Well, happy days are here again!  We were notified a couple weeks ago that Mark has been approved for Social Security disability.  It has been a long, arduous, financially devastating year and a half since he quit receiving unemployment.  Looking back, I suspect the 2 years he worked after his amputation were a gift from "the powers that be."  I have a feeling that in reality, if he weren't who he is, he might have been considered unemployable in his field (commercial sheet metal work...)  But because he's got a lot of long time friends in his business, those guys "picked up the slack" for him on that last job.  Which I think was good for his psyche.  If he'd gone from a good wage earner to disabled all in one fell swoop, I think it would have been harder on his ego.  The time off from the economical layoff was a terrible erosion of his ego, but I think it also gave him time to recognize and accept that he just couldn't do the job like he should and has for the last 35+ years.  And could he do anything else?  I don't know...  His focus has been so complete on that one and only career that it's like all other possible skills fell by the wayside years ago.  He was willing to be a quick shop emplyee, but in reality, could he operate a cash register?  I don't know.  If it was simple like the one we have at work, probably...  But so many of them now are so complex and computer like, they might intimidate even ME, and I consider myself fairly computer literate (for an old gal!)

Anyway, the point is, we're on the SS payroll now and we can at least get by financially without me worrying myself into an early grave.  It has been stressful, but we made it through the system.  Now, it would be wonderful if Mark could get a little part time job, more to keep him occupied and keep his mind alert.  Maybe looking for that elusive job will be easier for him now that it's a job to add a little income rather than to stop the hemorrhaging of our savings...

I wanted to come on and talk about the new plants I got from Gardino's.  Yes, a plant order!  Of course, the minute we stopped dancing with the news that our financial future was about to improve, I made a list for a Hoya order.  It's been since the summer of 2010 that I got anything from a vendor... Well, I did get one little Hoya from Joni last summer, only because she was supposed to send me some mealybug stuff to try and since I was paying shipping, I thought I'd go ahead and add a plant.  Well, the stuff for mealybugs didn't pan out - it leaked and the P.O. was very upset that she was trying to send this stuff through the mail, and of course, at that point, it was kind of tacky for me to back out of the plant, yet I couldn't really afford more plants, so with shipping, that one little plant was pretty pricey.  But thankfully, it made it through the winter and it's starting to grow.  It's called H. pauciflora...

It's not very Hoya-like - grows fairly upright and the leaves are thin.  We'll see how it does for me...

The plants I got from Gardino's were huge - I'd forgotten how large their plants are!  What a bargain...  First was a red-toned clone of obscura, which they call H. obscura aff. 'Philip'...

It's a BEAUTY!  This is so big, I put it in a 6" EA pot.  It was very potbound and that was not a particularly big moveup for it.  I hope it will keep the red tones for me - I'll be growing it in the highest light I can give it - maybe in one of the east windows in the sunroom...

I also decided I would replace the H. memoria I got from Jessica last summer - it didn't survive my winter neglect.  When I ordered, they were out of one of the plants I wanted, so I ordered two of the memoria, since I knew it's a small plant.  One would have sufficed!...

It's a pretty little thing.  What appeals to me about it is the silver flecking in many of the leaves.  I'm hoping that in my conditions, it will be more prominent.

I also ordered a finlaysonii - my intent was to put it with the cutting I got from Shirley last year.  I really like the clone she sent me, and it's doing well, but of course it's still small.  Well, the clone from Gardino's is significantly different than Shirley's clone, AND it was such a huge plant, I'm keeping them seperately.  When I untwined the plant and repotted it, I ended up with one vine that's nearly 4' long!  WOWSA!...

I also potted this one in a 6" pot.  Their plants are remarkably well grown!

And last but not least, I got H. camphorfolia - one I've tried growing in the past.  I'd gotten it from CBFM and it was one of those (what I call) rooting cuttings, meaning it really wasn't fully rooted.  It never did very much for me except decline and I finally lost it completely after a couple seasons of struggle.  I've always wanted to replace it, so now I have...

I have a feeling I'm really going to like this one!

Nice & healthy!  I left a list with Gardino's of others that I'm interested when they restock, so I'll be getting one more order from them at some point.  I may get some cuttings from Joni sometime this summer, or maybe even Bob Smoley.  We'll see... room is becoming quite an issue.  I'm hoping that at some point this summer, I can pretty much clean out the GH and try to reorganize in a way that makes it easier to see, reach and care for the plants.  I need to give it a lot of thought...

As I work on my plants this year, I'd like to make notes as to progress and size, and take new photos.  So I was thinking how to do this in an organized manner so I don't miss any and I think I came up with a really great idea.  It will also help me get ones on this list that perhaps haven't made it on there (I discovered this about pauciflora when I took that photo!) and ones off the list I've lost, but I won't miss any.  Since they're on my database alphabetically, I'll just go down through the list and do some every few days.  Let's see if I can "cut & paste" my list of Hoya species here to give an idea of the magnitude of this project!...

aldrichii IML 1418

aff. anulata PNG IML 1120

amoena Java

archboldiana

arnottiana

australis ssp. australis

australis ssp. tenuipes

ban Ngong Ngoy

benguetuensis

bhutanica IML 224

bicknellii

blashernaezii

bordenii

cagayanensis

callistrophylla

camphorfolia

carnosa

carnosa cv. 'Chelsea'

carnosa cv. 'Dee's Big One'

carnosa cv. Krinkle 8

carnosa cv. 'Rubra' ('Krimson Princess')

carnosa cv. 'Tricolor' ('Krimson Queen')

carnosa rubra (ID conf. by Carol)

carnosa ssp. carnosa

cinnamomifolia

compacta

compacta variegata

coriacea IML 0716

crassicaulis

cystiantha IML 1638

dasyantha

davidcummingii

deykeae

diptera

dischorensis IML 0112

diversifolia

diversifolia ssp. el-nidicus

excavata

finlaysonii (Gardino clone)

finlaysonii

finlaysonii, Rippled Leaf

aff. fischeriana

flavida (IML 0423)

fungii

globulosa (per AH, actually NOID)

globulosa

graveolens

sp. Haruku

hellwigiana

heuschkeliana (pink flower)

heuschkeliana (yellow flower)

imperialis

inconspicua

incrassata

incurvula (or brevialata)

cv. 'Iris Marie'

ischnopus

javanica (multiflora)

cv. 'Jennifer' (incrassata x finlaysonii)

juannguoiana

kanyakumariana

kastbergii

kerrii

kerrii, hairy clone

kerrii, veined clone

kerrii, reverse variegated

kerrii variegated

lacunosa

lacunosa 'Sno Caps'

lacunosa 'Ruby Sue'

lambii IML 1046

lanceolata ssp. bella variegata

latifolia IML 88

leucorhoda IML 0518

limoniaca

lobbii (dark pink flowers)

longifolia IML 0906

macrophylla

macrophylla variegata

macgillivrayi IML 16

magnifica IML 0152

cv. 'Mathilde'

megalaster P.N.G.

meliflua

memoria

merredithii x. crassicaulis (clone #1)

merredithii x. crassicaulis (clone #2)

merrillii

micrantha

mindorensis IML 0768

'Minibelle'

mitrata

montana IML 1016

motoskei

multiflora variegata

naumanii IML 0198

nicholsoniae (sny. pottsii)

sp. Nong Nooch

obovata

obovata - silver flecked clone

obovata x. carnosa

obscura

obscura aff. 'Philip' (red clone)

onychoides

oreogena IML 1513

pachyclada

padangensis

pallida (another clone of verticillata?)

patella IML 1083

pauciflora

paziae

pentaphlebia

polyneura

polystachya IML 1043

pottsii

pubicalyx 'Bright One'

pubicalyx 'Red Buttons'

pubicalyx 'Royal Hawaiian Purple'

pubicalyx 'Pink Silver' (aka 'Splash')

pubicalyx (Paul Shirley, green leaf)

purpureo-fusca

revoluta IML 1455

rigida

rotundiflora (formerly 'Square Leaf')

rubida IML 1710

samoensis IML 0192

shepherdell

shepherdii

siariae

sigillatis

sp. (maybe a clone of diversifolia - TG)

subclava IML 0229

subglabra IML 1127

subquintuplinervis

sp. Tanna Island

thompsonii

tjadasmalangensis

DS-70 (formerly known as tsangii)

vanuatuensis (originally rcvd as diptera)

verticillata (clone #1 rcvd as limoniaca)

verticillata variegata

villosa

sp. aff. vitellina

wayetii (kentiana)

waymaniae Malaysia

Huh!  Well, it seems to have worked.  We'll see how it looks after I hit "publish."  I will start working on this right away and maybe I'll get done by summer's end!  It would be nice to have a record of where they all stand right now. 

Enough for now!