Today I pulled the plant out of its tent to photograph its flowers and cut away masses of unhealthy looking foliage.  What I have left looks pretty good so it has lived to survive another day.  It seems to know to produce flowers every time I get ready to discard it, helping to save itself from the dustbin.

I know how to grow this plant; it would like a southern exposure with adequate humidity; watered before it gets totally dry and leave it in the same space without moving it.  Unfortunately I can’t provide those conditions:-(

This plant has been vexing me for a number of years and I keep saying I’m going to get rid of it, yet I still have it.  Hoya sigillatis loses so many leaves every time it gets moved; it drives me nuts.  I have to move it outside in the summer and into a grow tent in the winter, because I have no window where it would stay happy.

I continue to struggle with this plant, but can’t quite bring myself to throw it out.

Today’s final flower comparison photo.  I’m sure that many of you tire of all of these comparison photos, but you can’t have something new flowering every day, and I’ve learned to never take these wonderful blooms for granted.  I’ve talked to some people who have been growing H. macgillivrayi for ten years and have never seen a flower.  I am lucky enough that mine flower several times a year so I have to show it off while I can.

From Left To Right: Hoya macgillivrayi, Hoya oblongacutifolia, Hoya celata, and Hoya patella

From Left to right: H. oblongacutifolia, Hoya celata, and Hoya patella.

Hoya oblongacutifolia on the left and Hoya celata on the right.

Hoya celata is a wonderful plant and one that I hope most of you would consider picking up.  It is an easy grow, and if you have the room, a pot of all of the different ‘Dragon’ Colors would be quite delightful!  

When my original Hoya celata plant was doing so poorly after one year, I took a cutting for fear of losing it.  As so often happens both the original plant and the cutting both lived. My two year old cutting now has a peduncle with growing buds.  It should also be noted that this is the time of the year for flowering white, pink and black dragons as they are all budding up.

My question is why did Hoya pubicalyx ‘White Dragon’ become its own species, but the ‘Pink Dragon’ and ‘Black Dragon’ did not?  The leaves on all of these plants differ greatly from all the rest of the pubicalyx world.  They are very light green with absolutely no markings at all.  I’m no botanist but the flowers all look alike except for color to my eye. Are the ‘Pink’ and ‘Black Dragons’ sub species of Hoya celata? Hopefully in time we will get these answers.

Up close and personal with the flowers of Hoya celata.