he used to drop in here every now and then .. i THINK i recall .. that he is working on a new book .. i am not sure if its a second edition though ... it might be entirely new in toto ... regardless.. the historical information in the front 1/3 of the book is incredible.. and i presume skipped by a majority of those who 'read' the book ... of most interest to me was the HN and SN .. horticultural names.. and the synonym names for the species ... e.g. blue giant ='d sieboldiana ='d elegans ... plus all the history of growing them from seed based on the improper presumption that they came true from seed ... but do note.. that is from memory .. it may have all been a dream ... ken

I have the new Hoya book. I'm going to be completely honest about it, so please don't shoot me down. Because of the ridiculous dollar to pound exchange rate, the amount the book cost me is probably about 3/4 of what you guys will pay for said book. I am enjoying the book (well I love reading about hoyas, so that makes sense). However because part of my job involves spotting mistakes in the text, I get quite annoyed at the endless typos and errors left in. I respect Anne and Dale but I feel that by trying to leave as much of Dale's writing creates sections that are either completely irrelevant or sentences that refer to a picture that was obviously in the previous book that did not make it into this book. Also, a lot of the plant photos are out of focus. If you're trying to compare a plant that may not have flowered yet (even given that the identities of some of the hoyas may be incorrect) with a blurry photo, it's not going to help you much. However, I have learnt about the anatomy of the hoya flower and the different names for the shape of the leaf, and that has been very helpful. And I'm still enjoying it, even if I am taking it with a pinch of salt. Hope that helps, Hills

The newest and best Hoya book is The Genus Hoya from Botanova Press. You have to buy right from the Botanova website and have the book shipped from Sweden. Hoya books are not numerous and for the most part they are fairly expensive. The older books have far too many misnamed plants to be useful and they can cause confusion by matching the wrong photos with the plant descriptions etc. I have quite a few Hoya books and The Genus Hoya is probably the best if you are looking for a general Hoya book. There are more scientific or in-depth Hoya publications but they are full of botanic terminology and are generally only for the very serious grower. Now having said all that everything you will find in most books is available on the web for free. Sites like Hoyor.net and GrowingHoyas.com, or My Hoyas will give you all the info you will find in those expensive books. Often times the websites have more photos, photos of flower parts and pollinia etc. which you will not find in the books. Check out Rainbow Gardens Books as well but generally the Kloppenburg books seem to be not worth the price. The Hoyas of Australia and The Hoyas of North Eastern New Guinea are much more scientific in scope and are not easy reading. There are botanical drawings in black ink and many botanical terms so they are not good for beginners. If you ever do want to dive into the world of botanical publications I would highly recommend Botanical Latin by William T Stearn as a fantastic book to help you learn botanical terminology and about the meanings of all those Latin and Greek names you see used in Botany. Mike Here is a link that might be useful: The Genus Hoya

I would recommend The Genus Hoya from Botanova in Sweden. The other books that are out there are overpriced and there are far too many naming mistakes that just cause confusion. If you don't want to spend money on a book all of the information is available for free from various Hoya web-sites. Hoyor.net GrowingHoyas.com MyHoyas.com Mike Here is a link that might be useful: Botanova