Marilyn's Garden

I've always been jealous of people who live near big box stores that get EA plants- so I was very happy to find this unlabeled Hoya at a local nursery here in SF. It looks like it could be a macrophylla relative- the leaves look very similar. Time will tell, hopefully sooner than later, as this small (in topgrowth) plant has four healthy looking peduncles.
It came from Marilyn's Garden. She is a California grower who lives near San Diego and grows bromeliads, succulents, Hoyas, and other tropical looking plants for wholesale. She dosen't have a website, and I don't think she does mail order. I don't expect this to change, as I have heard she is 74! Anyone in CA, especially near LA should be able to sweet-talk their favorite nursery into ordering some plants from her. She can be a bit expensive, from most nurseries point of view, so you may have to pour on the charm.
Her plants are not huge, and at first glance they may look overpotted, but they have always had (for me) fantastic root systems, and put on growth lavishly when you treat them well. She grows her plants hard, and they have thick succulent looking leaves and the bigger ones are usually jammed with peduncles. They are usually cut back for transport, but bounce back very quickly. Sometimes I have found larger 8" pots that are very full and well grown.
I have seen from her:

carnosa, carnosa 'Picta', carnosa 'Krimson Queen' (or are they the same? Anyway, the two variegated ones)
compacta & 'Krinkle 8'
australis ssp. australis
bella
shepherdii
obovata
multiflora
pubicalyx

And now this macrophylla thingy. Her labeling leaves something to be desired, but the plants are great!

GREAT find! Will be fun to find out what it is....

Wow! I'm jealous of you..I love macrophylla or anything macrophylla.

Susan

Markroy, I am always a little jealous of people who find fantastic local growers that most of us can only dream about. Great looking leaves, and four peduncles too? Probably wont find one like this at your local box store. . Hope it flowers for you soon so you can post more pictures.

Nice find markroy! Any contact info for Marilyn's Garden? I googled but didn't find anything.

Any recommendations on SFO nurseries? I'm in the city every wednesday and always looking for an excuse to go nursery hopping!!
I hit Sloats out by the Zoo at least once a month.

Every once in a while we sell a Hoya at the Arboretum sale. But our collection is not very extensive. I just started some new cuttings Wednesday so we should have some more in the spring.

Mark; This looks exactly like the plant I've had for about 20 years as H. polystachya. I believe the H. macrophylla, H. latifolia and H. polystachya are all in the same general family but one mark of the H. polystachya is that they normally have only one peduncle per leaf axel not the multiple peduncles like the others do. Whether it is or not, it's certainly one of the most beautiful of the bunch, leaf wise. As soon as I can find a photo in my library of about 9000 pictures, I'll post a picture for all to see.
Annie W.

O.K. These search engines are wonderful. I found a flower picture and foliage also.
Annie

And here's the foliage.
Annie

Thanks, Annie, that does look very like my plant. We'll see soon (I hope) !
Begoniacrazy, I've never found direct contact info for Marilyn, but if you google her you will find other people refering to her. The nursery I found this in was Flora Grubb nursery, formerly Guerrero st Gardens, formerly The Palm Broker. It's between 22nd and 23rd on Guerrero. Very nice, knowledgable staff and a focus on exotic and native mediteranean plans, with, of course, a lot of palms and some tropicals. They would have contact info for Marilyn there, as they order from her fairly regularly. I haven't asked them about larger Hoyas, I really don't know why!
Funny you should mention Sloat, today I was in the one on 3rd avenue. We have a discount there, a good one, since my company works with HGTV producing Curb Appeal and another gardening show. The cashier rang me up without the proper discount, and when I asked about it, the manager was very dismissive, told me that couldn't possibly be true, and gave me generally a hard time. When he finaly looked it up on the computer, he said I was right, but kept saying he would have to call the office to "see about this". In the meantime he had a German college student try to straighten out the sale. She complained non-stop and questioned me about it the whole time. When I explained it to her she goes, "Oh, I've seen that show." and then rolled her eyes and smirked! The whole thing took over 45 minutes, and I never got an apology. So, of course, Sloat is off my list for the time being, if not forever. Well, that's certainly OT. Sorry!

Thanks for the heads up on the Flora Grubb nursery. I'll have to mosey over there one day.

too bad about Sloat's! In the day and age of big box stores, now is not the time to alienate good clients!

I stopped shopping at a supermarket chain just because of their customer service policy. It's a long story, but I lived in the BOONIES when my daughter was an infant so I would make a long drive to Santa Rosa once a month or so to stock up on essentials. One time I filled three carts and had a baby in my arms when I asked the cashier if she could call someone to help me out with my groceries. "We don't do that at this store" was the snotty remark I got. Never went back! I'm sure they never missed me, but customer service is key...
oh well. Sorry to get O/T

Thanks for the info on both Marilyn's and Flora Grubb!
Have a super weekend!!

Begoniacrazy, I meant to say earlier that I have seen some nice begonias at Flora Grubbs. Some of the more common uncommon ones, if that makes sense. Luxurians for sure, nice big ones, and some others that I didn't recognize. They could probably find more if they know they have an interested client!

(ears perked up) Did you say the magic word or what!!! I can usually smell a begonia a mile away!
Now I have to head over there for sure!! thanks for the heads up!