Thought I should start off this new thread seeing as I reached September first ;O)
My pubicalyx has come out with a lot of umbels, one about 5 - 6 metres up the tree. A couple have already fully opened, the rest will have soon.
September flowers
Beautiful bloom tropicbreeze!
How cool it would be to live in an area where Hoya's just grow up the trees! I'm still waiting to see buds and blooms on any of my pubicalyx. Sure hope at least one of the plants has a bloom that nice!
Happy September everyone!
I don't want it to be September!! That means it's Fall and we haven't even had summer yet!!
(whine)
Beautiful bloom to kick off the month!!
Gee ... and we've had waaaay too much SUMMER with the awful heat and humidity! We don't have much of a fall season down here usually and I would love to have some brisk autumn days and cool nights! I think it would be great if folks could trade places for maybe a month. I'd love to be in a different climate and get to experience wonderful fall weather! Maybe we need a DG "Vacation Home Swap" forum, LOL.
We can never get away during the fall season because my husband teaches and his time off is two months during the summer and three weeks at Christmas. I might just have to visit my youngest sister in N. Georgia for a few days in October to be able to see some pretty changing leaf colors!
Tell ya what Lin...we can trade for the month of January ok? and you can experience the wonders of -30F...everybody should know the feeling of having your nose freeze shut when you try to breathe...
:( I don't think so. This ole' southern gal wouldn't even survive 10ºF much less something - 0º
^_^
First day of spring for us. Today it got to 38.6C ( about 101.5F) here.
Oh my goodness, 105ºF at the beginning of spring? I guess I should quit complaining about the heat here as that is extremely hot! What is your summer like? Do you have high humidity as well as those high temperatures? We've been having mid and upper 90ºF days for a couple of months now, no sign of it cooling down yet. Many folks live without air conditioning and I remember as a youngster we didn't have it but gee, I can't imagine surviving the heat without it now that I'm old.
This is not a flower but have you seen a white hoya? This stem is about 18" long and every leaf is solid white with a pink stem.
My (dearly departed, and now replaced) Krimson Queen sent out pink stems with white leaves quite often. Fascinated the beecheezus out of me, so I had to try and root it. It rotted. Others have tried as well and the same thing happens. Unless there's some green on the leaf, it won't grow because there's no chlorophyl. I learned that no matter how pretty it is, it does the plant no favours, so I nip it off as soon as I see it. It produces no chlorophyl, and may in fact rob the plant of food. I think that's what I was told .. its past my bedtime and the grey matter's turning to sludge. Some people leave the white leaves on, and I think as long as the plant is large enough they won't harm it. What does every one else think about it? Besides that I should go to bed and stop mambling? LOL
Christine
Plantladylin, spring is our hottest time, particularly November. The sun comes directly overhead about 4th November, continues on south and then comes back about 10th February. So there are two peaks in sun intensity. Humidity is building up already but usually December the monsoon starts, cools things down to the low 30's celcius although % humidity runs in the 90's, high 90's until about April. Day temperatures are high all year, night temperatures and humidity are lower in the dry season (winter). Night time humidity in the dry season can often be 95 - 98%, days are usually a lot lower.
Climatically we're sub-equatorial, wet/dry, monsoonal. That's why I was careful getting hoyas from David Liddle and took his advice on suitable species. That said, my pubicalyx (bought years ago) is a cool grower but still seems okay where it's out of too much direct sun.
Thanks Christine! for your prompt reply!! I had already thought about the no chlorophyl. It sure is pretty though!!! The plant is quite large so I think I'll leave it on and watch it.
Okay, I've never tried an image before, so I hope this works....my h. sp. bicolor finally bloomed---not only was it gorgeous, it also really did smell just like a big slice of fresh lime...I loved it...only downside--the flowers opened on Saturday afternoon and closed forever on Monday afternoon...giving me one day and two nights to enjoy...otherwise, it's an amazing hoya with a unique scent and a beautiful color scheme...
Shelley
Okay, let me try again....and may I just add---Ta da!!!
This message was edited Sep 2, 2009 2:29 PM
Beautiful flower Shelley! Too bad it did not last a little longer. It is funny the wide differences in how long a flower lasts. My hellwigiana only lasts about a day and a half and on my linearis the flower lasted close to a month. Anyhow, great flower and photo - congratulations.
Doug
Congrats on posting your first photo Shelley, great shot of that bloom, what a beauty! Oh, the lime scent sounds wonderful too. Aaah ... another to add to my ever growing "wish" list! I'd love to see what the foliage looks like on that one.
Thanks guys! Posting the picture took 2 people and 1 tantrum....I'm not saying which person had the tantrum...
Doug--I know, all my other flowers (like I have so many) last 7-10 days easy...on the other hand if the flowers lasted for a long time that would make the plant perfect...and we all know nothing is allowed to be perfect :-)
Lyn--The leaves are light green, nearly round, and have a weird "leathery" feel--almost like it hasn't gotten enough water...they're also pretty sparse...this little plant actually has more peduncles than leaves! It came to me with two leaves and three peduncles and so far seems much more interested in budding and blooming than making foliage...no sign of new growth yet...it's definitely an interesting looking plant...
SR
Shelley: I was real curious about the foliage so I googled it after you posted your picture. I found it in PF: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/184151/ The leaves don't excite me but that bloom is gorgeous and makes up for the foliage!
Someday I hope to have some different hoya blooms to show. My old faithfuls brevialata, wayettii and ds-70 seem to bloom all summer. It's been raining all afternoon and evening but I managed to go out between showers and take a few pictures. This is wayettii ... again!
brevialata
ds-70
My walliniana I got from DL a couple of months ago is starting to produce lots of tiny umbels. Hopefully some will be open before the end of the month. The "Kapit Borneo" has another umbel with flowers about to open. But after losing about 3 of them recently at that stage I'm expecting the umbel to collapse and fall apart today or tomorrow. Surprisingly it's producing more new umbels but not a show of vine or leaf growth.
I have pubicalyx (possibly) RHP in bloom. I think that the flowers look purpler than my pink silver but could only compare if they were both blooming at the same time. There are no other colours on the flowers, but the plant isn't in really bright light (I've now moved it). I also have two umbels, one ready to pop open, on H. sp. 'Molukken'. (This is where I start whining.). My printer is not working properly so won't accept my camera card, and we can't find the usb port (is that what it's called) that came with the camera, so while I've taken pictures I can't upload them. Whaaaa.
Oh! And I have a new peduncle on H. myrmecopa.
All for my eyes only...hopefully "Mr. Yeah-Later" will get the printer looked at this weekend; meantime, when I'm home, I'm frantically going through the house looking for the box that the camera came in (something to be said for not throwing everything away). I know its there somewhere...lol.
Christine
My tsangii is blooming like crazy.
Some flowers...
I'm really looking forward to seeing those pictures Christine! Hopefully it won't be too long.
Doug
LOL Christine ... I've been married to a "Mr. "Yeah, in a minute" for 40 years now! He is a packrat and saves everything but he's not very orderly. I was always the very organized type: "A place for everything and everything in it's place", but the older I get the worse I get ... and I can never find anything! My mom always had a saying: "If you live with an unorganized person (her word was slob) long enough ... you turn into one! ^_^
Hope you find your camera cable soon so we can see pictures!
MyHoyas: Love that yellow bloom on tsangii ... so cute!
I took this one yesterday evening. H. kentiana full of blooms:
Thanks for the support; I just have to wait until he has some time on his Friday afternoon off. Its just so frustrating. That box has to be in the (former) cold cellar; that's the only room I haven't torn apart, and its jammed with stuff. Oh well; Saturday if he can't get the printer fixed on Friday.
I'm really enjoying everyone's pictures. Those tsangii flowers are excuisite! I love the little beads of sap on them. And kentiana has so many flowers, wow! I guess I'm going to have to find a way to acquire tsangii. And Bi-Color: what incredibly lovely flowers, I definitely need that one too.
Time to spoil my cats; I'm being called "meow, meow, meow. etc;. etc.,". The perils of adhering to a schedule is that they remember every nght that they get brushed ... and treats.
Nighty night.
Christine
Christine: I totally understand about spoiled felines! My husband and I are down (from 5) to just one very spoiled kitty. She wants vanilla ice cream every night .. and boy does she let us know it! I was a little concerned about giving it to her but so far she hasn't had any adverse effects from a teaspoonful almost every night.
Just found this today...but I don't have a clue what it IS!!!! Smells great! Anybody have a clue? (And I am not making a funny...I lost the tag!!!). H. hellwigiana?
Those leaves look my H. pentaphlebia cutting.
From photo's I saw while googling, it does look like H. pentaphlebia, both foliage and bloom. Plant Files needs a bloom picture: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/82430/
H. sp Molukken's flowers were open last night; they're so tiny and lovely, and remind me a bit of H. pusilla's, only the corona is darker and more prominent. I took about 20 pictures. They have a light scent of sweet almonds (pubicalyx is still in flower; its amazing I could smell anything else). DH has promised to get the printer looked at tomorrow....sigh...
Christine
Here is H. pentaphlebia
http://www.bigislandgrowers.com/AHcomp/AHpent1.php
There was nothing wrong with the printer - it was the ink jet cartridge that we'd had refilled - it was dried out and damaged and shouldn't have been refilled. Oh well, all is good in pictureland now, and we weren't charged for a new cartridge which was nice.
Here's H sp. Molukken's first flowers, and another umbel that will open soon. Today it was covered in sap that tasted as lightly sweet as its scent of sweet almonds. I think its a really pretty flower and is now a favourite.
Edited to say they're quite small, the entire umbel is about 3" across.
Christine
This message was edited Sep 12, 2009 6:42 PM
And here's what I was told was H pubicalyx RHP; I think not, but I do think the flowers are darker than pink silver's. I don't know, maybe its "Bright One"? The leaves have never had any red in them, but I have moved the plant to a sunnier location because I'm a die-hard optimist...lol...
Christine
Christine, the RHP you sent me has nice red leaves in a West window.
H. sp. sulawesii IPPS 8845
Blooms smell lilac-ish and last 6 days
H. naumanii
Blooms for over one week and smell resembles a Cattaleya orchid...
Very nice Joni! Why on earth don't I have those?
LeeAnn, what I sent you was from this plant; it seems the lack of direct sun is the reason for the lack of red in the leaves and darker spots in the flowers. Time will tell I guess. I'd better make sure there isn't another plant on the window ledge shading it.
Christine