Thursday, May 28, 2009

Love Thursday: Hoya of Love










































A day or two ago, I went to check on my hoyas to see if they needed watering yet and found these two lovebirds intertwined. I'll be re-training them onto their own hoops soon, but thought I'd let them visit for awhile, first.

My love affair with hoyas began a few years back, when I came across this website. Like dahlias, hoyas have seemingly infinite cultivars and I was thrilled when my sister Lisa brought me a rooted cutting from my paternal grandmother's "Jesus Tear's" plant. It was, in fact, a hoya. Not long after (two winters ago), Lee and I joined together to meet the $20.00 minimum order from this site. We were beyond sick of the cold MN weather, and by February I felt crazy, dreaming of the gardens that lay frozen beneath the snow. Indoor plants would have to tide me over and see me through!

When the cuttings arrived, we were delighted to find that Mr. Smoley had sent an average of 4 cuttings per plant. EVERY CUTTING ROOTED. In fact, I even successfully rooted two leaves that we trimmed from the Hoya fungii Lisa had ordered! My only disappointment was that a substitution had been made for the hoya I'd wanted most (hoya diptera). I would later hunt this cultivar down and pay a small fortune in shipping to get a gorgeous specimen from Rob's Violet Barn. I now have eight hoya plants, coiled and reaching toward the sun that streams through the picture window in our living room.

Hoyas take several years to develop before they'll bloom. Lisa's plant from my grandmother just started to put out peduncles (clusters) of pretty white flowers in the last month, and I'm taking it as a sign that maybe next spring...fingers crossed, anyway! In the meantime, here's a lovey song for you:


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Happy Love Thursday!