I am currently looking at houses and apartments because my lease is up in June. The most hilarious part of this process is me asking leasing agents what direction the bulk of the windows face. There usually is a long pause with a tentative request to clarify, so then I have to explain that I have houseplants that require a lot of light and I need windows that face south, west, or east.
Anyone else out there in Hoyaland do crazy things for their Hoyas???
:-)
Ann
Hoya Insanity (or, what crazy things we do for our Hoyas)
Fun topic Ann, glad to see you are back. So is Tammi F, and Mel - I have missed you all and your really great posting.
The absolute stupidest thing I have done for my hoyas is to climb on a stool to water my hanging plants, the day after having 8 x-rays to determine whether my ankle was just sprained, or broken from a horrible fall at work.
Bryan drew the line there, and I actually had to wait until I could bear weight on both feet separately before resuming my watering schedule. Ha.
Your story about determining where you are going to move based on directional facing windows, and light exposure is too funny Ann!! I really have missed you!!
S
Well, despite the fact that MsKitty is now gone, I agree this is a fun subject. I just bought a house and whilst searching, I actually carried a compass to check which way the windows faced, and in one instance wouldn't even go into the house to see it because the few windows it had were all too small. Yes, my new house has lots and lots of BIG windows! And trees to hang the hoyas in outside!
I love your story Sarah, and can see you up on that stool
Christine
Ahem... I believe Sara is gone too.
However, it is a good topic. I may be doing some house shopping in the near future. Two of my pre-requisites are plenty of good, big windows with east or west exposure. I'd also like a greenhouse, or a space in a house that could be modified into one.
Houses without good light near the windows are OUT!
I plan my vacations around them....er, hate to abandon them in the middle of blooming season, when they need more tender loving care...and more adoration....Silly but true. I once had a character actor, Richard Edson (also in Sonic Youth) stay at my house for 2 weeks mid-August and I left him 2 pages of instructions for misting, watering and fertilizing my plants. He didn't lose a one!
Julia
Oh my goodness ... I would love, love, love to have a house with tons of tall and wide windows for my plants! We've been in the same house for 33 years ... and only have two good east facing windows. Unfortunately I can't put anything on the west side ... the afternoon sun here is fierce. And, my cats fight with plants for the east windows. I don't have a lot of hoyas but do have a lot of plants! I have lighted plant stands in front of the east windows and these stands hold my african violets and gesneriad plants.
Luckily our weather here is mild pretty much year round so my few hoyas can stay outside most of the year. I have some hanging on the front porch (east side of house) and some out on my covered deck (northwest side of house.) If we do have cold nights I drag certain plants inside - others get covered with old blankets.
My dream house would have lots of huge windows and in the center part of the house, a very large plant room with a glass roof! Actually, I would like my very own botanical garden with a conservatory to live in!
Hmmmm... maybe not crazy, but shall we say, "cautious"? Okay.. nutzo! I was so afraid (for good reason, it turned out) that the Hoya would be injured in some way during the move that I made the trip in my car from Huntsville, AL to Quincy, FL and back ~ twice ~ moving nothing except my Hoya. Upon arrival the first trip, I wrote instructions on their care for my sister... not to mention when to bring them inside if temps threatened to dip below their comfort zone. And, I made her promise to call me if ANYthing happened. :-)
I just finished taking them all back outside from spending two nights, covered, inside the screen porch due to temps near or at freezing.
They may only be plants, but they are special to me... and that's what counts!
Barb
OK, this is bad: I totally convinced my husband that his desire to have a pool table could be met - if we added on another room. Of course, the room had to have LOTS of windows (oh hey dear, how about a 4 season room...?) and he bought it. So I got a sunroom.....Do I feel bad? HECK NO - I LOVE MY SUNROOM!! Oh, and the pool table makes a lovely accessory to my hoyas!!
Karen
what's a hoya?
Karen: Love it! I'm afraid if we had an extra room with any kind of table, it would end up being a plant table! LOL. Oh how I would love to have some nice floor to ceiling windows!
Paul had a pool table once upon a time. He decided to sell it for a smaller table and I immediately took over the room with plants. Poor man.....he never quite understood what happened to his game room. Then, he came home with a new bass boat and wanted to build a car port for it. I agreed as long as he also built a greenhouse.
Mel
Oooh .... Mel, I love that idea! My hubby has been wanting a bigger boat ... maybe I should convince him he needs a boatport to keep it clean and at the same time convince him that we need a greenhouse too? hmm ... Nah, I know it wouldn't work. I had a greenhouse many years ago ... a very large one that he built for me but it wasn't heated. Back then we had some cold winters with hard freezes and I was always dragging plants out of the GH and into the house. My job had me working very long hours and I just did not have the time or energy so one year I had him dismantle the GH and get rid of it. :( Can you believe it? Now that I am retired I sure would love to have one even half that size to play in!
Julia, you are the only person I know whose Hoya have a rock'n'roll pedigree!
He was a friend of a friend...and too be honest, I don't know any of Sonic Youth's songs. My husband was embarrassed that I put such demands on him, though.
Julia
Plantladylin, this is really wierd, I just wandered into this forum curious. I'm sitting here checking out the pictures that you sent me and there it is!...the plant I bought last summer and never know what it was! Now I know. It had the coolest, white waxy, fragrant blooms when I bought it! but -- it's never bloomed since, I have it in my best south window. what's the secret?
Sounds like a H. carnosa...if so, give it lower light, cool temps and don't water it much!!! They are perfect for offices with a/c.