I just looked back and it took me less time than I initially thought to flower Hoya vangviengiensis. I got the plant as a cutting in September of 2017, where it quickly rooted and grew well enough to have to up-pot it a few times over the first year or so. I was tremendously excited when it got its first peduncle, but this is one of those Hoyas that a peduncle means absolutely nothing. It probably got a couple of dozen over the years but never budded up.

Here is my post from July 27, 2020: “I can’t even pronounce this one, let alone flower it. Another four year old Hoya that will periodically produce peduncles, but has never ever tried to bud up. I pretty much have given up on this one. I keep it around, but will in all likelihood never bloom it.“

Well, here we are in March of 2022, and I can finally say that I got this monkey off my back. Hoya vangviengiensis has now been flowered, and we will spend the next couple of weeks talking about it. Here is a close up of one of the blooms:

After these new buds open again, I will show the entire plant as it has gotten a lot bigger since the last time that I showed it. Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ is definitely one of the best Hoya introductions in the last 10 years as it is beautiful and actually pretty easy to grow.

My sole remaining Hoya platycaulis plant was down to one leaf and looked like it was going to die, but using some hydrogen peroxide, and a lot of luck, I have pulled it back from the brink. It still only has six leaves, but at least it now has a chance. I find that with the Hoya market the way that it is now, when you lose these species, you have very little chance of getting it back again.

Here are Hoya cutis-porcelana and Hoya lyi flowers together for the first and probably last time.

Here is a bloom comparison between Hoya cutis-porcelana and Hoya krohniana:

Hoya lyi ticks all the boxes for a Hoya. It does not take up a lot of space, it flowers early from a cutting, has a terrific fragrance, and seems to do well with minimal care. This Hoya gets my highest recommendation!!

Hoya lyi is found among the furthest north of any Hoya species and can survive temperatures that briefly dip below freezing. I don’t think that I want to try it on my little specimen, but perhaps the reason that it flowered so quickly for me this winter is because my day time temperature rarely got over 74F and night time temps dropped into the upper 50s.

I have yet to flower Hoya yuennanensis, but it differs from Hoya lyi in habitat and flower characteristics. H. yuennanensis is a rampant climber that is found in exposed locations where as Hoya lyi is found in the deep shade. Hoya lyi has a different shaped corona that is broadened and flatter with smaller pollen masses then those found on Hoya yuennanensis.

While these two species are closely related, it has not yet been documented that there ranges overlap. Below you will see the flowers of Hoya thomsonii on top and the flowers of Hoya lyi below it.