July OT 2nd Thread

Anybody recognize this Hoya? The tag is still on it, but it's faded to the point I can't read it. I have a master list of all the Hoyas I had last summer, so toss out any ideas please and I'll check them against the list.

Hoya obovata. I love this plant!!

Hey Gail, check out Hoya obscura!

My Hoya serpens has a pecuncle!!! It may never reach blooming stage, but I'm so tickled that it got this far! LOL I want Hoya cv. Mathilde (a cross between carnosa and serpens) so bad I can't stand it! LOL Anyone have it and could post a picture?

Wow! I'm loving all these great pictures everyone! Really nice!

Phoebe: Those are great shots of the Bee and the Butterfly! My DH and I both have Canon Powershot A630 camera's. I am still learning about mine. I'm lucky if one out of 50 pictures turns out decent.

Amy: Love the Hoya's! I have a first bloom on my H. kerrii but thought the flower ball would be larger than it is. It actually isn't as rounded or as large as yours but it's just a one stem plant and I'm going to repot it and wind the vine around in the pot to see if it will set more roots and branch out a bit.

I might have been thinking of obovata when I was thinking of the kerrii bloom. I have a large obovata that I'm still waiting to bloom! That one is very stubborn! It's had two peduncles for more than a year but absolutely no buds yet!

This is my H. kerrii this morning ...

A bit closer

Zephyranthes ("Rain Lily") ...

Hoya wayettii blooms all the time ...

I have a teeny little H. cv. 'Mathilde' that I received in a trade awhile back. It was just one little stem cutting and just recently put out a teeny new stem so I still have hopes for this one. Rain, if it ever gets big enough to cut I will definitely share with you!

Lin--

"Phoebe: Those are great shots of the Bee and the Butterfly! My DH and I both have Canon Powershot A630 camera's. I am still learning about mine. I'm lucky if one out of 50 pictures turns out decent."

I end up with those throw-away shots too, but much less so now. What I periodically do is take a day now and then, and focus on trying different camera settings(pun intended). When I find one that works well, I note it. Sometimes it's hard to go out of my comfort zone and try new settings, and the failures can be frustrating, but it is how I learn. BTW, I was not particularly satisfied w/the butterfly shots. It was a missed opportunity in my estimation.

My hoya noid, which I accidentally butchered last fall, is also getting ready to bloom. It makes my whole room smell spicy at night when it blooms!

Amy, I forgot to say ... your unidentified beauty looks like a Hoya carnosa, possibly Motoskei: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/57674/ which I've read is the "original" carnosa.

And, here are photo's at Christina's (Myhoya's) website: http://www.myhoyas.com/Hoya%20motoskei%20min.htm

Amy, I agree with plantladylin - your noid looks like motoskei, because of those very rounded leaves and the white shade of the flowers. And congratulations on the serpens buds, I couldn't keep that one alive for anything.

Kerrii is a slowpoke hoya, but once it makes up its mind to do something, look out!
Thanks for sharing all the hoya pics

I had a pretty little Hoya serpens once, put it in the terrarium and it seemed happy for awhile ... then all of a sudden I noticed it was no more ... completely gone ... then I read it likes "cooler" temps! The terrarium was the Wrong location for that one!

I had another little one in the terrarium and I can't remember which Hoya it is. I just pulled it out yesterday and potted it up. It's a small plant, the leaves are narrow and the vine is real thin. Anyone have any ideas on this one?

Been looking at all the photos of OTs. There is a tornado warning for Daytona Beach. I sure hope that Lin has "battened down all her hatches". A funnel cloud has been sighted, and people along the coast are in the path. It's very frightening. I'm going to watch the weather for a while. Will be back later.
Great photos everyone.

Loving all the hoya photos!! Watch out Lin...............
I thought you said you killed all your obscura Rain.............I think they are so pretty..............

Lin, I had a big basket of wayetti and got carried away on ebay selling most of my hoyas!! She is a good one!! I will start restocking in the fall if we can get out of this drought.........

Whew! All the storms have passed ... hopefully, but I just heard thunder again! I grabbed the cat and hid in the inside bathroom from @ 6 - 7 O'clock! Yep, I'm in the South Daytona area and a Tornado was spotted somewhere nearby, news reports are showing right now where it hit two mobile home parks about a mile down the road us with major damage but luckily no lives lost, no injuries reported so far! There were numerous funnel clouds over the ocean (considered water spouts until they make landfall.) A few did come on shore but thankfully no one was hurt. There were reports that one person was struck by lightning but it hasn't been confirmed yet.

During the height of the storm our power went out for an instant and I went into the kitchen and it looked like a haze of smoke! It scared the beejeebies outta me, I screamed to my husband because I thought something was on fire. The air conditioning began blowing hot air so we thought maybe lightning had struck the air conditioning system or something but within a few minutes it was blowing cool air again. My husband is going to monitor it the next few days and call the service tech to check it out if necessary. He was in the garage and I had him look up into the attic to make sure nothing was smoldering up there ... so far everything looks okay! We are still under severe thunderstorm warnings for another hour but have the t.v. on now and radar is showing most of it west of us over near Orlando and heading SE.

Eileen, you be careful if this awful weather heads your way! From the looks of radar right now it looks like it's going to exit the coast quite a ways north of you.

Lin, my H. kerrii is just a one stem plant, too. It goes way up a bamboo stake and back down another one. I think I'll leave it alone this summer since it wants to bloom, but when I bring it in for winter, if the stem isn't too stiff, I may wind it around the pot and see what it will do. If that won't work, I may just take cuttings and fill the pot that way.

You are absolutely right on the Motoskei, Lin and jmp! I knew when someone said the name, I'd remember it! Sad part is, if I'd looked at the list, I probably would have remembered, but I was too lazy to find it. :oP LOL I love my Hoyas and really do like to keep proper names on them.

I've grown H. serpens and H. curtisii pretty much exactly opposite from how they should be grown, but they're doing well enough. I just hope now that I'm taking care of them they won't die. LOL

I love that little H. cv 'Mathilde' Lin!! Such a cutie! Thank you for the offer to share, but I'm pretty sure I'll experience a weak moment in the near future and buy one. LOL I've resisted the urge for a while now, but it's not going away, so I'd say a purchase is imminent. LOL

I don't have a clue what your little unknown could be, Lin, but with leaves like that and a very thin vine, there are only so many it could be, I'd think. Might have to ask that one on the Hoya forum. It's cute!

Working my way down the posts and I had to read ahead to see if you were alright, Lin! I'm so thankful that you are! What a scary time that must have been! Tornadoes really frighten me. They just come out of nowhere and there's not a lot you can do - either they hit you or they don't. Very scary how close it was to you, but what wonderful news that there were no deaths, and hopefully no injuries. Hugs to you!

Gail, I killed several of my Hoyas, but H. obscura wasn't one of them. Remember a month or so ago I posted a picture of the pretty red foliage it has and called it H. cinnamomifolia, but somebody corrected me? This is the one you sent me. It is a pot just absolutely bursting full! Thanks again for it! It's got half a dozen peduncles or more!

Lin, your little unknown looks familiar, I will try to remember what it is - have you checked any of the hoya sites for photos?

Rain: I love the looks of Hoya cv. Mathilde ... the leaves are just so darn cute! There are so many Hoya's on my "wish" list but I don't tend to do much internet ordering and they aren't found around here anymore except with the occasional "Krimson Princess" or Hindu Rope.

jmp24: I think I found the identity of my little one that was in the terrarium! I have been searching photos and photos and more photos on the internet, and then remembered!!, it 's one I received in a trade. I searched through my trade tracker and sure enough I found it! Hoya parviflora! I probably should put it back in the terrarium since it was happy in there! I want to clean out the terrarium and do some rearranging so maybe I will put it back in there.

Hoya cinnamomfolia finally opened today, the pic doesn't do it justice. Definitely one of the prettiest hoya flowers

I also wanted to share some other "new arrivals" to my happy home....
this is a semi feral cat who we trapped at the very end of her pregnancy, wanting to give her a safe place to have her babies....she had 4 on Thursday....

Not easy to find them all because they are all solid grey just like mama

I love the above pic, he is sleeping up against her butt, his little paw wrapped around the top of her tail, and look at those cute little pink toes!

Mama cat is very content and happy with herself, I think!

last two, I promise

thanks for looking, wish me luck in finding them all GOOD permanent and FURever homes!

Awwww....Ya did good!

That cinnamonfolia has the most stunning bloom I have ever seen on a hoya. Maybe I need to get in on an order by the end of July for DL cuttings.

You have so many beautiful hoyas, jmp!!!

My daughter just did the same thing with a wild cat about 8 weeks ago.......she started feeding her when she noticed that she was pregnant. All 6 babies were delivered in her garage. They still have all the babies but they will be going out for adoption soon. (except for the mother and two of the babies). Yes, good for you!!!!!

Gail, cinnamomfolia is one of my favorites! I think DL sends big cuttings, try to get the biggest you can or order two. It's a strange plant. Huge leaves with miles of vine in between them, and grows slow. Everyone who sees my plant says it is ugly, but then not everyone gets the charm of hoyas...but those who have seen the flower agree that it is breathtaking!! My plant is 4 yrs old, maybe 5, and is now blooming for the first time, but it was worth the wait!!

I got my cuttings from David Elliot on Stemma, and he is very generous with his cuttings. You could try him, see if he has any for sale, he may even have rooted plants, which could give you a headstart - Every cutting I got from him has thrived beautifully.

I would love to send you some of mine, but an appropriate sized cutting would be half my plant!

Oooh, your cinnamomifolia is stunning! That's one I have on my "wish" list, along with about a hundred others, LOL!

What a kind heart you have, taking in that beautiful mama cat and giving her a safe place to birth and nurture her babies. I hope you find great homes for the 4 kittens when they are old enough. They sure are cute! It's fun to watch them grow and especially fun when they get to the playful kitten age where they are running all over and jumping and playing with each other!

My DH and I are big time cat lovers, we've always had cats in the family. I grew up with both cats and dogs and my husband always had a cat.We are down to only one cat in the family at present (from 5 a couple of years ago.) We lost two this year, one in March and our sweet "Cali" in May. :( The one we have now was my mom's cat we inherited when my mom passed 4 1/2 years ago. We've been thinking about adopting a puppy, but we aren't sure how "Princess" would react. She has always wanted to be an only child and is spoiled rotten. A puppy might not be a good addition to the family right now ... and actually I'm thinking a rambunctious puppy might be more than I can handle! When the time comes we will probably adopt an older canine from the humane society. I donate dog and cat food to our local Humane Society about once a month or so and it's hard to not check out all the critters and want to bring one or two home!

Keep us updated on those little baby kitters, and mama cat too!

Well, Lin, I would be happy to send you a few kittens if you like....

My cat is unusal in that she doesn't mind dogs, even big dogs. She is very curious and friendly. She may initially hide until she has had a chance to check them out thoroughly, but then she is fine, she even plays with them.

Glad you are planning to adopt, and most shelters have alot of young under 1 yr old dogs if you still want a puppy type..will definitely keep you updated on the kitties, we will have our hands full. I picked them all up last night for a good check, and found not one has any white marks or other identifying marks on their fur. I don't know how we will tell them apart!! They are soo sweet and precious at this age, so tiny...I love it! It has been a long long time since I have had a cat that I "allowed" to get herself into a family way. I really wish we had trapped this mama cat when she was younger, but she was so elusive, we were not even sure she was a female till we noticed she was in heat a few months ago, but then it was too late for anything but a "kitty abortion" and we couldn't do that. So, they are here, and we will do the best we can for them.

the best of luck to you with those babies, they are adorable.
bonnie

How sweet the kittens are. I had two kitties for many years, they lived a long time. I am allergic to cats so I won't be able to have another one. My little Shih Tzu adored my calico.

jmp: LOL, I'd love to have another kitty or two but the remaining one we have now wants to be an only child! ^_^ She is spoiled rotten and did not like the others when they were alive, always tried picking fights, even though she was the last to come into the family. I guess she thought maybe she could run the others off. I know you will find great homes for those little fur babies, they are adorable!

=^-^=

I hope good homes will not be too hard to find. The mama, who is so sweet and has really come around for a feral, is gonna need a home too. It won't be easy, but that's life. I am not going to hand them over to anyone just to get rid of them.

It is soooo nice to have kittens - been a long long time. I remember it must have been in the 80's the last time we "allowed" one of our cats to get pregnant. Her name was Suzette and she was ALWAYS pregnant if I remember correctly. Suddenly one day she would disappear and we would start searching closets, usually finding her tucked into the back corner of one, already nursing. New kittens are so cute, they have that awesome new kitten smell, it is just so neat to hold them. And of course, now I have my nieces, none who have ever seen a newborn kitten. They are in awe of them.

And of course you get attached....so please everyone, wish me luck, and say a little prayer to the Patron Saint of Homeless Kittens - maybe Saint Francis covers that catagory?

We is the cutest kitties in the western world!

3 weeks old on Thursday, this one likes to bite his nails

Some of them have weepy eyes, possibly upper respiratory issues, need to take the whole gang to the vet this week

They are just now really starting to respond to the world, though mostly still eat and sleep. But when i sit down next to them, they lift their little heads to get a good look at me, they meow at me, and love to be scratched....and they are starting to play, swat at my fingers and each other etc. soooo cute!

All I can think though is that cats live a long time, maybe 15 or 20 years...will each one of them find a home where someone will care for them for their whole lives, or will statistics win out and will the majority wind up eventually dumped, given away, homeless, or abandoned at a shelter? It is heartbreaking to look at their innocent little faces and think of that happening to them.

This one is the runt, he is lighter gray than the rest, and he is really a little clown, more outgoing than the others and always getting himself into silly positions.