[gardeners] Hoya blooming!
Liz Albrook (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Sun, 19 Jul 1998 10:42:21 +0000
I've gotten the first hoya blooms. This particular hoya, which is
supposed to be hoya carnosa but isn't, has blossoms that smell like
chocolate liquer with a hint of cinnamon -- very exotic. There are 3
blooming pendula, each a cluster of about 30 flowers. The flowers
are about 1/2 inch in diameter with a pale pink fuzzy background,
dark pink petals and white stamen. (One day I may get around to
learning the appropriate terminology [latinus impressimus] for all
those flower parts.) True to hoya standards, the blooms are
completely scentless during the daylight hours and become quite heady
after sunset -- the aroma of chocolate was pervasive by 11pm.
This is one of the plants I bought at a local nurseries going out of
business sale last September. It was in a 4 inch pot and set me back
a whopping $0.75. It now fills a 12" diameter hanging pot. The
conventional wisdom about hoyas is that they grow very slowly and are
demanding about moisture. That hasn't been my experience with any of
the 13 different hoyas that I have. Some of these were in sad shape
when I bought them -- infected with fungal diseases (I picked off
lots of leaves) and showing signs of long term neglect. They are,
with one exception, healthy plants now. Perhaps I should say were
healthy plants -- they've been sitting on the carport through this
heatwave and I've neglected them quite a bit by not watering them
regularly. Still, they seem to be growing happily with a touch of
balanced fertilizer and water when I remember them.
Liz