Ed is the 'father' of cv. Ruthie, cv. Monette and many others... He got his BS here in Hilo and just - 6 years later, got his PhD and is on his way to fame and fortune in Australia. Here he is on the right...with DH Bob on the left (looking like a serial killer) and Sean in the middle..we had another wonderful visit full of talks about Hoyas and other plants....
He tried a cross of H. affinis to H. coronaria - we will see in a while if it worked
....and one of the best designed tatoos I have ever seen. It is a stylized archboldiana leaf. Now THAT is a hoya lover!!!
"... on his way to fame and fortune in Australia. Here he is on the right...with DH Bob on the left (looking like a serial killer) and Sean in the middle.. "
Hey, don't get them mixed up and send the "serial killer" out here! LOL
LOL... No, I get to keep him here!!! Hope you get to meet them. They will be in Brisbane for 3 years - and knowing them they will be on anything adventurous they can find!!! Can I give them your email to contact you if they head up your way?????
Thanks for posting the pictures. Ed looks GREAT! He has such a great smile that is backed by such a pleasant personality. Are the tats on his arms new? I'm glad that you got to see him before he takes of his new journey.
Wow! That's really neat! I hadn't realized Ed was so young! Good for him for having such focus!
Mel, yes...the tats on his arms go around his shoulders to the front. They are a 'depiction' of leaves caught in a water eddy... Yes...he is quite the young man (sigh)...just for eye candy I would keep him around!!!!
No problem Carol, there's a lot of territory here to be covered.
It took a while for oramicola to be sorted out from rupicola, you never know there might be a lot of other hidden things out here.
I had envisioned Ed being in his 70's for some reason. Ed doesn't look like he has even hit 30 yet!
It's good that there is someone young that has a passion for hoyas and can keep us in new hoya cultivars well into the future.
Now if Ed would just work on something other than Eriostemmas! heavy sigh (:o)
Mike
What is Ed going to be doing in Australia? Is he going to be doing plant research or something else? Working with hoyas at all?
Someone needs to name a hoya after Ed. Or is there already such a hoya?
Thanks,
Mike
Oh dear, Mike...Ed got his degree at the U of M in Minneapolis!!!
He is going to be working in Oz with the University of Queensland...working with plant genetics. But he will be close to Hoya Heaven and I would bet he will be going there!!!
There is a H. gildingii (VERY hard to find, grow etc.) and he named H. monetteae after his mother Monette. Ruthie is named for his grandmother... cv. Monette after his mother too.
Thanks for the info, Carol.
Really? Wow, that's cool. I have a couple of friends that went to the U, got their degrees, and worked there for a while in the botany/plant sciences area. I'll have to ask them if they ever knew Ed.
I so envy Ed for being able to go to Oz to work. I would love to go and live there for a while. Not sure I could get used to the reversed seasons, though. Although, their winter is not exactly winter, as far as I am concerned (and compared to a MN winter!)
Is Ed from Minnesota or did he just go to school here?
Thanks,
Mike
Ed is born and raised on Oahu...outside of Honolulu. Got his BS here at the U of H in Hilo and then directly to his PhD in Minnesota. Sean got his Masters at Minnesota in Social Sciences..hopes to work there too.
You would LOVE Australia....I sure did!!!! The seasons are no big deal at all...great summers!
Is Sean also from HI? If so, it's weird that he would want to work here. I mean, our winter weather leaves a little bit (a lot) to be desired. As far as I'm concerned our winters are totally unnecessary. It would be nice to slide from late fall into early spring again here. Alas, that isn't going to happen, unfortunately. Well, if global warming actually happens, then maybe we have a chance of that happening.
Do you know where Ed got his tattoos? In HI or MN? Or elsewhere? They're beautiful. I've wanted to get a small tattoo but am unsure of where to put it on my body. I want to get a ginkgo leaf and would love to get a hoya flower as well.
Thanks,
Mike
I will find out, Mike. I know they were done in Minneapolis by a woman...and both of them were really pleased with them and her. Sean has family up there...and they are a committed couple...which you would have to be to follow someone there (sorry...but the weather is cruel). They both left really sad...they both loved living there and have left a lot of friends...
Just to give you a bit of an idea, in my part of Australia it's mid winter (or about a month of winter left to go). The minimum temps for the past few weeks have been down around 18C to 20C (64F to 68F), and the daily maximums around 34C to 35C (93F to 95F).
HHHHHHHHHHHot!
Thanks, Carol, I would appreciate it. Whoever did Ed's tattoos did an excellent job and I would be willing to go to her to have mine done.
As much as everyone jokes about the weather here, it really is a GOOD place to live.
25 years ago when I was a teller in a bank, I was amazed at the number of people from other parts of the country that came here to live. One guy I waited on at the bank came here for work and then lost his job and he stayed because he liked it so much. (the bank I worked at was in an office complex by the Airport and our clientèle were mainly business people.)
The change of seasons is nice and this summer has been wonderful with the low temps and low humidity. We have not hit 90ºF (32ºC) once this July and it looks like we won't.
Well, if Ed and Sean move back to Minnesota I'd love to talk with them about plants. (does Sean like plants, too, or is it just Ed?) And I know love is a strong emotion, but leaving Hawaii for MN? Man, that must be one strong bond!
Thanks,
Mike
(btw, we can get to -30ºF in the winter [-34ºC] and hoyas have a really hard time making it outside all year here! There is no problem with them taking over trees in our climate. (:o))
HAHA...you should let USDA know!!! They will be relieved to know something!!!
Carol..no closer shots as to what he's doing between those 2 flowers?
Dom
It was really hard..Dom...one reason because the action was taken at an eye level. That cross didn't work as apparently H. affinis' opening is too small...but he managed to get pollen in two spot on the coronaria....
Carol
