Hoyas Galore!

Day 337: While I can't claim that all four of these were in bloom simultaneously, they were all in flower over the last fourteen days! Different Hoya species bloom on different schedules. Some flower intermittently every six weeks or so, with longer periods of rest during their "off" season. Others only put on their displays once or twice a year. Hoya bella (lower right) was the first in this batch, and the flowers were just beginning to fade when H. ilagiorum (lower left) opened. Ilagiorum remained open as H. fitchii's clusters (top right) began to form, but the real surprise was when good ol' standard Hoya carnosa variegata joined the parade. It had never bloomed for me before. Its cluster is palm-sized, with individual flowers fully 3/4" in diameter! Fitchii had not fully faded when it opened, a succession of Hoyas in bloom like none I've experienced before. All four species are purportedly of the "intermittent" type. Whatever I'm doing, I must be doing it right.

Bella And Fitch

Day 282: Hoyas bella (left) and fitchii (right) weren't quite in bloom simultaneously, but they only missed by a day or two. Both bloom intermittently throughout the year with the heaviest flowering period coming during the summer. Hoyas come in a fairly wide variety of colour combinations in the warm shades, although I have yet to bring a yellow one into bloom. Bella and Fitch are the most prolific of the seven species I grow. Ilagiorum (red) is moving up rapidly in the competition.

Fitch And Bella

Day 313: Fitch and Bella. It sounds like something they might call a TV series featuring a high-profile law firm, but in fact, they are my two favourite Hoyas. Both are prolific bloomers which follow an intermittent schedule, coming into flower roughly every six weeks throughout spring, summer and autumn. Fitchii (the salmon coloured one, "Fitch" for short) is also quite fragrant. In fact, if I haven't noticed the flower spurs developing buds, I am sometimes alerted by the scent. Bella, on the other hand, doesn't form the spurs typical of many Hoya species, but sends out clusters from the leaf axils. Her flowers have a barely noticeable perfume. That said, their flower formation doesn't often coincide as it's done this week. Now if I could just convince any of my other five species to bloom!

Bellisima!

Day 241: Of the several Hoyas in my collection, Hoya bella is by far the most reliable. In fact, the others bloom rarely, if at all. My other favourite is one I grow exclusively for its foliage which resembles that of Rosary Vine, so I don't mind that it doesn't flower. Bella can get rather sprangly if not kept in check. Pinching will stimulate new branches to form along the main stems. It does not form spurs as many other plants in the genus do, so you can prune radically without interfering with its ability to blossom. The flowers are borne in clusters like the one shown in the photo and appear both at the tips of the branches and at the nodes. I keep mine cut back, and usually have cuttings to share.

Star Light, Star Bright

Day 84: A few years back, a hot, dry summer and neglectful watering combined to kill the Hoya bella which was the pride of my small houseplant collection. My hairdresser no longer had the one which had been its clonal parent, but I had sent slips to several friends over the course of time, one of whom had also started slips to give away. She offered to send me the original plant I'd mailed to her, i.e., a piece of the one I'd just lost. I accepted the offer happily, and a few days later it arrived. When I opened the box, my enthusiasm took a nose-dive. She'd meant well, watering it heavily to survive postal handling, but she'd almost drowned the poor thing. I didn't say anything to her at the time, hoping that by transplanting it immediately into drier soil, it would bounce back. Even so, almost all its leaves yellowed and dropped, although the few which hung on gave me a dash of hope. I nursed the potful of stems for at least 18 months before the first small cluster of flowers appeared. It's still not fully recovered, but I am happy to say that with every blooming period, the clusters are getting bigger and more numerous. Once again, the bright stars shine!

Star Shower

Day 128: For as often as I have touted Hoya bella as the world's most forgiving houseplant, the combination of a hot, dry spell two summers ago and my neglectful watering resulted in a wilt from which mine couldn't recover. However, since I had spread the wealth by making starts from the original plant to distribute among my friends, one of them returned the favour and sent me a piece of hers. It has not been a spectacular flower producer, but I am grateful for each shower of Hoya "stars" emerging from its stems. I do have better success bringing it into bloom than with other plants in my Hoya collection, and its blooming period is intermittent with flowering occurring sporadically throughout most of the year as opposed to being confined exclusively to spring or summer.

Leaf Diversity

Day 42: Besides being green, these leaves have something in common which might come as a surprise: they are all Hoyas. Hoya carnosa (the one with the white edge on the right) is most recognizable to the average houseplant enthusiast. It blooms in the spring, flowering at the tips of woody spurs which should never be pruned out. Above it, is Hoya fitchii which has a thinner leaf and sports light coppery-yellow flowers with pale pink centers during the summer. The large leaf in the upper left belongs to Hoya affinis, an "intermittent" bloomer. It comes into flower when it feels like it, although the vine must be at least four feet long before the brilliant red umbels appear. The smaller leaves are (left): Hoya bella, another "intermittent" which bears white flowers with maroon red centers. Bella is one of the most rewarding houseplants I've ever raised; H. cumingiana (center of the three small leaves) is a summer bloomer having pale yellow flowers with maroon centers and H. curtisii whose tiny but wondrously abundant leaves form a dense mat. Its intermittently-occuring flower umbels are pale yellow with just a touch of rose-pink at their centers. I'm always looking to add new Hoyas to my collection!

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.

Hoya Bella, Morning Light

Day 265: Hoya bella accepts anything I throw at it and never fails to reward me. It's been less than a month since I looked up and saw withered leaves ready to drop. I'd been very busy and hadn't given a thought to watering plants. I took it down, basket and all, hung it in the shower and gave it a thorough bath..."Foliar feeding," I said to myself. "One of these days, I'm going to kill it clear dead." Well, that time has not yet arrived. Here it is, in lavish bloom, its leaves plumped back up, happy as Larry. There must be at least a dozen umbels open and more to come. Amazing what a little plain H2O can do!