365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Stars
Day 106: Once or twice a year when my Hoya bella's trailing branches grow long enough that the cats can chew on them, I give the plant a radical "haircut," taking the stems back to about eighteen inches. I always put several slips in water to pass along to friends who want a durable and reliable houseplant. I've had a few people tell me that they've lost theirs through neglect, but considering my own forgetfulness with respect to watering, theirs must have been quite severe. This plant grows like a weed, surviving almost any stress except over-watering, and rewards its owner with lavish cascades of star-shaped waxy blossoms on a 6-10 week timetable. The flowers are lightly fragrant and may be borne at any node along the stems. Unlike other Hoyas, it does not form spurs, but drops its blossoms at the end of the blooming period.
Labels:
houseplants,
Hoya bella
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