Hey Golden,

As Denise, others & I tend to tell folks, pls. select your Hoyas by their leaves 'cause they can take years to bloom. If you select by bloom one can be disappointed; if one select by favorites leaves, then if they never bloom, it's not a big deal.

Examples, I'm partial to the leaves of Lacunosa (when the have the 'dents' in the leaves), also Obovata, I love those big, round handsome leaves w/ or w/out speckles.

Yes definitely, but I would also like to pick for flowers (down the road) I definitely would pick for the foliage first and foremost. But I dont want to get a flower after years of waiting and it smells like a stable - lol (as one of the sites I was looking at mentioned - lol)

I think Hoya pubicalax is one you should consider. This species is easy to grow and flower plus the blooms are fairly large and smell wonderful. There are several different varieties or cultivars of Hoya pubicalax that have been collected from different wild locations and they have different leaf and flower colours.
It took my plant about 1.5 years from cutting stage to flower for the first time.

I agree with Pirate Girl that you should pick at least one Hoya for the leaves alone. Some species have huge leaves with beautiful veining and other develop nice colouration when grown in a sunny spot. I would recommend Hoya meredithii or vitellinoides for large light green leaves with dark green veins. Other Hoyas have like Hoya shepherdii, longifolia or Hoya kentiana and wayetii have thick slender leaves with hanging stems and fragrant flowers. I also think no Hoya collection is complete without at least one small species like Hoya DS-70, burtoniae, lacanosa or memoria. These smaller leafed species have pendant stems and small flowers that smell sweet kinda like carmel or sweet and musky in the case of Hoya lacanosa. These Hoyas look great in small hanging pots or growing down from a shelf and they often flower with many groups of flowers open simultaneously.

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: Hoya pubicalax

I would second pubicalyx 'Pink Silver' - mine is one with a LOT of silver flecking, so I tend to call mine 'Splash', which is just another name for a very silvery clone of 'Pink Silver.' Some consideration should be given to how much room you have to devote to your plants. I love the big-leaved varieties myself, like macrophylla, macgillivrayii, onychoides, archboliana, but I can see as they grow, space becomes a problem. As my Hoya collection grows, my succulent collection has to shrink. Unless I win the lottery and can buy a bigger place (or a place with property where I can put a bigger GH...), there will come a time when I have to be frugal about what Hoyas I buy! (Nooooooo!)

Denise in Omaha

I think multiflora is a must since it blooms nearly constantly even as a cutting sometimes and I love the pubescent (hairy)leaf ones like calycina and magnifica. Kerrii and obovata I like for the thick leaves.
I'd also say a few with veriegation is a must as well as the tiny leaf ones like cv. mathilde and kanyakumariana.

Oh what the heck just try them all!

Jo

Hi, Golden
One of my fave hoya, is variegated macrophylla. The leaves are in my opinion beautiful. My teenage daughter even likes this one. She says it reminds her her of alligator skin.This hoya has not flowered for me yet so I cant comment on this but the leaves make up for not flowering.
I like all my hoyas but if you should say pick one for you to order this is the one I would pick.I hope this helps a little with which ones to order.
Last year I ordered 17 different hoyers but could of ordered tones more if money was no concern.This year I am not able to order.

Cindy

Well thanks you guys for taking the time to give me some advice - I appreciate it! And Cindy - I love the variegated ones so I will definitely think about that one! If any of you think of anymore - dont be shy! :0) Golden

I don't have any big plants yet just rooted cuttings so it's hard to pick a favorite. Two of my lacunosas from David Liddle have bloomed and I LOVE their fragrance. The one that intrigues me the most is the cutting of linearis I got from D.L. last year, it doesn't look like what one would expect a Hoya to look like.

Annette

Lacunosa is a definite on my ordering list! I think mainly because - what I have read about it is - its fairly simple to grow and flower. The leaves look great - so thats a pick for sure!

Mike -(or anyone else for that matter) do you know if Hoya pubicalax is another name for Carnosa Purpureo-fusca (silver)?

Golden there is a Hoya pubicalax a Hoya carnosa and a Hoya purpureo-fusca but they are all separate species. The name you mentioned is a mash up of several correct names and there is no telling what you would get if you ordered that plant.
It happens that you will get plants that are improperly labeled from time to time as an honest mistake and then there are the blatant mistakes like the one you mentioned.

Mike

A lot of people say lacunosa is easy to grow and bloom for then. Well, I've had no end of trouble with mine. I just don't think it likes my conditions (then again, several do die on me every winter). Perhaps it's the cold, or the lack of light, or a combination of the two.
The only way I can get mine to grow is to leave it on the heat mat with a baggie around it - mine's finally coming back to life and even growing now.
I love my Hoya publicalyx, it's a great plant to grow. Definitely one for a beginner.

Is Hoya macrophylla easy to grow? I thought it might be a bit tricky.

Hills, I find H.Macrophylla undemanding for me. The first year I had this plant she just sat there and did not grow but this winter she has really started to take off.I have come to really love this hoya.

Cindy

Hills, you're in the UK right (growing indoors, yes)?

I have no Lacunosa now, but it's an early favorite of mine. (I love its dark, glossy leaves reminiscent of citrus plants.) I grew it pretty well on a mini ladder trellis I made for it to climb. I found it to want an odd combination of frequently moist w/ the occassional drying out.

I found this best achieved w/ a wick coming out the bottom drainage hole to help it drain completely (& stave off rot). I can't do justice to the explanation of how this works: if interested, pls. see the Houseplant Forum next door. Look for Al (Tapla's) discussion of perched water table. I also do this w/ my H. Multiflora.

FYI: Al (Tapla) is our resident Ficus maven. He's also written extensively abt soils & many folks around these parts swear by his soil mix recipe. I'm partial to the PWT (perched water table) discussion & found it helpful to a number of my Hoyas.

I just wanted to caution against Lacunosa, because it seems it's either one that grows and blooms constantly or it just dies. For me, it tried to die, but seems to be coming back now. Maybe it's an issue of humidity, as I do live in the UK, where it can get very dry during the winter, which is made worse by central heating.

Golden, another thing, I would caution against buying any plants that are thin-leaved from David, e.g. multiflora. They just don't travel well and don't survive the what can be over a week's trip.

Golden,

I also LOVE Pubicalyx Pink Silver...this is a plant I bought at Gardino's March 08 and it is blooming for the very first time for me! I have four buds on it right now.

I also love the Variegated Macrophylla, I bought this one mostly for the gorgeous leaves, the flowers are nice but pretty small and less showy in comparison to most hoya blooms. I just love the leaves on this one.

I have a lot of favorites though...its so hard to choose!

(Pubicalyx)Pink Silver: My Very First Bud!!Almost open
{{gwi:68920}}
Variegated Macrophylla

WOW BEAUTIFUL - When the flowers open you'll have to post another photo for us to drool over! Would you do me a huge favor and post a photo of the whole plant(Pink silver). Its nice to see what the plant looks like as Im sure I will be waiting a long time for flowers and as I have been told - to buy by the look of the plant! Thanks so much for sharing! Very nice!

Hi Golden,
I actually found my Silver Pink flowered fairly quickly when I got it. This is it flowering.

Unfortunately it didn't flower this year, but I think that was from a lack of light - it's definitely too dark in my lounge for my plants!

Very Nice healthy looking plant! And LOVELY flowers too! So nice to see the actual look of the plant along with the flower! When I am researching it mainly shows the flower and its really nice to see the plant also just in case it takes a few years to get to flower. Anyways hills - thanks for taking the time to show me - VERY NICE!

Wow Hills,

I've never seen a Pink Splash (or Silver Pink as I know it) w/ so much speckling, very pretty indeed. I don't have this anymore but when I did, was generally a nice & trouble-free grower.

Hill, Gorgeous Flower!! and what beautiful Speckled leaves...thanks for posting!

Golden, here is a picture of the open bloom and the whold plant...
{{gwi:68921}}
Pink Silver
{{gwi:933974}}

Frgot one...another Pubicalyx...Royal Hawaiian Purple, leaves are also very pretty(this one hasn't bloomed for me yet)bought it June '08
{{gwi:933976}}
The whole plant RHP(Taken sideways)
{{gwi:933977}}

Thanks guys.

I was really disappointed the other day when I had a look at it and the one peduncle it had grown fell off :(.

However, I am thinking of getting a few more publicalyx types. They seem to do well under my conditions. The only problem is that they can grow like gangbusters - I went to Kew last year and saw one that was like a wall!

The other funny thing I found was, when it used to live next to the window, the splashing on the leaves went purple - very strange phenomenon.

My pubicalyx is very "splashy" too. I'm noticing that that new growth on the one in the GH is producing some unusually large leaves. Not sure what that's about... But here's an example of some of the "splashier" leaves on mine...

I finally found one of the silvery lacunosas at Lowes. Unfortunately, I think it had been there too long and it's not doing particuarly well. I'm hoping I can salvage it - guess we'll see...

Denise in Omaha