@ Mike Thanks! I have had mealies on this elliptica, but my personal mealy magnet is kenejiana. Some Hoyas must be sweeter and more tender to the mealies, as certain neighboring plants always remain unaffected. But, I figure, I'm bound to have some plants in my collection that are yummy - at least I know where to look first. I'd need to keep a forest of rigidas and macrophyllas to really put the mealies into a sulk. ;) Re: Gift Plants What a nice bag that must have been to receive, Kami. Brad once sent me a huge diversifolia wrestled into a box, so I know how funny it is to see a monster peeking out of you from a paper receptacle. I think if a person collected plants without joining a club or forum, to become part of a community, they would be robbed of so much pleasure. There is nothing like associating a plant with someone you like. :)

Okay, I really need to stop coming to this board, it just enables me. Now I see another plant I had to put on my wishlist. I was going to order a cutting from Ted Green but Joni just sent me a notification that three plants I have on the wishlist are available. I guess I will have to wait on the elliptica. I am going to end up on an episode of hoarders except with hoyas instead of trash. I wonder if anyone has ever died from being overrun with houseplants like hoarders do with trash.

Thanks David!! I actually almost lost that Darwinii winter before last...I brought it in the house over the winter and 80% of the leaves yellowed and fell off!! andd some of the vines died :o( Took several months over last summer to bring it back from the brink of death,lol...So this summer I decided to bring it inside the house only at night when the temps dipped below 45 degrees and it did much better! I totally hear you about the rain...I've had a little over 20 inches of rain from July 1 thru July 27th...the most rain I've ever seen in less than a month since I moved to FL back in 1992! Unbelievable really!! Its finally drying out some now...hope it does the same for you soon... This post was edited by puglvr1 on Thu, Aug 1, 13 at 10:24

Thanks so much you guys! Pirate Girl, I don't think its just you...I've come across some really pretty buds also, much prettier to me that the actual open blooms. But this one is really pretty both in bud stage and fully open. One of the prettiest I own. Quinn, not sure what clone this is. I have a couple of different types of leaves in the same plant. I got mine from Ebay(Gardino's auction) and a cutting from a friend and potted them together. BTW, I smelled it last night...very pleasant, reminds me of the yeast in freshly baked breads? Hard to describe, but it has a little sweet scent...I like it. Cindy, I think its different from yours too...close but not the same. Yours is SO pretty too! Thanks again to all my hoya friends!! Here's another picture. Nancy