Hi Mari, and welcome to the world of Hoyas. You picked a great genus to get into growing. Even though it can take awhile to flower them (but not necessarily...), most species are lovely, making flowers just a great bonus. And most species are fairly easy to grow, to it's more about what you find aesthetically pleasing. I gravitate towards big-leaved and succulent species, but there are things I like about the small species, too. A few I find difficult to grow, but honestly, I can't really think (off the top of my head) of a species that I consistently hear that about, so I think it's just a matter of trial and error to see what you find easier or more difficult.

Check out Hoyor.net (linked below) for a good source of information and photos. This will help you decide what appeals to you. As for Canadian sources, I'll leave that to our Canadian friends, and yes, we have quite a few members from the Great White North.

Look forward to seeing you around the forum!

Denise in Omaha

Here is a link that might be useful: Hoyor.net

Welcome to the forum. There are quite a few people growing Hoyas in Ontario that you might be able to connect with. The Hoya Cutting Exchange on Facebook is organized by guy from Ontario. Hoyas.ca is still around and there is a exchange there as well.
I am in London so not really local but I do visit Toronto to see friends and family. If you don't have any luck feel free to email me through this site.

Mike

Denise and Mike, thank you for welcoming me here!
Mike, your information made me really hopeful!
I will try Facebook and then, if nothing, will contact you, thank you!

Mari.

Welcome Mari. :)

There certainly are a fair number of Canadians here, so you definitely aren't alone.

I don't think you're asking for too much as long as you're comfortable for waiting a year for flowers. It will go by quickly, trust me. :) Also, I know you said "not completely perfect conditions" but most will need good light to bloom. Like, not 2' away from a north window, you know?

My personal votes for small to medium-sized plants that are easy to care for and that bloomed early and regularly for me:

H. paulshirleyii.
H. davidcummingii
H. heuschkeliana
H. lacunosa
H. finlaysonii (or any of its relatives with similar leaves)
H. Mathilde

I wasn't really sure what you were trying to avoid when you said, "miniature." Mathilde, heuschkeliana and lacunosa do, of course, have small leaves relative to other Hoyas but they grow fairly quickly and don't stay small for long. Hoyas aren't really micro terrarium-y plants even if their leaves are on the small size. So I wouldn't consider any of them miniature.

Also, I agree with Denise that what blooms fast for one person blooms slow for the next. So, there's little harm in simply choosing the plants you find appealing and rolling the dice. ;)

Thank you, greedyghost! It's a very valuable information for me. I looked through many web sites, made long "wish list", starting with H.australis, because everywhere I read "easy bloomer", and then on one site I read:"...only if you have enough room for it..." So, I crossed it out. And sure, it's not the only wrong choice on my list. Now I will use your suggestions as my wish list. The only challenge will be to find them in Canada! Hopefully, I will figure out this before spring.

H. australis is right in the middle range as far as leaf size goes. The majority of Hoyas have foliage around this size. It's not crazy for you to own an australis in a regular house. It will grow slower there than in a greenhouse - think of it like owning a pothos. It also blooms before it gets very large. My plant, whose buds I photographed in the other thread is still on a 1' tall hoop. There are also a lot of different australis varieties with different characteristics.

If australis seems too large for what you want, then don't get a finlaysonii - get sp. Maenam or Nong Nooch instead. They are more compact varieties.

Mostly though, I wanted to post to remind you to add DS-70 to your list. This is a favorite of everyone, easy to get ahold of, and fits all your criteria.

Hi Mari :)

I'm a Hoya lover and Canadian as well :) I live in Alberta. I'm quite new to the hoya scene as well (have been growing for about a year now. Nothing major). If you want a good Canadian vendor, check out www.floraexotica.com. He has a nice variety of Hoyas available as well as some he can specially order in. I've ordered from him before, and the plants are just beautiful!

As for species to grow, I've had some decent luck with pubicalyx, curtisii, one of my compactas is doing really good, micrantha as well. I haven't gotten any to bloom yet because I started them as cuttings and they just aren't old enough yet. Hopefully they will bloom in the next year or so! :D

Hopefully this is somewhat helpful to you. :)
Kyle

Here is a link that might be useful: Flora Exotica

@ Kyle

Love your handle! xD

LOL thanks! I thought it was pretty cool myself ;D

Mountain View Tropicals in British Columbia also has several Hoyas available. I have not ordered from them yet but there are some nice Gesneriads on their site as well.

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: Mountain View Tropicals

My grandmother ordered from them and one of them came with mealy bugs. I believe she ordered 4 plants and she only has one left. Maybe she just had bad luck with the shipment, I do not know.

Hi newhoyaguy,one thing you will have to get comfortable with when growing hoyas is mealy bugs.

Cindy

I've already been well acquainted. Mealy bugs decided to come by for a visit in September. Took much diligence but they seem to have disappeared. For now anyway.

A couple years ago I got a orchid from home depot which had mealies which then infected a bunch of my hoyas and other house plants.I was super mad at myself for not being more careful LOL.I lost al lmy house plants and a hand full of my hoyas. Thankfully I got rid of the bugs after about a year.This past summer I did not see any mealies,But I did find one hoya with scale.

Cindy

Hi there Mari,

Another hoya fan here, hailing from Alberta.

Kyle, also appreciate the link - I've been looking for a place to buy hoyas in Canada.

Merry Christmas, all!