Friday, June 27, 2008

June Blooms

Noid African Violet



Crown of Thorns ( this has bloomed non stop since I got it a year ago,
it is never without some flowers)
Calamondin


Hoya Shepperdi


Hoya Lacunosa



Noid African violet


Aeschynanthus "Black Pagoda"


Hoya Compacta


Hoya Heuschkeliana


Nematanthus aka Goldfish plant

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Back Pagoda & More Hoya Flowers & a Peduncle!

I love Spring & Summer so much, except for the bugs. Everything seems to bloom and flower, and there is always something so colorful to find and examine and admire.


To make a long story short (see here & here & here) the above pic is supposed to be an Aeschynanthus "Black Pagoda" hybrid. I am still a little hesitant, but it's still the coolest flower for miles around. It has no scent at all, but it doesn't need it at all, it completely steals the show.


I got a cutting of a hoya polyneura (fishtail hoya) in a recent hoya round robin. It has since rooted really well, and even looks like it might be growing 2 new peduncles!! To some it sounds weird....lol, but to a hoya nut, it's a PeDuNcLe!!! YAY!!


The above hoya lacunosa had some major temper tantrums over the past couple years involving bud blast (see here & here). Now that it has started to flower, it hasn't stopped. It keeps growing new peduncles and more and more are starting to actually make it to bloom. A couple days ago I counted eight open umbels of flowers. The smell still doesn't fill the room like I expected it too, but it is quite strong smelling reminiscent of lilacs. Which reminds me, I have a couple umbels of flowers open on my hoya carnosa; those flowers are very strong either, but those couple can fill my living room at times in the late evening.


This pic is a close up of the hoya lacunosa that is flowering right now. I hadn't realized until a little while ago looking at the pic, that one of the flowers hasn't quite finished opening in the pic, and kind of reminds me of my yellow heuschkeliana flowers.I still can't get a decent close up of these flowers yet.....I have read somewhere that white/light flowers are harder to photograph than others. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Hoya Shepherdii Flowers


The hoya's are on a role on my house. Lately I haven't been without a bloom somewhere. This is my hoya shepherdii blooming away for me. This one has tried to bloom before for me a few times, but also blasted it's buds a few times.


The flowers are so simple. They are white and the inner flower has some purple in it. They are not as strong smelling as some of the other hoya's I have smelled. They smell very light and almost floral-y. It is more of just a fresh smell that I can't quite put my finger on.


This one bloomed for me and I didn't even notice until the flowers were already open. They were sitting back against the wall, kind of hidden by a few other hoya's. When I was watering today I noticed flowers in the back and was happily surprised by these guys.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Hoya Heuschkeliana Flowers & Hoya Ciliata Leafless Cutting update


This is one of the hoya's I got in the DL order. It is the yellow flowered (obviously) hoya heuschkeliana. This is such a cute flower. Pictures definitely make this one look a lot larger than it is in real life. Kudos to the people on the net that have photos of this one. I found it really hard to photograph, and I just don't think my cam can get too much closer. My cam is only 6 months old, and already I need a new one...lol.


This one has the most amazing fragrance to it. It smells like buttered caramel popcorn. I have found that all my hoya's smell way stronger at night. It's a wonderful thing since I work until eleven most nights, so when I get home, all my hoya's smell amazing!


I was checking all my cuttings I received in my DL order and all of them look awesome. I think they are ready to come out of the bag soon. I have opened all the bags to start getting them accustomed to my environment at home. I saw the greatest thing when I was checking them....my hoya ciliata that lost all it's leaves when I got it, has roots. Not only has it rooted, there is a little branch starting to grow. I haven't gotten a pic yet, but I will. There is truth to the notion that leafless cuttings can root. I had read that without the leaves, the cutting would die, but that is not all that
true. This has completely rooted sans leaves, and has new growth in the form of a branch.....in a month or so, it should have a leaf!!