Renee,So beautiful.No need to worry about how many photos you take.the more the better.I really want to get serpens this spring.

Cindy

Brilliant! It's just swarming with blooms!

Congratulations! Congratulations!

I definitely agree with Cindy - you could post three times as many pictures and we'd all approve. ^_~

Congratulations!

The more pictures the better!

Kelly

Renee, CONGRATS!! I am so jealous of your beautiful, loaded with buds /flowers Serpens. You certainly don't have to explain wanting to take a lot of pictures...I do the same thing. I love seeing pictures of hoyas so I'm happy for lots of pictures! I can't get over how many buds it has...Enjoy!

Looking forward to more pictures!!

Your plant looks incredible with all those blooms. You have every right to be proud as this is quite the accomplishment to see so many buds make it to bloom on Hoya serpens.
Good growing!

Mike

Holy Cow. That is amazing rennfl. I'm in utter awe. Muttering to self: THIS is why I am getting rid of you serpens, you've done NOTHING in 2 years! grumble, grumble, grumble...time for another chocolate bunny or two.

Does everyone with a non-blooming serpens get a bunny? Bunny Party for the outcasts!

Mine formed peduncles last year, but no dice.

Yup. I'll go shopping and get extras. We can all get wasted on chocolate bunnies, but ONLY if your serpens has done nada for you. Peduncles don't count as success, even I have those!

Thanks everyone, as of this morning 4 penduncles have opened. Its been a rainy day here, so hard to get pics. Will take some more tomorrow.

Can I get a bunny too? Just because I'm addicted to chocolate? Pretty please?

Renee

Yes, Renee. But by decree, your chocolate bunny will be beheaded.

Can't wait for more pictures!

I'm always on board for some fantasizing about hanging out with people who can pick multiflora out of a lineup. ^_~

Bunnies all around! I'll take the pickup and hit the bunny sales. Milk or dark? Never mind, I'll get both and white as an appetizer.

Got me to thinking. Wouldn't it be great if we could all have a get-together. We could bring some fantabulous food, libations of our choice, and a bag full of cuttings to share with each other...we could eat chocolate bunnies and watch our resident IT person show us an amazing powerpoint presentation of some far off land where hoyas grow in abundance. Caught up in a reverie...come on, you gotta admit that sounds like fun! rennfl could bring the serpens and we could all ooooo and ahhhhh, and live vicariously with that one. Never mind me, I'm getting all dreamy now. Mental note to stop at the Mall and pick up some more lottery tickets.

Lol...too funny!! I'll take the Milk bunnies and save the dark for DH!

I guess I should be satisfied my Serpens is still alive...but part of me just isn't satisfied with that...I'm holding on to hope that one day I can see one of those gorgeous blooms too...our climate is very similar so I won't give up just yet.

GG, beheaded bunnies still taste just as good. I laughed out loud when I read that.

pug - not too make you feel worse, but I just went and got the plant at dusk to show off too my family, and there are now 6 penduncles open, and wow, I didn't know how wonderful this one smelled. A spicy floral fragrance, that I hadn't noticed before. Might be one of the ones that it's stronger in late afternoon/dusk.

Renee

My serpens was fabulous when I first got it! Even bloomed...although only on one peduncle....then it was all downhill. Have since restarted it in hydroton and it's recovering and has recently put on a new peduncle.

From the way it sounds here though, just pass the chocolate bunnies on over! I'm tired of waiting!

Kelly

Again thanks everyone.

Klyde - I'm sorry, but I'm just so proud, I've never had a Hoya produce like this before.

So just bear with me for one more set of photos - from this morning. Want to add, the fragrance just kept getting stronger and stronger as night came on.

Renee

One more thing to add, pug and Klyde, you both have very similar climate, especially Klyde, I am Zone 8 as well.

I left this outside year round, except for the nights it froze. But it was taken back out in the morning once the temp got above freezing. Maybe is the cool winter that it responded to? Also, it really does get quite a bit of direct sunlight. Especially through the cooler days of winter.

No, no, no, please don't stop. I was just teasing. Post MORE pictures please. Maybe some close ups of the flowers? I think serpens flowers are to die for IMO. That is a great tip about temp, thanks. Can you give us a count of how many umbels it has produced at this point? :)

OMG Renee...that is absolutely gorgeous!! I'm SO envious of it...but I truly am very happy for you! After all you've had it for a several years and have taken very good care of it, so its only fair it should shower you (literally) with such beautiful blooms. I do live in zone 9a...so it is a little different...but close enough, maybe?

Gosh, I wish that nursery you bought yours from still sells them :o(...Serpens are very hard to find! But if mine just survives and grows I will always have hope for blooms one day...

Klyde, It's got 13 full umbels, plus 2 umbels with only 4 buds each and 1 umbel with 1 bud.

Renee

Renee, that is the most beautiful thing. Wish we could get the scratch and sniff thing going on this computer. I really need to get this one. I am zone 8 as well so hopefully it would do fine here too.

Klyde - can I get a chocolate bunny too, does not having one count?

Dee

Renee, I wanted to ask you a couple of questions about your serpens if you don't mind...I think you said you've had it for about 4 rs. or so? Have you ever repotted it or has it been in the same pot since you had it. Just wondering if the pot is full of roots (that's if you've never repotted it) and why it requires watering every single day? Just trying to see how often I should be watering mine...but mine is definitely a LOT smaller than yours and not root bound...Thanks!

geosdee, I'm in the FL panhandle also.

pug - no problem. Yes I repotted it once since I received it, it was at least 2 years ago. At the time I put it in a 4 inch net pot with orchid seedling bark mix. Honestly I can't tell what the roots look like in there, the top is overgrown and I can't see down into it at all.

As to why it gets watered everyday, well it's because the bench it sits on, the other plants on it need watered everyday. Also this is every sunny day in summer. In winter, when it's cooler, they get watered either by rain or me about 3 times a week on average. Sometimes more if we get a lot of rain.

It all started this way the winter before last, I looked up it's habitat and saw that it grows in similar conditions as some of my Coelogynes, so I set it on their bench, and it has received the same culture as them since then. Then last spring it bloomed for the first time, so I left it with the Coelogynes all last year, and now this year it is blooming better, so I will definitely leave it with the Coels.

It is probably receiving signifcantly more light than most people would give it, and as it's in a net pot, with a good breeze going outside all the time, I would suspect that it dries out almost every sunny day.

Hope this helps.

Renee

GREAT SERPENS RENNFL, just remember if you ever need to tream it, some of us will be delighted to adopt the treamings

URRACA

Thanks Renee...that was very helpful. I appreciate it. I've been looking for a large bag of "seedling Orchid bark". Right now I'm using small Pine bark, but would like to try the seedling orchid bark to use on my potting mix but I haven't found a place that sells them locally. We don't have an Orchid nursery nearby...the ones they carry at the big box stores are too large...thanks again!