Denise according to my book Hoyas of North Eastern New Guinea Hoya patella is classified in the Physostemla section of the genus. Hoya patella is found in New Guinea which is thought to be the center of distribution for Physostemla section species. Other species in the section include Hoya megalaster, Hoya campanulata, Hoya cystiantha and Hoya subcalva with a total of at least 17 species in the section. Hoya patella to me looks very delicate but because it grows at 300- 400 meters altitude it is not bothered by hot summer temperatures. Mike Here is a link that might be useful: This photo is what convinced me to get this species. Swedish Hoya Society

GG, That's a wonderful "howdy-do" during these bleak days. Where has the sun gone?? And OMG, it's SOO cold! I did see the sun trying to peak out for a bit this afternoon, but it's really not getting the upper hand. I want my spring, dang it! My variegated verticillata has two nice buds on it, and I see that the first flowers are opening today. I'll get a photo when they're all open, hopefully tomorrow. I find verticillata's fragrance absolutely enchanting - so sweet and perfumey...my nose can't get enough. Like you, I've been finding new peduncles. One I'm particularly excited about is 'Mathilde'. I almost lost her last fall when I decided to up-pot her. Like you said in another post, many of them do sulk temporarily, but she was bein' a little beeyatch! So I took a few cuttings, whacked off long leafless vines (where leaves had dried and dropped...), put her in my kitchen where I can keep an eye on her. Now she has all kinds of new growth and baby peduncles coming on. YAY! I got a cutting of paulshirleyi from Ted Green last fall. I cut it in two and got them rooted, but of course they remained dormant all winter. So a few days ago, I saw the weeist little growth nubbin starting, then today I look at it and that little nubbin shot out into about a 4" vine that includes two tiny leaves and a peduncle! I couldn't believe my eyes! I wouldn't be shocked if it drops its blooms the first time it tries, but I can be hopeful! I'm just really itching for it to be warm enough to keep the windows open in my GH, and to start moving stuff out. C'mon spring! Denise in Omaha (too)

Oops. Haha. I actually thought this one was going to be a goofy easy thread, but I guess not! Thanks, Klea for giving it a go. I suppose I better at least have the grace to answer the questions myself before I let the thread die a graceful death. xD 1. What is your favorite bloom color? Mine is green, followed by orange. :) 2. Which is the best pink bloom? I haven't seen the pink patella bloom in person yet, either, but I'm looking forward to it! My favorite is desvoeuxensis. The blooms are so big and heavy for such a delicate plant and the color is a rich lip glossy shade. I also really love the blooms on the plant I refer to as "Mike's caudata" even though I have my own now. The IML 0965. 3. Which is the best red bloom? Yeah that's a fair point. It's kind of a vague magenta continuum. I'm just going to say mindorensis anyway. Who's going to stop me, the pink police? 4. Which is the best orange bloom? My vote is for sigillatis, but I am excited by all the orange blooms! 5. Which is the best yellow bloom? Totally heuschkeliana. I love you, little bells! I am also very fond of blashernaezii, because it's a tough little champ! Oh and I just received Golden Flame yesterday from Joni and wow is it ever gorgeous!! I was blown away! I thought the leaves would be more like blaeshernaezii but they are distinctive. Totally worth the wait! /dance of joy I swear, if Hoya shopping was done in a department store, I would have been elbowing people out of the way to get at that plant. jk ;) I'm actually quite bad at fighting for myself. 6. Which is the best green bloom? Serpens is a great choice! I'm going to elect sp. Estrella and chlorantha just to be contrary. :) 7. Which is the best purple bloom? Mmm. vitiensis. 8. Which is the best white bloom? The correct answer is obviously... oh I don't know. My brain is exploding, too. rotundiflora! 9. Which is the best speckled bloom? lambii Which is the best bicolor bloom? I like the finlaysonii blooms. What? Not bloom because you didn't pick them? Haven't you heard how contrary Hoyas are? They bloom because you complained about them!

David, I got the white patella from Asiatica too. How big has yours managed to get? My plant is still pretty small, but is currently growing two vines pretty rapidly, which are trying to take over the orchid next to it. Every day I have to untangle the vine, because I don't want it permanently attached to that orchid. It is a mounted orchid with roots and nooks and crannies in the mount itself for the vines to get caught up in, that I will never be able to extricate patella from if it gets a good foothold. I'm trying to keep on top of watering it also. It seems to be a plant that needs to be kept happy or else you get a one step forward, two steps back sort of situation. But I'm happy to say that it is giving me those new little red-brown leaves. I'd read that the new leaves come in that color, but in the past, they always came up apple green. Javanica is blooming but I haven't managed a pic yet. Restrepia striata bloomed but I missed taking a pic. I might have inadvertently pollinated it. It normally lasts a few days at least, but this time it was done in one. I got water in the flower and I dabbed it out with a q tip. Oh well, I guess we'll see. Oh, and speckled lacunosa is blooming again as well. So nothing new but I am always happy to see blooms. Mike I do think you can say mantises are cute, especially that one, since he was pretty small. GG, he's neat, but I still found it alarming to have him on the ceiling above my bed. That ceiling (don't live there anymore) was only 6 ft 3 in at its highest point, and sloped down at a sharp angle such that at its lowest point, it would only be about 2 ft up from the floor. So if he decided to go walking down that slope, he could easily have landed on my bed, or on me. Ima, I don't consider that cheating, I do that often. It also makes it easier to get the whole bloom in focus. Trying to take a closeup often gets only some of the flowers in focus, which can be cool if you're going for that effect, but can also be annoying for photos of hoya flowers, since they are multiple flowered blooms much of the time.