Hoya obscura was first collected by A.D.E. Elmer at Mount Bulusan, Sorsogon Province on Luzon Island, but can be found through out the Philippines.

was a really nice large cutting from Ric Morier in Florida. I assumed that it would be and easy grow for me, but I could never seem to get this one off the ground. It grew a little bit for me in the summer, but promptly died from root rot in the grow tent. After losing my first plant, I picked up a couple more cuttings over the years, but had pretty much the same experience with these as I did my first. There was just a general failure to thrive and a gradual loss of the plant. Enter Naomi my friend from this summer, who actually lives nearby, and gave me a cutting of her Hoya obscura, which rooted quickly in nothing but coconut chips. The cutting already had a peduncle, and as I have always said, those cuttings with old peduncles can bloom really early, and that is exactly what happened here.

My initial impressions of the flowers on Hoya obscura were that they were far smaller than I had expected. I have to say that the are very cute and are about half the size of the blooms on H. lacunosa. The flowers smell very sweet the first day that they are open. There seem to be a number of clones of Hoya obscura available with different flower color and leaf coloration. After my experiences with my first attempts at growing this plant, I am wondering if some of these clones prove more challenging to cultivate than others. If this plant finally grows well for me, I hope to bring it back over time, but for now I am thankful that I finally got the chance to flower it, and am very thankful to Naomi for giving it to me.