H. australis

Just checked the one I purchased from Pike Lake and it doesn't have fuzzy leaves/stems. They are thin and glossy and a few are rounded but most are pointed. Now I have no idea what this *most likely* mislabeled one is now. :(

It's interesting to see some of the different kinds of H. australis that are out there Marcy. Yours all look lovely and healthy. Are australis cuttings easy to root? I have one with large, round, dark green leaves. I have it in a ziploc bag.

Sandy

I love seeing all your hoyas! Beautiful!! =)

Marcy, what a cool idea sticking the ger. in with the hoya! Now, I know why I keep my australis, hoping for blooms. Ms Kitty, I wonder if the silk flowers would get weird from the misting?
Heather

Mairzee is the long stemmy things with the flowers coming from a Hoya? Luv your hoyas.
:) Donna

Donna....the long hanging things are the seed pods from the King palm that the hoya plant is hanging from. It is a strange and lovely thing that comes out of the palm and hangs until the seeds all fall off. It looks like a sea anenome or something. I love those things because they are so lacy and flowing looking hanging there. Here is a picture of one after it is all opened up.

Here it is when it first started out...

And so not to change the subject too much, Christina asked why I put a geranium in with the hoyas, so I will show my some of my tree out front with hoyas and other plants. Since people can see this tree I like to have some blooming things here & there.
Also, when I first started collecting hoyas, I tended to put them in fairly large pots and they seemed to need something else in with them to fill it up. Ha.
Geraniums grow like weeds here in Calif. so it is easy to just pop them in where you need a little color. I planned on moving them out at a later date, but they seem to look & behave OK with the hoyas, so I just left them. Often they are blooming when nothing else is, so it adds a little color to my "tree of life" out there. Here is another picture.

This carnosa 'Krimson Queen' has some very pink leaves which look very nice with this hot pink geranium's flowers.
The only ones that have a geranium in their pots are ones that live outside year round and can handle a bit of sun on them.

Marcy, that is so beautiful. My KQ only gets like one pink leaf at a time. It is cool to see one growing like that. How envious I am of those that can grow hoyas outside year round!
Heather

Really Nice, Marcy....beautiful!!!

The King Palm really looks cool with the bloom hanging like that. I'm definitely jealous to of not being able to grow plants like you all year round. Awesome collection of hoyas.
:) Donna

Wow, Marcy!!
I bet you have a lot of people slow down when they drive/walk past your house. I would gape in awe at such a wonderous sight (as I am doing right now). You really have a wonderful artistic sense for your displays.
Ann

Those are beautiful, Marcy!

Your pots look great hanging out in the tree Marcy. I like the touch of colour you've added to some of them. It must be so nice being able to grow your hoyas outside all year round.

Could you please name some more hoyas that can take a bit more sun than the others? I have more south facing windows than anything else and I'm not sure what hoyas I'm going to be able to put near them. I have a few cuttings that are starting to get roots and when I pot them up I'll have to make some decisions as to where they'll grow the best.

Sandy

Thats a pretty touchy question as it "depends" on so many factors. Winter sun is milder than summer sun. Hot day sun is the worst. I have had burnt leaves on a hot day that had been fine in the same spot for months until the super HOT day happened. Some hoyas won't burn but will just get pale yellow leaves and look anemic. Ha. Sun through a window is usually milder also, especially if your windows have any "tint" added to them. My south windows do, so I hang almost anything in there.Then on the other hand, some direct hot sun shinning through a non tinted southern window could just burn the daylights out of them.
Even the "tree hoyas" do not really get sun all day there as the sun moves around the tree at different angles throughout the day, so they are shaded part of the time.
Most hoyas can take a little or half day of sun through a window fine. Some I have found do better in the shade like serpens. In the end I guess you just have to do like I did at first and experiment a bit until you figure out which can handle what light. Just keep a close eye on them at first and check for burned leaves, or spots. Also, you must introduce them to brighter light gradually. Let them have a little morning or late afternoon sun first before actually putting them in a southern window.
HTH
Marcy

Yes, thanks Marcy, that does help a lot. I think it's a good thing that I'm starting out at this time of year when we get so many cloudy days. I'm not so likely to come home and find I've accidently fried them. It will be easier to gradually get them used to more and more sun when spring rolls around. I'll watch them carefully and move them around and hopefully find spots that each one likes.

Sandy

I find that H. cumingiana likes a lot of light. H. pottsii too.

The easy way to tell the H. australis apart is that ssp. tenuipes has smooth shiney leaves on both sides and the leaves are more rounded, usually. ssp. australis is actually pubescent (fuzzy) on both sides, but the top of the leaf doesn't look it (the hairs are really spaced far apart so the light gets down to the leaf 'skin', and the underside of the ssp. australis leaf is very 'matt' looking and a lighter green. I love both of them....so easy.

H. cv. Ms. G was a seedling of H. australis ssp. australis and I really like her too.

Well...off to fertilize. I have a good friend coming to visit in about 2 weeks and I want my hoyas to knock her socks off!!!

Carol

The H. australis shown in the first few photos is a beautiful plant.