Gabi, so they are! I wonder if there is more than one clone in the trade as 'Red Buttons'? The reason I wonder is that Dale Kloppenburg has said that 'Red Buttons' is a stable cultivar that doesn't vary much in color. Either it really does, maybe due to cultivation conditions, or there is another clone in the trade that often but not always looks like 'Red Buttons'.
April's Frenzy of Flowers
I started an interesting thread last June on the various pubicalyx cvs. that I have & took some pictures that I think you would find interesting to compare 'Red Buttons' with others. I think this is the link:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/625436/
Now these are only the ones I have personally in MY collection, so they may differ in others, but you can get an idea from this.
So in looking at that, the one that gets multi colored coronas is probably the one known as 'Royal Hawaiian Purple' as the 'Red Buttons' seems to stay fairly uniformly a maroon shade of red.
I think there also must be a lot of mixes of the various cvs to further confuse us all. Ha
(I have heard that the name 'Red Buttons' comes from the old fashion button up shoes that sometimes had that very shade of red on the buttons.)
Marcy
My 2cents? Those cultivars that have been around for so long have great chances of being seedlings, or/and sports...just a change in the cell dynamics that make MORE flecks on the leaves or fewer...etc.
And another thing to remember is that the flower colors can change with varied factors differing: environment, nutrition, water....
This message was edited Apr 19, 2007 7:26 AM
Great thread that you linked to Marcy....very cool to see all three umbels from different cultivars next to each other.
What I found very interesting on Christina's site is that in ONE flower cluster the colors varied (I think this was on a 'Royal Hawaiian Purple' though, not 'Red Buttons')! So it seems to vary even in one plant, not just within the cultivar. It's sort of like what Carol said....just how some leaves have more flecks than others, some flowers can differ in color. But it's still strange to see that variation in the same umbel, let alone the same plant. I wonder what would explain that.
Gabi
Well...I don't know what is going on this spring, but I have absolutly nothing blooming right now. I did have a couple of 'Sunrise', and lacunosa bloom, but nothing is doing anything now. I have switched to the MSN fertilizer and everyting is growing nicely....just nothing blooming. I do have some buds on the multiflora,but that is hardly exciting (for me anyway...as it always blooms).I guess I will switch to a bloom fertilizer for the rest of the spring/summer. Something like 10-50-10 etc. Maybe that will help.
I keep looking at this thread & thinking...what is WRONG with MY group? I am still having cool nights (50s). Maybe that is it.
Marcy
Hey Marcy, don't give up on the MSU fertilizer yet, it's been working great for me, and I've had blooms galore all winter. Maybe something else is going on for you, haven't you been low on blooms all winter? Maybe the freakishly cold temperatures we had this year.
Carol was so gracious when I visited her in Feb. and showed my DH and I around her beautiful place. She sent me this plant after I got home.
I think the cool weather has a LOT to do with it. We have been cool and rainy for the past week or two...and the hoyas have sort of stopped blooming and being excited about Spring.
H. kentiana is going off!!! The fragrance is deafening!!!
jealous. yep ... definitely jealous!!!
:-)
Wow...gorgeous!
So pretty, the little pink flowers - that one has never grown well for me, for some reason. I've had the same 3-inch cutting sulking in a small pot for 2 years!
Fantastic line! "the fragrance is deafening!!!"
H. rigida.
Too cool, Mark...I have one in the same "position"..... we can race?
Carol, I think mine is due to open tonight or tomorow. I figure it would look just like pottsii or pachyclada, but the speckling is different and nice, no?
Love the speckling Mark! I can't wait to see the blooms.
Ann
A new one for me, right out of the box. H. heuschkeliana, yellow form. The flowers are amazingly fragrant- I could smell them when i picked the box up at Fedex! They also seem to be fragrant both day and night, just like butter toffee. Impressive for such a tiny-flowered plant.
A stow-away- a DS-128 growing out of the same pot as H. heuschkeliana. DS-128 has even tinier blooms. The leaves look almost exactly alike.
This message was edited Apr 21, 2007 1:56 PM
Well, I finally have a blooming hoya. My compacta hasn't bloomed in a couple of years. I emptied some of the potting mix and added new mix with lots of perlite a few weeks ago, and it now has two blooms. HOORAY! Now I'm waiting for my australis and obovata to bloom. The penduncles are starting to grow, oh so slowly.
GOOD on ya!!! Yep...lose is the way to go!!
Ha! I wonder how you meant that Carol................:~)
OH...that the airier (is that a word?) I make the soil, the better they seem to like it. Of course, I have a general humidity that takes care of alot of moisture....but I find mine usually like the soil crumbly.... LOL
Aloha Carol, and everyone else of course! Ok - you have all sold me. I have never tried growing a Hoya, but with all these incredible pictures - I just can't hold out any longer. So! For a total novice to the species.....what would you suggest as the easiest - and yet best example for getting started? I live in the tropics - so weather shouldn't be a problem ( i hope!) except for our winds. Now I'm all excited - so hit me with your suggestions please.
Well...we found H. diversifolia growing really near the beach (ON the beach) in the Philippines...so that would be a good starter!!! It is a 4wheel drive Hoya. Also, H. halophila (means salt lover) is wonderfully fragrant, small and a good indoor plant...or for a lanai.
Carol
Thanks! They both sound like my kind of plants. I will be ordering soon. Have a wonderful Sunday!
Shari
Shari, Hoya australis ssp. australis is also found growing near the beach, as is Hoya imperialis, which has 3" flowers in a variety of colors.
Carol, did I win?
So far H. rigida looks just like a king size plachyclada, now that the flowers are opening. Doesn't smell quite as good though. Lovely leaves, more like pottsii but larger.
Very nice Mark! Let's see who made it to the finish line first.
My pachyclada just opened (well, 7 out of the 13 buds did...the rest were a bit smaller but are catching up quickly. Amazing little blooms! I love the scent of the Pachy....subtle but so sweet and lemony.
beautiful photos Mark and Gabi!!! If only they were scratch-n-sniff ...
YUP...you won, Mark!!! Can't wait to see mine 'in the flesh'...won't be long now!!! Thanks for posting your flower!!!
Beautiful!
My Pachyclada finished blooming...I just love the scent!
Here's my Lacunosa...one of the many blooms. I'm in love with this hoya.
Here's my Multiflora umbel that finally bloomed after losing about half the flowers due to overwatering (they turned yellow and dropped off).
And I know this isn't a bloom, but I simply HAD to show this cool looking siamese leaf on my Kentiana.
Oh, last one (for now). Here's my Bella that is done flowering but is in bud now. Here are the flowers from last month.
Enjoy!
Gabi
Fabulous thread - what beautiful flowers you all have!! - I hope I can share some soon, I have lots of buds on noid hoyas I am really excited to see bloom, not to mention HUGE umbels full of buds all over my compacta;)
Yes, it is finally get warmer more consistantly here now too, so most all of the carnosas and pubicalyx outside have buds getting ready to open. The lacunosa and 'Sunrises' are also blooming fairly well. However, still not much on anything rare or unusual. I do find a few pedunchles here & there on some of the new things, but no buds on them yet. I have 2 huge cinnamomifolia out on the tree that I have had for 4 years, and have NEVER got a bloom from either. Maybe I will move them to another spot this year (if I can untangle them from the tree branches) Ha.
Marcy
My old trusty carnosa and compacta are continuously blooming their hearts out; Javanica's first flowers of the year will open in a day or two, and I found a very first peduncle on my serpens this morning. But my archiboldiana has an ever growing umbel that's blowing my mind. The largest bud is now bigger than a marble. I first noticed the buds in early March; the plant was a cutting that I got from Carol last summer. On top of the buds you can see, there are more flowers forming on the same peduncle. I look at this guy at least five times a day to check its progress. This picture was taken a few days ago, and it appears destined to be a May flower, like me.
Christine
