Hi Dee,

You have beautiful plants! Good to see you!

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Hi Dee!
Love the backdrop for your picture! The color on the Brug. is wonderful!
By chance were you at the Orchid show in Miami this past April? I went with a friend from TX. You look so familiar to me.
Keep the pictures coming folks! This is a great thread!,,,,Debbie

Maid, what a cute family photos. Nice to see you all.
Carolyn, nice to meet you. Your bird is so cute.
Hi Dee, nice to meet you. You have nice plants in the back ground.
I just got back from South Beach, it was hot & humid but we had a great time swimming, dining, window shopping.
It was a nice quick get away.
Jan

Hello again, everyone. It's very very nice to "see" you all. I have saved all your photos in a folder. From now on, I know who I'm talking to.

Nancy (Pug)... It IS nice to meet you, too. Love all the mangoes there. Here's a photo of my mango tree a few years back.

Xuan

Hi Maid, yes that was taken yesterday afternoon. It got up to 89 and nearly 100% humidity. Very suffocating when it is like that. It is already very humid this morning, supposed to get afternoon storms, don't mind the storms as long as there is no lightening.

Debbie, no I didn't go to the show. I have been to Miami once several years ago and they have LOTS of nursery's there and would love to go again. Even though I live in FL it is a 10 - 12 hour drive depending on which way you go.

If case you don't know my favorite color is PINK. DH thinks I take it to the extreme sometimes but oh well. The pink flowers you see by me are brugmansia, several of my pink ones are blooming all at once and boy is the smell strong.

Nice to see everyone.

Dee

Xuan, thanks for posting that beautiful Mango tree...I LOVE mangoes just as much as I love hoyas,lol! I can eat them everyday!!

I meant to sign my name when I posted my Picture...this is a GREAT thread!

Jan, I meant to wish you a Happy 10th anniversary! Glad you had fun in South Beach!

Nancy aka (Pug)

Xuan, those mangos looks good enough to eat. I love mangos too, I have started from a seed 11 years ago. I had about 12 mangos this year but I am going to give some fertilizer this month & in April, maybe I'll get some more. It took a long time to bear fruit from a seed, had I known I would rather bought grafted one.
Nancy, thank you!

Nancy, Jan... in the sub-tropics like VN, eating too much mango might cause... pimples on your face! Hihihi...
Our daughters never dared to eat but one piece of mango each season.

Jan, although it might take longer for the tree to bear fruits if grown from seeds but, on the otherhand, the tree will remain productive longer, too. So it pays. I think a dose of fertilizer will help.

Nancy, I had a chance to taste Florida mangoes when I visited the US for the first time in 2001. They were really sweet but the "smell" was not the same as that from VN mango. Wish I could share with you some of our mangoes. We have 4 trees and each year we have about 200 fruits. Yummy!

Xuan

Hi everyone
Nice to 'meet' everybody.
I just come back from a long voyage. I missed my dog so much when I read about Gabi 's dog. My Bobby, 15 years old just passed away in June. My cat, Minou, also the same age, she is under treatment for thyroid now.
Love to see you all.
sue

{{gwi:988236}}

Bobby and Sue - Snow storm 2009

Bobby and Minou june 2009

Xuan, good to know about mango production.
Sue, I was wondering where you were. Snow storm in NC?
Bobby & Minou are so cute!

Jan

Yes, Jan. Snow storm in NC 2008, the snow smelted away in 3 days. I loved it, we came from Montreal, Can. So this storm is nothing for us, we so enjoyed it.
In NC, I just don't want Ice storm, very scary, because we have hills and trees a lot. A few years back, my greenhouse was destroyed by the ice storm. On the street is very dangerous. Luckily, my persimmon tree is not die, so last year,I got 300 fruits from 1 tree.
I love mango too, but in NC, we can not grow tropical fruit.

Xuan, you got it all. Can't wait to back home.

Snow storm in NC 2009

Persimmon tree
{{gwi:583773}}

{{gwi:583777}}

Hello Sue! Nice to put a face with your posts!
Your dog and kitty have such sweet faces! Sorry for the loss of Bobby. Our pets become like children to us and the loss leaves a huge emptiness.
Your persimmons are huge! We just cut down our persimmon tree this summer. Too messy to walk in the yard when they ripened and the dogs ate the dropped fruits. We put in a new flowerbed where the tree once stood.,,,,,Debbie

Sue,

I just love that picture of you and Bobby walking in the snow. It's beautiful. I'm so sorry for your loss. I can tell he was so special to you. I wish your cat much luck with her treatment.

Gabi

Now that I finally have this picture thing figured out, I can post a pic here of myself!!! That's me on the left in the blue T-shirt. I live about 5 minutes North of Brook Green gardens and recently we spent the day there just strolling around and taking pictures. The lady in the pic is my BF's sister

Xuan, I wish you could share your mangoes with us too :o)

Sue, nice to meet you...sorry for the loss of your dog. Great pictures of the snow storm and your dog and cat are adorable! Those persimmons looks really delicious.

Hi David...nice to meet you also! Your hoya collection is amazing!! Looking forward to more pictures!

Sue, wow! yummy persimmons!! I love persimmons. Wishing your kitty the best.
David, nice to meet you.

Me, too, Sue... I just love persimmons, the crispy kind like yours in the photo. When you come back for a visit here, would you be kind to bring me a seedling of persimmon to grow, please? I brought back some seeds from California but they never sprout!

Wishing Minou the best in her treatment.

Xuan

Sue that is a great photo of you and Bobby. The snow can be a pain in the butt at times but noting beats the beauty of a walk in the woods when the trees are covered in newly fallen snow.

Nice to meet you David. I have really enjoyed looking at the photos you have posted of your Hoyas.

Mike

Hi David! Nice to put a face to the posts and beautiful flower pictures! Keep up the great work!
The cuttings I got from you are doing good and rooting up nicely.,,,,Debbie

We also have a Japanese persimmon tree,actually we have 2,both different varieties. One only produces about 2 dozen fruits per year on a small tree ,maybe 7ft and it's about 15 years old and the other is LOADED!!!The tree with the small fruit (tangerine size) probably has 1,500 fruits on it right now. It's about 14-15 years old also and to this date has never had this many persimmons on it. There is so much fruit on this tree that it has cracked the limbs.

Hi david
What did you do with so much fruit? where do you live?
I do a lot thing with persimmon, Asian people love it.

Xuan, i will looking for the seedling for you. Dalat have that tree, I think?

Sue I share them with a lot of people,the birds eat many of them and may just rot. The one tree is loaded every year with more than we can use at one time.

Sue, they have the other kind of persimmons grown in Dalat, the "soft" one, you know. Just recently, I've seen this "crispy" kind in the market but I think they imported it from China (and most everything from China is not very healthy to eat!).
Thank you very much in advance, Sue, for the seedling.

Xuan

Here's a few pics of our persimmon trees. I don't recall the variety names of either of them but do know that they were both purchased from Stark Brothers. The first tree doesn't grow very tall and only produces about 20-25 fruits each year

this is an up close of the fruit from the above pictured tree

This thing is a monster. you can only see about half of the tree in the photo. There is just as much fruit on the other side of the tree and we have probably already picked this much from the tree!!

this is an up close of the fruit from the second tree

Hi David
the first tree with cone fruit, can eat only when it soft like tomatoes. I have this cone persimmon, but it taste no good.
I love the second tree, the fruit can eat when it hard.
when I have a lot, I dry them and send to all friends.
sue

Maybe I should try them dried. I didn't think of that.I love the taste of persimmons but i do not like the texture of them,it's something about the way they feel in your mouth!! So when I do eat them it is usually baked in either cookies or cake and since I found out in January that i'm diabetic,I don't eat much sweets anymore.

I wasn't aware that you could eat the round fruit while it was still hard. I always thought they had to be soft. My grandmother loves the cone shaped fruit.

So awesome to put faces with names!!! Amazing to me how this little corner of GW has turned into a 'family'!!!

(Debbie you look GREAT!)

Since I've gained weight and cut my hair, I figured I should show a 'real' picture. The one I wanted of my and my 92 yo grandmother was sent to me from my moms camera and it is in B-A-D shape!

So, here goes. DH took this one a year or so ago. Don't know where the lovely Gasteria and Me are... So.

AMAZING PETS, AMAZING PET STORIES! Thank you for sharing a little corner of your life and so freely!
~Cena

Wow! David, look at all those persimmons! I want some. YUM!!!
I've planted a persimmon tree 12 years ago but it has never flowered so my DH is going to chop it down.
Sorry to hear about your diabetic news.
Cena, it's so nice to see you. It sure is nice getting to know all of you.

I love the "crunchy" Persimmons also...Jan, I will have to find someone that has a tree here, they are very good!

Hi Cena, thanks for sharing your picture with us...it is very nice to finally meet you! I have enjoyed all the pictures that you've shared of all your hoyas/plants in your corner of the world.

This thread really turned out to be a great one,Jan. I like what Cena said about us being a big "Hoya family".

Hey Cena!
The new short doo looks great on you! Way easier to take care of isn't it? ;-)
Nice to see you and your smile again! Been awhile hasn't it?,,,,Debbie

It is good to see the faces of people who truly love to help others. I would like to say nice to meet all of you. here is a pic of me =)

nae boston

Cena, I think your hair is adorable. I didn't know what it looked like before, but the way it is now suits you. . . I'm seriously considering cutting mine. I keep thinkin I need to *grow up* :D

Nae nice to meet you. . . I see you on the AV forum too.

Nancy is right, this thread has been a lot of fun. Thanks Jan. . .

Maid~

Nae great to meet you! I'm glad you joined in the fun of this thread!

Maid - Cena had very long hair when I met her some 8-9 yrs. ago.
Go ahead and take the plunge! You'll love how easy and fast it is to get ready with shorter hair.

Maid and Nae I have a confession,,,,I have been bitten by the African Violet bug! I refuse to admit how many I won in Ebay last week! haha. Most of what I bought were mini's, several standards ( 1 Russian)and several Streps.

Keep the pictures coming folks!,,,Debbie

maid nice to meet you as well.

Debbie, lol I know exactly what you mean trust me when I tell you. I don't know how im going to stop myself from buying more.

It feels really good to finally see everyone.. well almost everyone. lol

nae boston

Hi Nae, nice to see ya. I've really really enjoyed seeing everyone. I can't take all the credit because I was thinking about doing this but hesitated for awhile but I've decided to do it when I saw this subject from David at another forum.
I am so glad everyone shared part of their lives so freely , I feel like I've known you guys/gals for a long time. Love the friendship aka hoya family we have here at this hoya forum. ; )

Thank you all,

Jan

Cena, love the 'do! I'm like Maid/Debi - I've worn my hair longish (shoulder-length) forever and I wish I had the giblets to cut mine short. My sister wears such a cute short style... OMG, you must have about pooped your pants when you saw all that long hair on the floor at the salon!!! Or did you do it in stages?? I wore mine short for about a year when I was in my early 20's - loved it, but my hubby wanted me to grow it back out. Men! (Sorry guys...)

Dee, it looks like you live in a rural area - all the trees in the background. I would SO love not to have close neighbors. When I say close, I mean really close... east & west: about 15'. Ugh!

It's nice to see my plant-buddies! No one "gets it" like this crowd!

Denise in Omaha

Hi Nae, glad to meet you. I see you at the Cactus and Succulent forums also. I guess most of us have our favorite forums we frequent... :o)

Hi Everybody, Jan, this was such a good idea. I don't post often but I am always lurking! I have posted on other webs but the hoya people are the nicest. Garbos, your dog has one of the prettiest puppy faces I have seen. Jane and Ruby

Hey Denise, yes I am "rural" actually I am 30 miles from town. I live on 2 acres of land. Lots of room for all kinds of plants, just don't have much time yet. Will when I retire though.

Know what you guys mean about the hair. I used to wear mine shorter than most guys, so easy to take care of, then I just started letting it grow, now it is waist length and when I think about cutting it I just think how long it took me to get there.

Dee

Hi Jane and Ruby! Beautiful dog you have there Jane. Nice to meet you both!!

I'm with Debbie, I love short hair for the mere convenience of it. I've tried over the years to grow it out...but my hair is thick and coarse, short hair is the best style for me. Plus it's so HOT here 9 months a year...Blow drying my hair goes a lot faster. Lucky for me DH prefers my short hair.

I do envy you gals that have nice long hair...sometimes I miss it. I'm way too old to change now,lol...Dee, I probably wouldn't cut it off either if it took me that long to grow it out...it looks nice on you.

Hi Jane & Ruby, nice to meet you both. So is Jane on the left?

Hi puglvr,nice to meet you as well. Yea I do see you and read your posts on the other forum as well. I guess when people have so many varieties of plants, its kinda like a bee hoping from one flower to the other lol.

Jan, nice to really see you too =)

Xuan, pug and maid~

Love the doggie pics...lol

nae boston

Jan1,
NO, Jan is on the right, Ruby is the dog.I Think..lol
sue

Ouf,sorry, I missed an 'e' on Jan (gadensnail22).

hmmmm,,,hard to tell but because of the hair color and the order of them in the picture I'm gonna guess GardenSnail22 is Ruby and Jane is the Mastiff dog. I'm happy both 'ladies' joined in the meet n greet thread!
Nice to meet you both Ruby and Jane! I've seen your ID through the years on the different forums I think. Nice to put a face with the posts.,,,Debbie

Coupla times im my life, I've been able to sit on my hair. One of the times I said I was going to cut, DH said 'Whoa, Nelly!' I explained that he had No Idea what work long hair took, and he could have a say in the matter if he washed, combed out, and braided my hair for 7 days... (insert evil grin).

We all know washing is a 'walk in the park'. Combing out takes training and patience and remembering to Start At The Ends! So, three days he did well with all of the requirements, but he begged off braiding. By day five he said 'Okay, I GET it. Do what you want...'

I've had my hair long coupla times past that. I went to Colorado for four weeks and took care of my moms farm in mid-summer during the 112* days. I promised myself I would NEVER COMPLAIN about the weather again, and that I wouldn't handicap myself either. I donated 12 inches of hair to Locks of Love; they bound it near the length I was certain I wanted to go back to. They bound and cut, right there. Oooop, toooo late now!

I've found good products for lift, and understand how my 32 cow licks work, and explain that style HAS to be cut in on my head. I part on the far right, my hair has a mind of its own, and I will Not Be Happy if you don't 'listen to the hair'!!!

Great seeing & MEETING everyone!

Debbie, ME JANE, DOG RUBY HAha Jane

Jane, I just love Ruby. Nice seeing you too. I used to have a Japanese Akita, loved him to death. He was the best dog ever and very protective. He finally died of old age, and I haven't been able to get another dog since.

Dee

I LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!

Oops,,,my guesser needs a tune up it seems doesn't it Jane! hehe.
Thanks for correcting me and enlightening us all to who was who!,,,,Debbie