Thanks Laura. Most of the blooms dropped off yesterday so now I am interested in seeing if there will be a replay. My other Hoyas that have been blooming are all forming buds again or already blooming. Both colour forms of Hoya heuschkeliana, Hoya lobbii, Hoya walliniana, that little one from Thailand up at the top of this thread, and dare I say I think I saw a peduncle forming on my Hoya imperalis. Hoya sp Maluku IPPS 3749 has been trying to bloom but never quite makes it so I am going to have to start paying more attention to watering. It's been a great winter for Hoyas around here. Mike

Haha Aggie. That's Amber's list - I was just responding to it with my experiences. I hadn't even noticed it was alphabetical. I guess I was going too fast. I have to say I think your collection (and wish list) sounds like such a pretty set. I bet they look very well together. That's just what I did - traded with other newcomers. Then I could swap what I had without feeling too guilty about lack of selection or size. It sure can be intimidating to trade with veterans, with such amazing plants and generous cuttings. I was thinking about it last night and I felt I should say that I do consider most of the ones we are mentioning, including those in Amber's original list, uncommon. Just accessible enough that members of our community have been growing them long enough to share. I totally agree with you, Amber, that the best thing about trading is that feeling when you look at a plant and feel connected through it to the person who gave it to you. I am a very sentimental person and sometimes I think these GW members have no idea how often I am thinking of them, when a new leaf forms or my plant blooms a couple days after they post pictures of its mother's flowers. Occasionally, without my database, I will forget which vendor I got a particular plant from, but a trade plant never gets disconnected in my mind from its origin. I actually got a great deal of pleasure responding to your list just because it made me reflect on all the generous people who enabled me to get to know such lovely species. I hope if you're reading you know how thankful I am! :) I've never had a tamarillo before, Nat. Can you compare it to another fruit? I hope you get an answer to your question, as it looks like a beautiful plant to own.

Cindy I will start you a piece now and we can talk about the trade later. Even if it's not Hoya scortechinii I am sure you have other Hoyas that are large enough to trade. Hoya cagayanensis is a really nice little Hoya. The leaves look like satin and the plant itself is a good grower and it climbs very well. I had to get this one because the blooms are supposed to be very fragrant. I found my plant tricky to grow at first because it was not in my mix but once it gets started it's a fast grower. Mike

Those are some good-looking shelves, Aurora! A couple of ideas come to my mind. Take them or leave them, as they say (or critique them - that is even better!) Have you considered placing the trays perpendicular to the shelves, so the edges stick out on one side or both? I do that on my stand and I find it useful. It allows to use the space more effectively (more square footage than the surface of the shelves, basically), it gives plants in different locations on the tray different levels of light (a good thing if you grow plants with different preferences), and it gives those plants that stick out more vertical space. Do you water in place or take them tray by tray elsewhere to water? If in place, does the water flow onto the lower shelf? So, the pots are in the carrying tray, which are on the shelf, right? This is a bit too flimsy to carry, I found. Harry also sells these solid trays in the same size (with drain holes or without), and putting all that into those trays works really well for me. Careful with those solid trays though - I bought some that look indistinguishable on Amazon for half the price, but they turned out to be ridiculously flimsy, even for the lightest of pots, mixes and plants, and even for half-empty trays. They had to go back. Harry's trays are more solid, and if you or somebody needs even more solid trays, then get Permanest trays (elsewhere, Chula does not sell those) - those are indestructible, but also much more expensive. In addition to more rigidity to the whole structure, I've grown to like solid trays as the bottom layer because roots grow into there. At first I was disappointed because moving plants from one place to another, is more difficult now, and those wondering roots might die if displaced. But is it really better if they did not grow in the first place? Or if they circled the bottoms endlessly when there is no easy exit from the pot? I sort of like the idea of those roots socializing with their neighbors in there. Another advantage of the solid trays is - you can leave a bit of water in there as the source of re-absorption by plants and of humidity. Perfect timing - my and my friend's tray / pot order is here. Later.