth, some have new growth that is deep burgundy and some only take on a little pinkness. The only consistency in clones I've found in the two Krimsons is that 'Princess' tends to revert to all green and 'Queen' tends to get long vines of pure white leaves. They're all beautiful! It was a 'Queen' given to me as a Valentine gift in 1977 that got me hooked on Hoyas!

Denise in Omaha

My first hoya must have been a KP but it was different because as a hanging basket, it reached out to the plant in the pot next to it. I don't think KP has that growth habit, or at least none of mine in later years, have.

Denise, do you remember the picture of Bob's rubra that I showed you a few weeks ago. Now that it's growing some, it looks like it will have the same type of leaves as your solid green KP. Go figure.

I was thinking about this conversation last night when I was watering my carnosas. I'm almost wondering if Susan's original KP might actually be a Marlea, since she describes the leaves as "twistier" and says it hasn't reverted yet. Idk if Marlea reverts, but mine hasn't so far.

Here's a pic of Marlea that shows the leaves well:

Susan, you're saying the rubra you bought recently from Bob looks like this picture of Denise's?

I guess that answers our question about whether or not he's still selling the same plant as rubra as the one Denise bought from him back in the day.

This post was edited by greedyghost on Wed, Jun 18, 14 at 11:44

Yes, that's my most recent purchase of KP (at the top)

The one at the top of this thread, is different.

The one, from Bob is a baby, but I bet the leaves may look like Denise's reverted leaves when it's grown up. Will try to post a picture soon.