I now understand what it must be like for dog and cat owners who are allergic to the things. Going to have to learn to cope probably.... love Hoyas too much.

Pagan, I am so glad I am not alone on this. Bella and javanica behave well for me scent wise. My lacunosa has buds developing and several new peduncles too... I am suspicious too. Davidcummingii too? Nooooooooo. I recently got that one myself, hahahahha ok so here is hoping for the best.

Hmmm. Maybe I can just fire up my wax melter. Fortunately I am not allergic to every floral scent on the planet... perhaps I van drown it out with something else.

I read last night somewhere shepherdii blooms mostly in the spring and mid summer. So if that is the case, it can live on the porch when it blooms. Worse case, blooms will be snipped. The horror!

Lacunosa will KNOCK your socks off...it is STRONGLY scented. As for discouraging blooms, the only way I know how, is to knock off the peduncles.

I would place it outside so you can still enjoy the blooms from afar!

This could be a problem. I got my lacunosa because it is scented. But I got it before the blooms on my obovata opened (it's now outside, far away). Having zero experience with hoyas, I had no idea it could trigger my allergies. I've only ever seen H. davidcummingii up on trees and they did not make me sneeze so the thought did not occur to me at all.

Well. This knocks the wind out of my sail. I guess my wallet is safe from hoyas now too. At least until further notice.

Pagan

I grow all of my hoyas outside except for 3 here in my office. No problems with these guys so far but I would stick them outside and rotate another one inside. My house is so DARK (I don't like that at all). I'd love to grow more inside.

Oh, poor Kim, she has too many blooms! LOL! I'm sure a lot of the newbies are sticking out their tongues and giving you the raspberry! But seriously, I know what you mean about them bugging your nose. My olfactory senses LOVE them, but my sinuses HATE them. And this time of year, it can be a real hodge-podge of scents with several blooming at the same time.

If you have a night bloomer that you don't want to put outside, you can throw a plastic bag over it before you go to bed and it will contain a lot of the scent. I have had Hoyas wake me up from a dead sleep in the middle of the night when the scent wafts my way (I have ceiling fans in practically every room....) When that happens, the next night I cut open a grocery sack and just kind of wrap it around to encompass the flowers as much as possible and clip it on with hair clips. It seems to help...

Denise in Omaha

Hahaahahahah, thanks guys.

Denise, I do feel guilty posting this. This was not a problem I anticipated, usually natural floral scents do not bother me! Thanks for the tip on the bag, I just may have to do that. It seems sacrilegious to cut peduncles. Even on my shepherdii I am always thrilled and greatful to see them, removing them just kills me to think about.

As for the newbies, I am not so old in the hobby myself. They will be up to it in blooms before they know it too. :)

You're right, Kim. I should do nothing to discourage the newbies! Just a little encouragement and many of them bloom without fail. Shepherdii is one that I grow and does bloom for me, but the plant itself never looks quite like the beautiful photos I see. **Sigh** Post a pic of yours so I can experience a little Hoyaenvy!

Denise in Omaha

Beautiful hardly begins to describe my shepherdii. It is tiny, barely more than 2 rooted cuttings!

I have only been serious about Hoya growing for a year, save for bella. Hoya like shepherdii, ilagiorum, javanica/multiflora, lacunosa, and inconspicua are such lovely newbie plants... eager to bloom, build your confidence, and tide you over while you wait around for pubicalyx and carnosa.

I feel your "pain". Since I was having the exterior of my house painted this spring, my plants stayed inside much longer than usual. The smell was overwhelming! And the sap! Oh, the irony of wishing they would chill out for awhile when I had waited such a long time for them to bloom. They are outside now and all is right with the world.

Sorry, but I don't know how to curb them from blooming (other than to remove the peduncles) or how to reduce their scent. Maybe consider Hoyas that don't bloom very often and/or don't smell so strong?!

Yeah, scent will be a consideration on aqcuisitions moving forward. My inconspicua is a weird one too... started out smelling like chocolate, now reminds me of this make your own perfum kit a childhood friend had. We of course mixed everything together in this weird funky smelling disaster. Hahahha, good times.

Hoya smells fragrance sure can be strange. Makes me wonder what their primary pollinators are. Things could get crazy down the road, figure worse case scenario I can always sell or trade them and try new ones. :)