♫ ♪ ♭ ♩ ♬ Happy Birthday Laurie, hope you've had a wonderful day!
What a sweet hubby, to get you a big plant for your birthday present! I always tell my family they can never go wrong when they buy me a plant for a gift!
I don't see Hoyas offered at nurseries down here much anymore, a real shame! A few years ago I'd see them at Walmart, Home Depot and Lowes garden centers and even at the grocery store now I rarely see them.
Most Hoyas prefer a well draining potting soil and I guess it's just best to figure out what works for your climate and growing conditions. I use a mixture of potting soil and orchid bark mix for everything that I grow, including Hoyas. I used to have a bad habit of over-watering plants and killing them because the soil I used was very heavy and water retentive. I've been mixing lots of orchid bark into my potting soil since the late 1980's; it makes for a light, chunky, fast draining mixture. My Hoyas stay outside year round and I sometime have to water more often during drought conditions. Hoyas love humidity which we have a lot of all year round here in Florida; an airy potting mix with chunky stuff in the soil also allows for good air circulation around the roots. I don't have many Hoyas anymore ... lost some really large plants to winter freezes a few years back and gave others away when I decided to downsize.
As for Favorites ... gee, that's a tough one! I love em' all!
but I guess I'd have to say my favorites are the few that I still have, that seem the easiest for me and are quite forgiving of my lack of care.
Wax Plant (Hoya australis subsp. tenuipes) which blooms for me in winter and is extremely fragrant!
Wax Plant (Hoya pubicalyx) has pretty blooms and usually blooms in the summer but I don't detect much fragrance on that one (which may just be my sense of smell. I also like
Wax Plant (Hoya cumingiana) another fragrant one but my plant that I've had for almost ten years is just hanging on by a thread, I almost lost it when we moved because it got stuck out in the yard in full sun and no water for a month; it's recuperating but in dire need of re-potting into fresh soil.
I'm really bad about fertilizing and my plants would likely bloom more often if I'd just feed them! When I do remember to fertilize I use the bloom booster fertilizer that I use for orchids.
Can't wait to hear which Hoya you get for your birthday; don't forget to post lots of pictures! I hope others who grow Hoyas will come along and share advice and tips.
