Last night I got home form work to find:
A) My h. nummulariodes blooms had finally opened; not only do I LOVE the teeny tiny pink and white stars, but the scent is amazing and keeps changing....when I first sniffed them I thought "sweet alyssum"---very heavy honey scent; but as the evening continued the smell morphed into more of a hyacinth scent....I can't wait to see what they've decided to smell like when I get home from work tonight :)
B) On my front porch was a package containing the h. archboldiana I won on e-bay....nobody else had bid on the poor plant, probably because it consisted of only two leaves and some bare stem....but what the e-bay photo didn't show, and the seller failed to mention, was that on that 3' of leafless stem there were TWO peduncles....I know there's a long road between peduncle and bloom, but still, I have hopes I MIGHT have archboldiana flowers sometime next spring or summer :)
So basically I spent the rest of the night dancing around and hugging myself (with time outs to sniff the numm flowers)....it's true, hoya people are weird---but we're happy!
SR
two exciting hoya happenings at my house!
Congrats, Shelly! The nummularioides is one of my favorites for scent and I love the little soft leaves on that one too! I don't have "archie" but maybe will acquire one someday, it sure is a beautiful hoya with those huge blooms! Keep us posted on how yours does for you.
Congratulations (1) on winning the great plant on ebay, and (2) on your nummularoides blooms opening!! How long did it take for them to mature? I have been waiting eons ~seems like~ and they are still teeny tiny 1/8" clusters. There are bunches of them, but they don't seem to be maturing. Is yours in bright light? Thanks.
Barb
Thanks guys!
Lin---I love the soft leaves too---if I'm not sniffing it, I'm petting it :)
Barb--Mine actually budded up out on my deck under very bright light---then it got too cold, so I moved it in a couple of weeks ago....I was very afraid the buds would blast with the move, but they didn't. I have it sitting about 2' from an east facing window where it gets some morning sun, but obviously not as much light as it got outside....it did take forever for the buds to actually open...I think as long as they're not blasting they should open for you eventually. I know I read somewhere that virtually all nummulariodes bloom in October, so you still have plenty of time left...
Shelley
What little I have left of my nummularioides is blooming now but when the plant was large and bloomed last, it was sometime in January when I had moved it inside the house because of a predicted frost.
Shelly,your archie may not bloom until the spring...but it will bloom!!!! Remember to grow it dryish in the winter....(they know it is winter with the lower light and shorter days)....unless you have grow lights...
Shelley, good jon on the H. nummularoides. I have a small one, which I keep looking at for peduncles (probably, the plant is getting tired of getting stared at), but none this year, I guess. Maybe next fall?
Archboldiana can bloom when it is very small, if the cutting has peduncles, so you might not have long to wait.
I recently moved to a new place that doesn't have a porch, so all my hoyas had to adjust to being "inside plants", and to add insult to injury, they had to hang out in the garage (which only has four smallish windows on the top panel) while I figured out how to cram them in some windows.
Nummi LOVED THE GARAGE!!!! That stinkin plant was on a primo screened porch all summer and made not a single peduncle while all the other hoyas went bonkers. While it hung in the garage, it put out so many buds. Maybe my plant is just a twit, but it seems to thrive on less light.
btw, it is currently sitting on a corner of my kitchen counter which has medium to low light and is blooming itself crazy
Nummularoides only blooms in the fall...but when it does, it goes crazy!!!!!
speaking of crazy, all of my cuttings from you (Carol) are not only still alive, but they are growing little fools too. I'm so proud of myself for keeping them alive.
Hey Shelley - where are the pics?
Shelley-
I won several plants from that same ebay seller and I, too, am tickled! Two have peduncles! Woo Hoo! I thought about that archiboldiana, but I have one already....Glad you got it!
Kelly
Thanks everyone for comments and advice---Carol and Mark--I will definitely keep the archie dry over the winter and hope for the best come spring! You guys give me hope....
I'm sorry I don't own a camera, but that works out okay because I have zero computer skills....the best I could do is make a sketch of the two hoyas :)...
Kelly---I KNOW....that seller seems to be pretty great....not only does he/she have very nice plants, there's actually a chance for "poor" hoya lovers to win them....so much on ebay seems to be going for $50-$60 and up these days...meanwhile I have a bid in on that seller's h. vitiensis---hope I win and hope it's REALLY h. vitiensis---so much is mislabled (although I'm sure most of it's not done on purpose)...
SR
Shelley-
I'm glad you mentioned you're bidding on vitensis - I keep watching all of them and thinking if some of these don't go higher I'm going to get regardless if I already have them. I won't bid against you though! Just looked at the picture and granted it's hard to be 100% sure, but the vitensis leaves in the picture do look similar to mine which I got from Ted Green last year.
My recent purchases from that seller are camphorifolia, wallichi and pusilla. They look great! I think she has all 3 of those listed again. I'm so excited that wallichi has a peduncle! The flower pictures I've seen are stunning! And I'm wondering if there are different camphorifolias as the pictures of their flowers looked much brighter than other pictures I've seen!
Kelly
Kelly---that's really nice of you, but let me remind you that "all's fair in love and ebay" and if you really want h. vitiensis, go for it! :)....Besides, there are probably other people out there watching too and it may very well end up being won by someone other than me or you....I've already lost two auctions for those, so it's not like losing the third one would be a big shock, LOL....I just have a strict budget and I stick to it...(usually)...
As far as the camphorifolia flowers go---you're right---those are positively day-glo!!
Judging by other photos I've seen, I would guess the actual color is a lot brighter pink than the usual kind of faded carnosa "antique pink", but probably not as intense as the flowers on the seller's site...You'll have to post photos when that peduncle blooms for you!
Shelley
Shelley -
I really don't need repeat hoyas, but at those prices it's hard not to be tempted!
Good for you for having a hoya budget! I am so not good at sticking to budgets....
Kelly
That seller is a good friend of mine...and believe me, her hoyas are as correctly labeled as anyone's can be...even mine! She works hard at it, too!
Carol
Thanks for the info. Carol....I just upped my bid :)
Shelley