We move from the worst Hoya in the Finlaysonii Complex to what I consider to be the best plant from the group. Hoya sp. aff. clemensiorum blooms in the regular house this week.

There is not much more to say about Hoya sp. EPC-196 other than I suspect that it was some kind of Hoya cross that someone grew out from seed. Even if wasn’t prone to these fungal spots, this Hoya is the weakest candidate in any of the Finlaysonii Complex of plants. Some of the Hoyas in this group have spectacular leaf patterns and textures, but this plant really has nothing going for it with very blah leaves. It is not often that I talk down about a Hoya, but this is an exception.

After sitting there for months in my basement grow tent, finally in late March of this year it developed a peduncle. I was excited to bloom this plant mostly so I could get rid of it. It finally budded up and flowered this week. The scent of the blooms were really pleasant, and they opened in daylight compared to most Hoya flowers opening at night.

The leaves on the cutting had no real discernable pattern, but to my eyes looked like it was in the finlaysonii complex and expected the flowers to look like most of them do. It rooted quickly and grew at a fairly rapid pace during the summer. It went through a series of up-pottings and finally stopped growing and stood still in the winter. The leaves were very unattractive, not only having no good coloration, but developed bacterial or fungal spotting.

A really nice woman named Paige sent me two cuttings in last summer that she knew little about and gave me the chance to grow them out. Hoya sp. EPC-196 was one of those Hoyas.

I have to say that this Hoya is one I will not be keeping and it is questionable why it is even being sold. The only redeeming quality that I can see is that it has a really nice scent.

Hoya gildingii has only been found on Mount Kinabalu, Sabah in lower montane forests between 1,200 and 1,600 meters in elevation. It is known as a cool grower, because of the high elevation where it is found. I have discovered that many of these cool growers don’t grow well in really cool temperatures. This plant does best when day times highs reach about 75F degrees with nights going down to about 65-70F. Cool does not mean growing these ‘cool growers’ in the 50s and 60s.

I just wanted to say a few words about my father. Today would have been his 100th birthday. He died way back in 2002, but I think of him almost every day. He was a purple heart recipient in World War ll, a hard worker, and an incredible father who did everything that he could for his family. Dad, I salute you!!

Ed Gilding did some of the early work in hybridizing Hoyas having created Hoya Kamuki, Seanie, Noele, and Jennifer among others. He was the first to find this species so he clearly is very deserving of the naming recognition!

While I was elated about flowering my larger plant, my second plant had foundered. It had not grown in months and after taking it out of the pot found massive root rot even in the terracotta pot. So once again, I took two cuttings, and I will start the process over. The silver lining in all of this is that if both cuttings take, then I have increased my stock of the plant. It is always best to have a safety net on these rare Hoyas.