My weekends seem to get longer and longer these days, almost reaching the next weekend. The past weekend was fantabulous but the side effect of the late nights I had took its toll on me. There was nothing rotten about it though I watched two shows of 'Something Rotten' the musical. I will post about that as soon as I download the images from my camera storage card. Oh there is way too much on that card for any good. That aside let's get to the topic - My hoya carnosa pinks have been in bloom from March. However there are other hoyas that I had bought a couple years ago and I've been waiting for them to bloom, The one I've hoped to see in bloom was the Hoya Australis.
I have seen the flowers in my friend's house and I've seen images of them on line, but nothing prepared me for what I was about to witness. I have been patiently watching the buds forms for more than ten days now, however, on Saturday morning as I walked into my balcony with a hot mug of coffee in my hands a strong but pleasant smell hit my senses.
I looked all around and assumed it was one of my neighbors lighting a bunch of incense sticks. Then I got so busy with work in the kitchen that I forgot all about the smell that assailed my nose that morning. Later that evening as I was watering the plants in my balcony and pergola the same smell seemed to be quite strong and closer to me than my neighbors homes.
I looked all around sniffing the air and I still couldn't figure out where this beautiful smell came from. The third time when I entered my balcony to take a look at some of the new plants I left on the balcony ledge the same smell overpowered my senses again. Now, I was sure it was the hoya flowers that hung right next to my nose.
The Hoya Australis is a fast growing vine. The leaves are oval in shape and have grown huge and heavy over the last couple of years. They were now weighing down heavily on my hoya carnosa pink. I held a of bunches of flowers in my hands and smelled them to make sure that the smell came from these. Now I was absolutely certain that this strong, almost heady smell came from these flowers.
Two years ago my friend's friend gave her cuttings of this hoya. My friend game me three of those cuttings telling met that it was an indoor plant and needs to be grown in water. I looked up the plant on Google lens but the identity of the plant was still not clear. These cuttings spent the next couple of months in a jar of water. Two of them slowly rotted away. I decided to grow the one that was left in a regular planter in some regular potting mix, and put the plant outside in a shady corner.
The plant grew very slowly, no new leaves appeared for a couple of months. It didn't look too healthy either, so I moved it to my balcony and the vine started to show some extra fast growth. The leaves became wide , wider than my palm, the stems became heavy and the vine threatened to break the support which I had originally built for my hoya carnosa on which I had let this vine grow.
The plant looked extra healthy now and I fed it some fertilizer to force it to bloom. Nothing happened in the first year, I tried the same thing just before the spring of 2023 and nothing much happened. I almost gave up. when I suddenly noticed something that looked like peduncles from which the buds appear. My hope was kindled once again and I now I fertilized it every fortnight until I saw the umbels of buds clearly.
I saw a couple of buds at first but soon I noticed that there were many more on the vine. I was expecting them around spring time when the weather changes but I truly didn't expect them to bloom in this time of the year. The umbels of white flowers with those pretty little flowerettes inside against the contrasting red inside makes these flowers look divine. However, more than everything it is the perfume that makes your head turn around and sniff the air. It takes your breath away!!
I have been going to the balcony ever since, a few dozen times a day just to get a whiff of that perfume. The white and green of the flowers make them look absolute stunning in the bright morning light.
A couple of the other Hoyas I have are showing signs of blooming while one is showing growth like peduncles the other has bloomed a couple of times. Since my hoyas came without labels I am able to identify them only after I see the blooms.
This one here is called the sunrise. The flowers are tiny, pale yellow. I didn't notice them the first time, the second time I kept a watchful eye. I notice that the flowers in this particular sp don't last long like the Hoya carnosa or the Hoya Australis. However the plant seems to produce a number of branching vines that makes it look bushy and full making it very suitable for a hanging basket.
The leaves turns a wine red depending on the exposure to light. This makes the plant very attractive even when it is not in bloom. This variety produces an abundance of blooms I notice. The flowers have a mild, sweet fragrance, very mild I should say.
I'll post about my other Hoyas when they bloom. Thanks for swinging by and hanging around. I appreciate your support greatly.