Variegated Hoya Carnosa

Day 261: Hoya carnosa is the hoya you're most likely to find in garden stores and plant shops. It comes with two foliage colour variations: plain green and varigated green and white. It bears large umbels (this one is almost four inches across) with a light fragrance. As houseplants go, it's virtually indestructible, although I have friends who claim they have never been able to grow one. I suspect the problem may lie in over-watering rather than under-watering, since this group of plants likes to go almost entirely dry between waterings.

Hoya Carnosa

Day 205: But for the fact that mine has variegated foliage, this is your good old standard "Wax Plant," Hoya carnosa. The flower heads tend to be significantly larger than any of my other less common species, and the individual "stars" are almost 3/4" across. This species is also more fragrant, filling the air above my customary chair with its perfume, particularly in the morning and evening hours. Hoyas have a reputation for being indestructible. While that's not entirely true (I've lost a few over the years), they do tend to tolerate neglectful watering, although bloom production will be affected. Some species flower more readily than others, and at different times of the year.

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.