Well, good news and bad news. I lost that gorgeous Aloe sladeniana I posted a pic of last time. Lost it a week or so ago to some weird bug I've never seen before. It was all over the center area which had collapsed. They were tiny clearish whit bugs that reminded me a little of mealies, but definitely NOT mealies. YUCK!

And the good news is that I ended up getting two orders from Aloha Hoyas, and got a bunch of large, beautiful plants!! I've had a chance to take pics of a few. This is Hoya aff. anulata...
The leaf shape of this one reminds me a little of rubra, though they don't curve under like rubra. The red hues are really attractive. Much to my surprise, within 10 days, I turned the plant and found a small peduncle had formed buds (only 9 individual flowers... ,maybe because of the shock of being mailed...) I watered it and a few hours later, they opened!

A very pretty flower! And only slightly fragrant. Another larger-leaved Hoya I got was archboldiana. This one has very large, very very dark green (almost black looking), heart-shaped leaves. This was a small rooted cutting, and it hasn't put on any new growth yet (about 8 weeks later...) Here's a pic, though not a great one...

This one looks like it will be a real knockout when it gets bigger. This was one of only two (besides an unrooted cutting) that didn't come on a trellis. Carol from Aloha Hoyas is apparently a real advocate of growing on trellises, and I can kind of see why. It keeps them much more compact, though I can see some difficulty in inspecting for mealy bugs. Anyway, I'm trying to decide if I want to grow this one on a trellis when it does start to grow. It's so pretty and looks like it would be a beautiful rambler... I can't hardly wait for new growth.

More on the new Hoyas next post!