Hoya yvesrocheri was first collected in Papua New Guinea, June 11, 1964. It was collected first by A.N.Millar in PNG, Morobe Province, Wagau at 4200 ft [c. 1280 m]. It was found in large tree in old garden near village. Nathalie Simonsson observed this Hoya once on fallen tree on very sharp ridge in primary rainforest in Bula, Morobe Province. When site was revisited in 2013, the ridge had been burned for slash and burn subsistence gardens. It is likely that this plant is very endangered in its native habitat. Hoya yvesrocheri Was Name For The Yves Rocher Foundation, which sponsored a lot of Nathalie Simonsson’s work from 2011-2015 in PNG.

Hoya yvesrocheri is very similar to Hoya stenophylla. Having grown both of these plants for well over two years now, here are the differences from a hobbyist. The flowers on Hoya yvesrocheri are larger the corolla opens fuller then on H. stenophylla. The flowers are pink on H. yvesrocheri and yellow on H. stenophylla. The leaves on H. yvesrocheri are approximately three times the width as the leaves on stenophylla. Finally H. stenophylla is a far more vigorous grower than H. yvesrocheri.

I received Hoya-yvesrocheri as a very small rooted cutting that was growing in pon in October of 2021. It was part of a trade for Hoya thailandica and included H. stenophylla. Since I hate Lechuza Pon with a passion, I quicky transplanted it to a chunky mix. It was never a great grower, and by that I mean that it has a tendency to have leaves yellow and fall off, which always makes me crazy. It was not near as vigorous as stenophylla, but it still grew steadily. It developed its first peduncle at about 2 years of age, but there was no signs of it ever wanting to bud up even after it had 20 peduncles.

Finally tiring of waiting months for this plant to bud up, I was forced to monkey around with its day length cycle, and moved it from 14 hour days down to 12 hour days. Apparently this was what the doctor ordered, as it began to bud up almost immediately. The flowers were much nicer than I had anticipated, and it produced a multitude of 1 inch pink blooms. The blooms stayed open for around four days and had no detectable scent.

Hoya yvesrocheri is a plant that not that many people have had a chance to flower. It is somewhat challenging to cultivate, but for collectors it is worth the effort. I love the long narrow leaves and one inch pink flowers, and if you stick with it long enough, it can make a lovely specimen plant. It is probably near extinction in its native habitat so if we can keep it around as hobbyists, I think that it is a noble goal.