Box Store store alert!

Picked up a couple of hoya "Mathide" 8 inch full baskets. Very healthy as well!
Ric

Ric, That is so funny that you found those mathilde at a box store. I was just thinking after reading Antone's fantastic interview with one of the head EA growers in the brand new Stemma Journal, that H. mathilde would be a great Hoya for them to work with. It has all the characteristics that they are looking for in a plant. You really have to hand it to EA for bringing great Hoyas, at a great price, to the masses. Great Score! I will definitely be on the look out for them.

Doug

well, mystery solved, that evidently is the reason they're showing up on Ebay now, nicely grown large baskets. I could not believe that a regular seller would have that many large baskets of this plant. Thanks for tipping us, Ric. I'll look around here.

Susan

Brand new Stemma? where? when?

Very interesting Doug!! And If I remember correctly.....you had one might nice looking Mathide plant you posted a year or two ago!

Susan,
I did buy two pots thinking I'd sell one as well but after seeing the ebay listings, I've decided to keep it and use it for a trade with someone with a plant that would interest me so if anyone is looking for a trade.....I'm always up for it!!

ric

threegardeners...
http://www.stemmajournal.com/

Wow! That is a nice plant Ric! I sure wish I could find decent EA plants at our box stores here. The past two years all they've carried is lots of Ivy. I have not seen one EA Hoya at any of the local places in two years ... even if I get there the day they are putting new plants out. I figured they were sending them all up north! I think I will go to the EA website and see if they have anything new to offer online!

2manyplants: Thanks for telling us about the newest issue of Stemma ... I didn't realize it was out yet!

I was just checking out the Stemma article on EA. Gosh, those new lacunosas sound wonderful. Evidently, they ship them out to the box stores before they put them on their online store.

Susan

My local Home Depot usually only has ivy's and pothos, but yesterday had a few really nice, healthy Hoyas. They had H. waymaniae, regular green lacunosa, many carnosas, and a Dischidia cv. Pebble Beach. I bought the Dischidia, but I already had the others. They were all labeled incorrectly of course. I almost bought the waymaniae, because mine has gotten so big that I may have to get rid of it soon, or it will collapse under its own weight. I was thinking about trying to start it over myself, but is it worth it, if you can get another nice EA plant for $10-$15?

Ric, I have a nice start of mathilde, but no where near as nice as those plants that you just bought. The one that was here on Daves that was so outstanding belonged to Julie Scheres from San Francisco. It was covered in blooms.

Doug

I've seen the Dischidia cv. Pebble Beach b4 in either Lowe's or HD and every time, they were practically dead and a lot of people on the forums have posted that they bought one and it went into steady decline so I found that Stemma article very interesting with the guy at EA saying the baskets have 2 much soil for the 8 inch baskets of Dischidia. So, there's the clue as to why they looked so awful in the stores, because the big box stores load them with water (probably watering every day). So I'm going to try one if I ever find a healthy one.

I've never seen the waymaniae in stores. They must have shipped them farther North like Lin said. :)

Another interesting thing is that EA changed their soil starting with Spring. That's great!

Susan

Doug,
The box store had waymaniae? Was it an EA? Did you mean wayetti maybe (both have w's!)? I'd be thrilled to find waymaniae at a box store for $15!
Kelly

I'm right with you Kelly!

:(

I checked out HD and Lowes and even Target today ... no Hoya's, as usual. Well, I did find a little Rubra but that was it. Seems like the only EA plants they carry around here anymore are mostly different types of ivy.

I have a Dischidia that I got earlier this year, an EA plant but I can't remember which one it is.

Well, I'm going to look around when I get a chance. I did find a beautiful Chelsea earlier this year that is doing really well.

Susan

I'll be checking the box stores this week as well!

Kelly

I got it wrong; the Hoya was not H. waymaniae in Home Depot. It was wayetti - the one they used to call kentiana or maybe they still call it by that name. So Kelly you were right. It was early on a Sunday morning and the "W's" got me, and I was in a hurry; My mistake.

Doug

This message was edited May 12, 2009 8:15 AM

EA must have kept all those "Mathilde's" in Florida. No sightings whatsoever in this part of Virginia! I wonder why they don't put them in the online store. For a month now, they've advertised Australis as the plant of the "week"!

Susan

Not in this part of Florida, unfortunately! Our big box stores don't seem to be carrying any EA Hoya's anymore, all they ever get in are ivy, ivy and more ivy! A couple of years ago HD, Lowes, Wal-Mart and Target all had Lots of EA hoyas like Krimson Princess, K. Queen, lacunosa, ds-70 and brevialata. I've been wondering if they are now shipping Hoya's elsewhere across the country? I wish they would put more variety on their website, the two I've purchased on line were very healthy.

I was a little disturbed yesterday on my rounds to notice that the big box stores are just not getting the indoor plants like they once did. Maybe it is too early but it seemed that they used to have them year round. I see all those ivies,too, that no one appears to buy. EA did put out a beautiful ivy lately "Delilah" and it is a really dainty plant but I wouldn't dare buy an ivy no matter how pretty it was. :)

I bought a large H. Krimson Princess, beautifully grown from HD months back from Costa Nurseries (I believe from Florida) so there must be a new nursery in the playing field.

Susan

Yes, Costa nursery is one from South Florida who supplies some of the big box stores. I don't see many of the indoor house plants this year either. They used to be found year round in all the stores here but I'm not seeing many at all this year. I figured maybe they've lost a lot of money on plants and maybe are downsizing with the economy the way it is. I just know 15-20 years ago we could find tons of house plants everywhere for sale down here, including the grocery stores!

I did pick up a hoya publicalyx at the grocery store yesterday. It may be a variety I already have but it had bigger, glossier leaves than mine appear to have. Anyway, it's always a surprise to see a different hoya, so I support the hoya population. :)))))

Susan

I agree, it's becoming very hard not to support the Hoya population ... I'd have to get rid of a lot of other plants to make room but I wouldn't mind a "Hoya Population Explosion" at my house! ^_^