Recent blooms

Blooms are a-poppin' and peduncles are a-buddin'!  And there's a whole lot of growin' going on, too.  Here's the scoop...

Hoya latifolia has finally started to open.  A few days ago, the buds were still growing, and I was beginning to think they would never open...

Well, last evening, they finally started to open.  And WOW, are they FRAGRANT!  The smell just knocks my socks off.

And to think they're not all open yet.  Wonder how strong the scent will be when they're all open?  There are only two peduncles blooming, but they are large with lots of flowers...  I'd like to see it get some new growth now - growth that will actually make it and not abort all the leaves...

H. micrantha is blooming this morning...

Teenie tiny flower clusters aren't much more than an inch across, so you can imagine how tiny the flowers are.  (Compared to latifolia, whose whole flower ball is about the size of a baseball...)

Also blooming now is Hoya cv. 'Jennifer'...

These flower clusters are VERY tight and end up being about the size of a ping pong ball.  They look absolutely perfectly round.  And it's interesting because the leaf size of 'Jennifer' is pretty massive while the flower balls are particularly dainty looking.

My macrophylla in the sun room has put on a new giant leaf behind my back:

It's right down by the pot, too.  The macrophylla in the GH - the one I started from the big leaves that broke off - has a new shoot, too, and I'm hoping the leaves will be large, but since it's sitting in so much sun, I won't be surprised if they're average size.

And that Dischidia that I got from Tom, the one whose leaves turn a bright yellow in sun - it's blooming and I've finally ID'd it as D. philippinensis...

I probably never would have found the blooms if I hadn't gone a-whackin' at my Hoya rubra.  Rubra had taken over the shelf it was on and I had it clipped all up and down the shelf.  Well, in the last year, it has gotten a little dehydrated and sad looking, so I decided it was time to whack it up and start anew.  I have five huge potfulls rooting now.  I decided to root in the chunky perlite, as that seems to go very fast this time of year.  I also whacked at the bhutanica that sits on the shelf immediately below rubra.  I didn't get nearly so radical with it - just got one potfull of cuttings.

Good days in the greenhouse!  Everything is growing like crazy - well, almost everything.  There are some stubborn Hoyas that are taking their time, but most are growing.  And H. latifolia is budding up!...

Latifolia is the one they refer to as the "dinner plate Hoya", because some leaves can reach the size of a plate.  However, I have yet to get one THAT big, though in general, they are quite large.  I've gotten a few plate-sized leaves on my macrophylla.  These leaves are so big, I could hide my hand, fingers extended, behind them!...

They are massive.  I would say the average mac leaf is about 1/3 to 1/2 this size.  Last year, I was taking it down to clean the leaves (which I try to do once a year on these big ones that don't get moved at every watering...) and I broke it, had to re-root the part with the biggest leaves.  I was SO nervous that I'd lose it!  But it rooted and now it's growing...

You can see the biggest leaves, lower left corner and upper right.  I'll be anxious to see if the newest leaves are ultra big or more normal sized.

Another one that gets big leaves is vitellinoides.  I got this as a cutting from Kathy in 2012.  I noticed about a month ago a new leaf nubbin, and it grew into a tiny leaf, then sat for about 2 weeks.  Then in the last week or so, it exploded into a grand leaf!...

 

Strange that it has one big silver splotch over there on the upper left.  It's a beautiful leaf.  What's interesting about this species is the leaves start out very thin feeling then eventually become very succulent.  I hope it puts on more leaves this year! It's a beauty!  I know a lot of people grow Hoyas for the flowers, but those that have beautiful leaves, I don't even really care if I get flowers.  As far as I'm concerned, flowers are just a big fat bonus!

So I'm at work right now, finishing up this post.  It's a small group, and I would usually bartend it by myself.  But my hip has been hurting me BAD, and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to stand that long, so I got Liane to work tonight, so I'm trying to take it easy.  I'm glad I did 'cuz BOY, is it SORE!!  I could have muddled through, I'm sure, but it would have been pure hell trying to clear the tables at the end by myself, and oh my, I would pay dearly tomorrow.  Tomorrow will probably be bad enough as it is!!  I'm thinking I may need to have it xrayed if it doesn't get better soon...

We (me, Merry & Mom) went to the farm on Wednesday, Wes's birthday.  It was bittersweet...  I really wish it had been a nicer day.  It was rainy, so we pulled up in front of where the house we grew up in used to sit, and we just sat in the truck (Wes's truck) and reminisced. I love it when it's a nice day and you can stand there, at the edge of the field, and let the country silence embrace you.  It's so wonderful - just the sound of the wind, maybe some birds, nothing else.  I think I'll try to drive down there again this summer, on a nice day, and experience that.  

We stopped in to talk about getting a memorial plaque put on grandma & grandpa's headstone.  We didn't commit to check to see if it would be any cheaper to have it done up here, but it looks like it's almost exactly the same, so I think we'll just have the Red Oak folks do it.  They did Dad's and did a fine job...

I'm thinking of starting a new blog... well, let's say a separate blog... with my book.  I'm trying to think if there's a way to do this that wouldn't let someone come along and claim it as their own.  I figure if it's published in a blog, no one could later claim it because it would be dated online, right?  IDK...  but I figure it could get some people reading it and wanting more, maybe.  Which could motivate me to finish it.  That would be good!!

Well, I'd better go check on Liane and see how she's doing.  More soon!