Hoya cv. 'Mathilde' is growing like crazy!  'Mathilde' is one that seemed a little "iffy" last late summer.  It just didn't feel happy.  I believe it was last summer that I moved it up to a larger pot (maybe it was late fall the year before) and I have a feeling it was not pleaed about the move.  So in the fall, I took a couple cuttings and trimmed back the lanky growth that hadn't filled out (part of what made if feel unhappy) and I hung it in the window to the left of my kitchen sink.  This is a spot where I keep a few that I want to keep a close eye on.  It must be happy now because it's got all kinds of new growth and looks like it's saying, "This is my year to shine!"  YAY!

Also in that window is compacta.  I have such a hard time with growing compacta because it wants to get too dry and shrivel.  A year or so ago, I threw out most of what was left of my green compacta and took some cuttings to restart and try again.  I've got a few pieces in one of the white 5" hanging pots and it seems to be doing fine right now.  Then a few weeks ago, I threw out my big variegated compacta after starting a few cuttings off of it.  Those cuttings have recently come out of the aquarium so I'm not 100% confident that they'll make it.  We'll see...  It seems like some of those species everyone else can grow I have difficulty with!

I took down my 'Minibelle' today to water and give it a VF-11 bath - I've been waiting for it to start growing.  I think I see some growth bumps starting here and there.  They aren't big enough to call "nubbins" yet - just little bumps on the stems that look a little greener than the stems themselves.  I hope that means it's going to take off.  Thos long-leaved Hoyas are so appealing to me and I'm always so thrilled when they're growing and doing well.  And they all seem to bloom pretty easy...

And speaking of the long leaved ones, wayetti in both the north kitchen window and in the sunroom are growing.  My big one is in that other kitchen window as it hasn't been happy for a long time.  My plan is to whack it up and start new plants this spring - plants I can sell at my cactus club.  IMO, wayetti is one best grown small rather than in giant pots like the EA one I started with.  In small pots, it's a much more interesting plant.  Here are the two small ones I'm growing now...

I've always loved how the one in the sunroom (above in the little turtle pot) gets black edges - that's because that one gets brighter light.  The other one is in my north kitchen window and really doesn't get any direct light at all.

I actaully found a bud forming on my callistrophylla a few days ago.  It's very tiny - in all honesty, I would probably be happier if it would put its energy into new leaves.  The leaves of callistrophylla just knock my socks off!  One of my favorite photos...

But the flowers are pretty showy, too...

I can't wait for it to warm up enough to put plants out.  I'm thinking of putting some hooks in a big branch in my backyard tree to hang some Hoyas out there.  The biggest problem with that is that it's one of those pine trees that sheds the little needles everywhere, and anything growing under it ends up with them in the pot.  So I'm trying to think of some kind of screen or something I can put over the pots to catch that stuff - something that doesn't block the light, but that the needles won't go through.  Hmmm...

Talked to Wes today.  That cough really is worrisome...  He's just got so much going on with his health right now, I'm sure he must feel like he's falling apart.  I call him to see how he's doing, but then I worry that having him repeat how he's experiencing this problem or this pain, or that doctor is saying this or that, or they're doing this test... all this attention to it is just bringing more of it.  So today I tried to stay away from the topic once he said he was feeling better.  Talk about other things going on - how warm it is here today.  Oh, about Lucy's massive shit-explosion in the bedroom.  OMG I came home to such a mess...  You can always find things to talk about, but I know when you feel crappy, it's hard to give your attention to anything else...

Anyway, more highlights to come!

Wednesday ramblings...

I pulled the noID Hoya out yesterday to be watered - I knew it had started growing, but I was SO excited when I saw FOUR new growth points!  WOW!  It's looking so great, I snapped this photo...

...and sent it off to Kathy in Colorado, the lady who sent it to me, to see if she's identified it yet.  It has quickly become one of my favorites of the veined Hoyas.  The leaves are very flat and very shiny.  It's going to grow like gangbusters this year - I can tell!

When I watered sp. Kunming Kina yesterday, I found the tiniest new shoot, perfectly located in the node closest to the soil!!  Check it out...

Now Kunming Kina has been - well, not exactly tempermental for me, but it did have me worried for awhile.  I actually got it from Dee in the fall of 2011, and it grew for me a bit at first.  However, at some point, must have been last year sometime, I lost a couple leaves.  Being a cutting with LONG leaf nodes and few, but big, interesting succulent leaves, one really can't afford to lose "a couple" leaves when they're small.  But it kept the older leaves and stabilized, but didn't grow any more after that.  I watched it with baited breath - I like it SO much for it's shear heavy succulence, I did NOT want to lose it.  I only prayed for continued health, I didn't dare wish for new growth.  So it came through the winter with flying colors - no signs of difficulty, so which I have been expressing thankfulness.  So now to see new growth just thrills me to death!  I hope this is the year it really grows for me. I've heard it can get huge fast, but I've heard that from the Florida growers - this is Nebraska, the land of EXTREMES!  Anyway, so here's a photo of the big-honkin' leaves...

I know in this photo, they don't look big-honkin', but they actually measure 6" long and about 1.5" wide - pretty darn big!

Recently, I talked about the new growth on my subglabra.  It had two new vines emerging from the same node.  Well, the first two leaves of one of those vines aborted, but it looks like that vine might keep trying to grow.  The other vine is growing nicely, it's new leaves showing those beautiful colors I remember from when it grew a couple years ago...

It's not the best photo I've ever taken, but you can see the two particularly veined leaves and the little new vine with two new leaves on the end.  Seems like once this one gets new leaves, they grow pretty fast, which is good since they're so touchy when young.  A passing kitty cat is enough to damage new emerging leaves, making them drop.

H. naumanii has two tiny leaves popping at the node closest to the soil.  (That's always my favorite "new growth" spot...)  Naumanii has been a problem child for me - does ok for awhile, then gets tempermental, back and forth.  I thought I'd lost it and restarted a piece and it's back to doing ok again. 

I mentioned the tiny new leaves of magnifica, which I thought was a goner as it lost ALL it's leaves.  One of the two leaves has grown some, the other is lagging behind.  I can't tell if it's going to make it, but at least it's a move in the right direction.

I do really have to be more diligent about watering, though.  With everything I'm try to do to get ready for this bathroom remodel, I'm being a little negligent with my plants.  I need to spend more time every day watering and grooming.

Well, off to do more watering!

It's Sunday morning (well, technically for a few more minutes!)  Didn't have a job last night, so I feel relatively rested.  I've been puttering around, doing some watering, and I took a few photos to mark progress...

First, I took a photo of Hoya meliflua - it's got at least 3 new growth points, so it's going to do well for me this year.  I've had it hanging in the sunroom east window since last summer and it seems very happy there.  I hope it blooms for me this year - the blooms are spectacular, and it hasn't bloomed since 2010, which is why I moved it to the sunroom.  I think the light is actually a little brighter in there than in the GH, mostly because of the afternoon reflective sun off the house next door.  I guess we'll see if I'm right about that.  Here's what it's looking like today:

This is, of course, just a closeup of a few of the leaves.  It's in an 8" pot and it's a fairly large plant - heavy, since the leaves are relatively succulent.  I'm anxious to see how the new growth progresses.  New leaves are extrememly sensetive to dropping if disturbed or bumped when they're young.  Once they get past a certain point, they're tough as nails, but you have to be VERY careful while they're developing.  So here are photos of the flowers, which can be quite variable (as you'll see...)  In 2009...

...and in 2010...

Wildly different colors!  The second one reminds me of bubblegum!

Another one I wanted to show today is H. merrillii.  This one has been in the same spot in my sunroom pretty much since I got it in 2008 (from Carol/Aloha Hoyas).  It's turned into quite a spectacular plant (another sideways photo, I'm sorry to say...)

(If anyone out there can tell me how to turn these photos on here, I'd appreciate it!  I turn them in my editing program on my computer, but they turn back when I upload them here - damn!) 

This one has developed some big, beautiful, shiny leaves and it's stayed nice and compact.  I grow it in a Chinese teapot that I drilled a hole in...

I think this might be one I show in the C&S show this year.  Now, if I could only get it to bloom!  The photos of blooms I've seen are nice, but I think the foliage outshines the flowers.  One note, though - some of the photos I've seen of the leaves are quite bronze, which would be nice.  I'm not sure I can give it enough sun to get that bronze-kissed coloring, though...

And speaking of coloring, the other one I wanted to show is H. obscura aff. 'Philip'.  It has taken on some nice dark tones as it sits in the south window in the sunroom...

THIS is why I grow obscura!  My old one (which I lost most of last year) was a fabulous bloomer, but I just could not get the red tones I got with my first one.  So I bought this one from Gardino's last year.  Well, initially, it lost it's redness within a month or so of me getting it.  I thought DANG, it's that I can't give it enough light!  But last fall, I moved it to the south window in the sunroom where it got some full sun once the sun moved far enough south.  I just moved it to one of the east windows this morning as the sun has moved far enough north, now, that it's not getting any full sun in the south window.  We'll see if it keeps those tones.  On the up side, it's putting on all kinds of new growth and I'll bet it's going to bloom for me this year.

Now, as for this bathroom project we're planning...  I've wanted, for a long LONG time, to have a whirlpool tub so that I can come home from a 12 or 15 hour day on Saturday nights and let it massage my weary muscles.  I have a lot of back issues, so sometimes, it's hard to sleep on Saturday nights when I'm so sore and so bone tired.  Anyway, there for awhile, I had decided I would get one of those walk-in tubs.  I mean, I'm fat, I'm not getting any younger, I have arthritis...it's hard for me to get up out of a standard tub.  But then I found out you need a 60 gallon water heater to fill one of those!!!  I refuse to heat 60 gallons of water 7 days a week only to use it once a week!  It's crazy... So I'm back to a standard whirlpool tub that will fit where our old tub is.  I'll just have to make sure we install some safety bars for aiding me in getting out...

So I've picked out the tub, a new commode and a new sink and cabinet.  I've actually ordered the sink & cabinet as it's been discontinued and Lowe's found one still in stock in Michigan and I figured I better snap it up if I want that style.  It just seems right for the time period of our house.  Here's a photo...

Kind of old-fashioned looking, which is what I like about it.  I'm going to have a tile floor put in that is similar to the ones you see in these old houses - Mom's bathroom still has those old tiles... The little white ones that are kind of hexagonal shaped.  The walls, I'm up in the air about.  I have a tile guy coming tomorrow to help me make that decision - anything will be an upgrade over what we have now, so I would rather spend my money on having it done RIGHT than having some fancy-schmancy tile on my walls.  Old-fashioned 4x4s are fine with me, but there may not be that much difference in installation costs, so I may go with something a little different.  We'll see what he says.

So my goal is to have this done - or at least done enough so I can use the tub - by May 1st, when all hell breaks loose at work.  If it turns out to be a huge-er (I know, not a word!) project financially than I anticipate, we'll be doing it in "phases" as I can afford it...

Well, that's about it for today!

I came home yesterday to Howard (our mailman) standing on my porch with a big ol' box - plants from Gardino's!  I was excited... Their plants are always so awesome.  Paula had been kind enough to hold the plants I wanted and ship them when I asked, and when they predicted it would be warmish this week, I told her last Friday to go ahead and ship Mon. or Tues.  Well, what I didn't anticipate (and what they didn't predict) was that we would get over a foot of snow on Sunday!  They said we'd get a little bit - started out 1/2", then they said we might get up to a couple inches.  The Omaha metro area got between 6-9", depending where you were!  We must have been in an isolated area because it looks like Papillion got less than half that.

Anyway, it wasn't as warm as they had predicted yesterday, but it wasn't awful - high of 35.  I'm glad they didn't sit on the porch for any length of time, though...

Anyway, they're all in great shape.  Hoya kenejiana is one that I've had before, and actually, I was able to salvage one little piece of it.  Once I'm secure that they're both stable with some new growth, I'll put them together.  Here's the Gardino kenejiana:

H. neobudica is another one I had briefly - it was one of the cuttings I got from Joni in Dec. that spent too long in the mail...

It's a pretty thing, and pretty good sized, too!

H. pusilla reminds me of 'Iris Marie', doesn't look like the photos I've seen of pusilla.  I suppose their ID could be incorrect.  I guess we'll see as it grows...

Hoya sp. (pottsii) from Cambodia is a nice one!  Of course, I always like the bigger leaved veined ones...

The leaves on this one are impressively shiney and a little less veined than some of my other pottsii clones.

And last, a little one called H. krohniana...

This little gem is my favorite of the bunch!  I read that it was once considered a clone of lacunosa, so I hope that means it will grow well for me because I seem to have pretty good luck with lacunosa.

So this morning I e-mailed Joni with my "wish list" for mid-April.  Then that will probably be it for this year, except for maybe some trading.  I have a kind-hearted lady who is going to send me a few that I lost from the Thai vendor last summer.  That will be a "pay-it-forward" deal, so I'll make sure I get some cuttings or plants out to someone else who has lost something or had a bad experience or fallen on hard times.  It's great that plant folks are such generous souls, and I want to be one of them!

Off to get ready for work...