My 25th video has now been uploaded to You Tube. This one is another Learning How Production and is titled How to Re-Pot a Hoya Plant. Here is the Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_v5n3imAY8&feature=g-upl&context=G2a0fa33AUAAAAAAAAAA
Please forgive the sound quality – my videographer should have had a throat lozenge!
Tomorrow I will be posting a new Learning How Production titled How to Re-pot a Hoya Plant. There won’t be a lot there for you veterans, but if you are new to Hoyas, or houseplants you will probably pick up a few tips. Now for something really cool: The Mona Lisa done with a mosaic of 1,000 Hoya photographs. More on this process to come soon. I hope that you feel that this Hoya Blog is anything, but boring!
Here is a photo I took this morning which not only shows what I have blooming at the moment, but gives a good indication of size between the flowers.
I have recently looked at a couple of really nice Hoya websites, where everything was just a touch more beautiful than real life. I’m talking mostly about what they do with the reds on the flowers using photo processing software such as Photoshop. Candy apple red does not to my knowledge exist in the world of Hoyas; if it does, I have never seen it. I want to make sure that my photos accurately portray what the flower will look like in real life. The only thing I use photo editing software for is to remove the occasional dust speck or to crop an image. I don’t want to have someone spend years growing out a plant only to be disappointed when it finally blooms. I think Hoya flowers are beautiful enough without “tarting” them up. What you see here is what you would see if you saw the bloom in person at my house. Here is a photo taken this week of Hoya megalaster with thirteen flowers just beginning to open up – it is an accurate representation of the real thing.
Here is a photo I took a few minutes ago to show the size of this wonderful flower.
This is my second plant of Hoya elliptica that has bloomed within six months of striking a cutting. If you have a really warm, humid, bright location this plant should bloom in record time for you. I grow this plant in the regular potting mix I use on all of my Hoyas and keep it on the damp side. The strangest aspect of this plant is that it simply can not be trained. Within days of the gentlest winding of a vine on to a trellis, the vine will die at the bend.
Today is my birthday, and I have been taking bloom photos all day. Here are a couple:
Spent the morning photographing more dried coronas and uploading them here. It takes considerable time. Two of them did not come out so I will need to re-photograph them. I encourage everyone to check it out as there are some really cool ones.
Definition on a Corona: A crown-shaped, funnel-shaped, or trumpet-shaped outgrowth or appendage of the perianth of certain flowers, such as the daffodil, Hoya, or the spider lily. Also called crown. I have added a new section to the website called Hoya Coronas. I will continue to add species as subpages of the Hoya Corona page as time allows. Even if you are not scientifically minded, please check it out, as some of these photos will make you look at your Hoyas in an entirely different way.
Here are a couple more photos of Hoya archboldiana x onychoides buds taken this morning. Should open most any day.
Buds are Amost as Nice as the Flowers!
