Beautiful blooms! Wow at that nectar- it almost looks like it's bleeding! Ack! lol I love the leaves also on the Nicholsoniae. For some reason I'm drawn to the leaves with the obvious veining on them. I think it's just so pretty :) Does the Kerrii have a fragrance? I am supposed to be getting one of those in the mail today(fingers are crossed! lol) and was wondering.

K&C - Many years ago, my husband's aunt came to our house and saw my carnosa in bloom and said, "Oh, is that a Jesus' Tears plant?" I'd never heard it called that before - wax plant, porcelain flower, but never Jesus' Tears. Anyway, fast forward to when my kerrii bloomed for the first time and I noticed it literally dripping blood-red sap. I suddenly realized that kerrii is probably the one that sparked the common name Jesus' Tears! Here's one of my blooms from last year that looked particularly drippy (and eager to rebloom)...

Congrats, Pug!

Denise in Omaha

Gosh Denise,

That is one amazing photo. I especially like the closed, inner buds right next to the open outer buds.

I'd heard Kerrii was very nectar messy. Some years back I had a Kerrii cutting boom in a cup, was very dripping w/dark amber color, like maple syrup. Nowhere near as dramatic as the red tears.

Nice work Denise, thanks for the eye candy!

Thanks K&C and Denise!

I've never heard of Kerrii being called 'Jesus Tears' before either Denise...but now that you mention it I certainly does make a lot of sense especially after seeing your picture. Your picture is a very COOL...amazing!

K&C, I notice that most(not all) of my hoyas that I grow outside has very muted scents if any at all...I just went to smell it and honestly I had to put my nose right up to it and I detected a very faint smell and not particularly pleasant,lol...so maybe its a good thing its not strong.

Hope you got your Kerrii today!

Gorgeous, gorgeous, Gorgeous!!!

LOVE that meliflua!

Congrats on the kerrii flowers Pug!!!! Now that it has bloomed for you it should bloom reliably every year now. I also like that meliflua photo.

I've also noticed some color change on some flowers from one bloom cycle to the next on the same pant. I noticed today that the flowers are almost fully open on my sp. square leaf and they are snow white but the coronas are not pink like I see in other photos. This could possibly be due to my growing it in nothing but hydroton.

Hey Denise,

The kerrii you sent me last year did bloom it's head off but I noticed this year that the peduncles are trying to dry up, anything you can think of I might be doing wrong with it.

Thanks,

Dee

Congrats on your Kerrii, Pug. It's really great because it took you 3 long years, isn't it?

Mine bloomed once last year and then does nothing ever since. I had moved it outside several months ago in hoping it would set buds.

Thanks for sharing your gorgeous blooms.

Xuan

Thanks Cena, David and Xuan!! Thanks for letting me share them with you guys!

The color variation in the Meliflua blooms is remarkable, somehow it reminds me of candy. A little like pomogranite seeds on acid, looks juicy & delicious!! Also a wonderful pic, thanks for posting it.

@David---You wrote that your square leaf is in hydroton. Do you pot all your hoya in hydroton too? I've been using a mix of potting soil, orchid bark and perlite for all my cuttings after they've rooted. I usually root cuttings in perlite with great luck. I've never tried hydroton.

Thanks Pirate Girl! Lol...that's a pretty funny way to describe the Meliflua blooms :o) quite accurate actually. I guess it does resemble Pomegranates, which I happen to like too!

Just a technical question. I noticed that pug your Kerii has clear nectar and that Denise yours has red nectar. Is that variant that is controlled for and that you can know prior to buying a Kerii or is a gamble?

Thanks,

Anne

Hi Anne, very observant of you...hadn't noticed that before. I just checked mine a little while ago and it now has more of an orangey nectar instead of clear on a few of the buds...Not red at all like Denise's. Its really not messy at all so far. Maybe that will change in time or weather? I got this one from Gardino's. Its just the Plain green Kerrii variety.

/Pug I love the way in your photo, it looks like the buds are climbing over each other, getting in each other's way. Like a bunch of fuzzy little animals trying to fit through a small door.

Congratulations on the first time blooms! I never get tired of meliflua pictures either. Lovelovelove that messy nectar!

/Denise That is a very cool shot! Very alien looking in a beautiful way.

Congratulations on the kerrii blooms! I sure hope my plant flowers for me this summer because it's grown quite a bit lately. I am not sure what I will do to prevent it from dripping nectar on my other plants but I will be putting plastic down on my light stand to help prevent some of the mess.

Mike

/Mike Be sure to inform us of your successes/failures. I've contemplated this scenario quite a bit and so far I've only gotten as far as sternly telling myself: just don't think about it!

Thanks GG,lol...that's a cute way of putting it :o)

Thanks Mike, so far the nectar hasn't been too bad on my Kerrii...the Meliflua is way worse. I'm glad they're both outside. I'm sure plastic should work out fine.

All of the flowers are just lovely, but ohhh the colors of the meliflua with the nectar is just breathtaking.

I'm just sitting here drooling lol

Renee

Pug,

I wonder if your kerrii could be one of the other clones - "hairy kerrii" or the veined clone. Can you give us a closeup of a leaf? I suppose that might make a difference in the color of the sap. I have all three, but hairy kerrii and veined kerrii haven't bloomed for me yet. I think they both will this year because they've both set peduncles. If they do, I can compare flowers...

I was whacking away at my kerrii a couple days ago - it's gotten so large and out of control, and I'm selling Hoyas this year (mostly to my cactus club...) to try to supplement our "budget deficit"... Anyway, I found one vine that had three opening peduncles on it, so left that one on for now. They're open now and no signs of any nectar at all yet. I'll have to pay attention and see how long it takes before they produce the nectar. It's not something I ever paid attention to before...

Denise in Omaha

Beautiful flowers! I also am thinking of adding the meliflua to my wish list but am a little nervous about the nectar. Does the nectar pretty much stay on the flower or does it drip?

Mel

Hi Pug,

I think you've got the veined clone there. The standard kerrii's leaves are very flat with no vein definition whatsoever.

Denise in Omaha

Thanks Mel! My Meliflua nectar drips on other leaves and on the floor unfortunately or(ground). Some flower nectar are messier than others.

Hi Denise, thanks for the ID...I didn't realize there was a veined clone,lol...appreciate it! So maybe this one won't have the "red" nectar? I'll have to watch the second peduncle if it opens in a few weeks to see what the nectar color is on that one.

I agree with Denise because I have never seen veining like that on Hoya kerrii, I like it!

Mike

I like it too! I think if I ever get a kerrii that's the one I need to have. Although I do really like Denise's red nectar... hmmhmmmmm.

So after the ID, it would seem Pug that you have the Labradoddle of the Kerrii.

Denise and Mike - is there a way to tell ahead of time which Kerrii will give you the red nectar vs. clear? Would be it's defining characteristics?

I really want one with red nectar but the other is beautiful too, Pug and I like the look of it's leaves.

Thanks for sharing your pictures. i bought my Hoya Kerrii last year and was surprised to see it blooming.

Here is the picture of it.