In all our travels yesterday, I insisted on a trip to Lowe's for new bulbs for my lights. They've evidently hired new people or something, because from a ways away I could tell the plants looked much better than usual. I wasn't going to buy any plants. Honest! But, when I saw these, I couldn't resist!
'Optimara AnnaBelle'
I don't want to hear a word from those of you whom I have told I wouldn't be buying more AVs! LOL I simply cannot resist the bell blossoms!
'Optimara IsaBelle'
This one was tagged as Aeschynanthus radicans 'Krakau'. I have done some research and discovered that it is actually Columnea 'Krakatau'.
This one is tagged Aeschynanthus radicans 'Red'. I feel quite certain it is a Columnea as well, but don't know the species or cultivar, if there is one. It does have buds, though, so if I can get it to go through with blooming, maybe the flowers will help to ID it.
Great finds Amy.The bell flowers on the AV's are very nice and they all look nice and healthy.
Thanks Jan! I'm really tickled about them. :o)
Optimara is now packaging the AVs in a plastic sleeve, which seems to be protecting the leaves quite a bit. I think Lowe's must have just recently received a shipment of plants, too. ;o)
Good luck, Susan! I hope they've got some good ones there for you. Let us know what you find! :o)
good finds, amy....................really good finds!!!!!!!!!
Thanks, Gail! I'm so tickled with them! I killed the AnnaBelle I had, and I never had IsaBelle, so I did a happy dance right there in the store! LOL
I did have annaBelle but she went to the ladies at the church...................
I've got leaves of her now. ;o)
Those are so pretty Amy! I would have thought any with those beautiful bell flowers would have to be special ordered, not just sitting in Lowes!!! I'll be going to the city next week and was going to check in to Lowe's in case they had gotten any nice Hoyas in, but now I'll be looking at the violets too! I love a good treasure hunt, just like the rest of you! :))))
~Brenda
Thank you, Brenda! I never expected to see them there, either. Almost fell over when I saw them! LOL They also had a variegated Columnea, and a Hoya lacunosa that was blooming its head off! Smelled heavenly! Those were in the big baskets, though. There was something else really nice they had in a big basket, but I can't remember what it was... Let us know what you find! :o)
Lucky Lucky Girl Amy!! Great Finds : )
Thank you, Nancy! :o)
What fun you must have had yesterday, Rain. I have the columnea Krakatau also. Lately, I've become interested in Hoyas too. Only had one variegated plant I liked called H. carnosa 'Rubra'. That H. lacunosa in bloom would have gone in my shopping cart! Our Lowes is so limited for some reason in the houseplants. If one is looking for Pothos and Ivy, they seem to have plenty of that all the time. I think now they will be dismantling the dept. to make way for Holiday stuff. They did that last year.
A recent trade from a wonderful DGer has brought me some new very nice Hoyas. We still need to get id's on a few. I potted them in 6" hanging baskets in my kitchen because it was too hot and humid that day to work outside without keeling over.
Enjoy all your nice finds :-) AnnaBelle is such a great bloomer and the blossoms last a long time.
Your Hoya's look fabulous Snowrose! What a wonderful selection of such nice sized plants!!
I'm new to hoyas too and am just starting my collection and I am enjoying them very much.
I just started a thread over on the Hoya forum about a seed pod that came with a hoya cutting I recieved and how it is going with planting them and trying to grow them if any are interested. I know I see some of the same names over there.
I am as new to hoyas as I am to AV's and I'm so hoping I can continue growing up these babies and having some to share with all my AV's Streps and Hoyas! :))))
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/765791/
~Brenda
Amy... Great finds! I always enjoy going to Lowe's and finding out they just got in a new shipment of goodies! It's the only time the plants look good, is when they are fresh off the truck.
Snowrose, I am getting cuttings for my first hoya from a local DGer friend of mine this week. I've never had one. I saw a photo of her hoya 'Bella' and was stunned by the bloom! Here's a link... http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3899400
Good luck with yours!
Beautiful VA Rose, so easy to see why Hoyas can be like the Streps and AV's and become addicting!! :)))
Here's the link to a bloom I got from one of my hoya cuttings (Finlaysoni) with in weeks of potting it up. The cutting did come with a peduncle on it already.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3788052
~Brenda
Bemedel - what an interesting thread on your successful hoya seed project. They look wonderful and grew so fast for you. I want to ask you about the mini greenhouses you planted your seeds in. I like them. What are they?
Laughing about our thoughts of a 'collection'. Ever notice how some people can just have one plant and be happy with that for years? Others (like us) seem to think in terms of plant collections.
I have a H. curtisii that I plan to take lots of cuttings on. You are welcome to some if you want.
VWR - what a gorgeous hoya blossom photo! I'm swooning.
Bemedel - oh, how nice!
Believe me, Snow, it took everything I had in me not to buy that Hoya lacunosa! But it was out of my price range, and I have a Hoya lacunosa that Lin sent me. It's smaller than that one was, but it will grow and it's much more special to me coming from Lin, than from Lowe's. :o)
I've got several different kinds of Hoyas outside, but I'm still working on the mealies that have taken them over, finally getting the upper hand on them. It has to have something to do with the drought this year, but there are mealybugs all over everything outside. Those Hoyas are growing like weeds out there, though! They look a little rough from the extreme heat and mealies, but one of them keeps shoving a vine under the siding! LOL I've had to pull it out from under there about three times.
Your Hoyas look beautiful! You did a fabulous job potting them up! I have a hard time with that, they're so heavy. LOL
Karen, our Lowe's has actually improved over the last several months, so don't give up on them just yet. Maybe yours will get better, too! I love going to Home Depot, too. Last time I was there I got the dying-of-thirst Aeschynanthus 'Rasta' and they had a Dischicia, too, but I don't know a lot about those and it didn't look very good, so I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep it alive. I wish now I would have gotten it, though, as maybe I could have at least gotten cuttings of it.
Beautiful blooms, Brenda!! Don't you just love when you receive them already with a peduncle?? ;o)
Back to Snow... LOL Don't you just love Hoya curtisii?? That foliage is beyond beautiful! Brenda sent one to me and it's so pretty, I don't care if it never blooms. :o) I have a picture of it on the other computer. I'll post it in a little while. It's grown a lot since I got it. :o)
Snowrose I bought those little green house deals at Park Seeds. It all came as a grow light, heat pad, mini green house set up but I know you can buy the mini green houses separate along with refills of the interesting dirt/ foam growing medium for the styrofoam that is inside them....Let me go find it and put a link here...hope this works. ~Brenda
http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=6529&PrevMainPage=gateseedstarters&scChannel=Seed%20Starting%20AS&OfferCode=TH1
Amy... I love to go to Lowe's, HD, and Wal-mart... but it's l;ike I "have" to save the dying plants from the bad people who don't take care of them! LOL!!! It's futile! It's like wanting to save all the kittens at the humane society... but you can't save them all, and you can't bring them all home. *sigh* I "saved" a desert rose from Wal-mart this spring, and it loves me for it, as you can see from the photo below.
On the hoyas... to me, the blooms don't even look real! I told my DGer friend that is giving me the cuttings, that the blooms look like cake decorations... like candied flowers or something... I think they are stunning!
Brenda, that one you have is beautiful too!
Snowrose, the one you showed the foliage of... Hoya curtisii... is it variegated??? That is gorgeous too! I can only imagine what the bloom looks like on that one!
Great you already have lacunosa from Lin. And, you are right, that does make it more special.
My sister told me when she lived in S.California that the mealies were awful. She said she thought it had a lot to do with the dryness.
I am so happy with these new hoyas received in trade. Whets my appetite for more. We know how that goes. I put some phal orchid mix #2 in the bottom of the baskets and mixed a little in the soil also for good drainage. Hoping that will work well.
I was so intent on getting that link to work about the greenhouses that I didn't thank you for your generous offer of some of that beautiful curtsii Snowrose! It is on that I found in a nice large pot at HD but I do appreciate your offer!
I had bought a little one from Robs before finding my big one at HD and that is the one I sent to Rain and I'd love to see it growing up good for you Rain.
I'm going to work on separating and planting up my strep babies today and also on transplanting some of those Hoya babies. If I'm successful (I'm very nervous!!) and they start growing well and strong in their new individual pots I'll be letting you all know so I can share (really I mean move them outta here!!) but sharing sounds nicer. LOL
~Brenda
Brenda, those Hoya seedlings are just too sweet! You're doing a fabulous job with them! I'll be watching that thread for more pictures! :o) Those greenhouses are very neat, too. I like them! I'm about to change computers, so I'll post the picture of the H. curtisii in just a minute.
Snow, I potted my Hoyas in orchid mix, too, and then "top-dressed" it with regular potting soil to hold in just a little moisture. They seem to like it quite well!
We've never had mealies here like we do this year. It's truly amazing. Maybe next year will be just a little bit less hot and dry. I know better than to wish for too much rain - been there, done that, and have the pictures of a flooded front yard to prove it.
Karen, I love that Desert Rose! I look for them around here, but never find them. I think Gail said she has an extra one she can send me, so I'm really excited about that!
You got all of these at Lowel's? Boy what a great find.
It's a rare thing to find those and looking that good, too, makshi! I really think they must have just received that shipment yesterday morning. They all looked so healthy!
Brenda, here's the Hoya curtisii. Can you tell how much it's grown? The vines are getting so much longer! I simply love it! :o)
oh Wow!! Curtsiis foliage is to die for! That one I simply MUST have!!LOL..laughing as my list gets longer and longer and my house seems smaller and smaller....
Rose when my Aunt gave me my first hoya this past year she just called it a Wax Plant. I did research and found it was a hoya but the nickname is Wax Plant as the flowers look like wax l!!
Wow Rain, that Curtsii has grown! It looks great! It's happy in it's new home thats for sure. The one I got from HD has sent out new growth and stayed happy so far. I love it with it's tiny but thick and variegated leaves. Here is a shot of it from night a couple months ago.
~Brenda
That is one pretty hoya.
Fabulous, isn't it?? The foliage is what made me NEED it! LOL
Nancy, look at the last two pictures on this thread... http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/765184/
Brenda, I was typing when you posted that. Oh My Goodness!!! That is just gorgeous!! I'm going to show that picture to mine, so it can see what expectations I have for it! ;o)
Hmm, here's a better shot from the day time...... then back to AV's and Streps I promise!
~Brenda
I just had to take a peek over on the hoya forum and Brenda your propagation of hoyas from seed is quite amazing. I love the way you explained it with pictures..thats my kind of instructions!! You should be extremely proud of your accomplishment! : )
You're not bothering me at all, so don't change on my account.
That's just so beautiful! :o) Have you ever looked up the bloom? That's usually the first thing I do when I get a new plant, but I haven't on this one. I meant it when I said it's so pretty just the way it is, if it never blooms I'll still be totally happy with it!
Brenda, You grew it from seeds. Seeds I can't even get mine to bloom.
OMG Amy!! Momo bloomed!! Oh it is soo pretty.Got to go look again : ))
