I got a notice in the mail that they are closing for good and everything must go. you'd think that if they were going out of business that they would have dropped some prices by now. There's a few things that I want to get as well but if they're closing i'm not going to pay full price for them.

They had a great selection, but at their prices I've never purchased from them. $26 for a plant in a 2.5" pot? Umm...no thanks.

That is a good point. Their prices are still pretty high. I've generally looked elsewhere. There are just one or two things I want from there though. I'm trying to decide if it's worth it. It's not like other places where it's easy and fun to add a couple things to the order just for the heck of it. Maybe their prices will go down closer to the end date. Who knows.

I've never ordered from them either because of the prices. They're probably going out of business because they won't compete with the other nurseries (and eBay) where you can get a much better deal.

Denise in Omaha

I've never ordered from them either because of the prices. They're about 3 to 4 hours from me tho, has anyone ever gone there? Some places do have a better selection/prices in person than through mail but at the prices I'm seeing I'm not sure if it's worth the trip.

Howdy All. Asiatica's prices are way too high..especially since their plants are in 2.5" pots. They have great selections, and some rarities that can't be found in other nurseries, but rare or not, their prices are higher than any other nursery I've seen or shopped.
To top that off, they had a plant for 16.00 I was interested in. After searching for estimated shipping cost, which took a good amount of time, 'I personally think they make it hard to find,' I finally found it..can't recall the exact amount, but considering the plant was in a 2.5" pot, S&H was outrageous. I passed it up.
I too believe they're going out of business because their plants are overpriced..if only they'd lower prices, their busiiness would be boomiing.
I've heard the owner can be difficult. He gets upset when a plant needs returning. Two reason Asiatica is going out of business.
Even if they cut prices in half, most would still be overpriced..Toni

I'm not seeing the hoyas, at least, listed in 2.5 inch pots for the most part. Most of them are in 3.5 inch pots. And a lot of the prices listed are comparable to prices I have paid for hoyas before. It's just that some of them are really really expensive. Such as: $60 for a 3.5 inch pot of a different type of variegated macrophylla. Pretty, but no thanks.

Though, perhaps the prices don't seem so high to me because they actually have reduced them? I'm not the one to ask, I almost never check them out and can't remember what google search brought me there this time.

I didn't find the shipping cost to be hard to find. I do find it quite high though, especially considering it is only about a 5 hr drive away from me (I think) but it will definitely cost me more than $17 to get out there. I don't know. It would never have been my go-to place for getting hoyas, but I think I can feel ok grabbing a couple things from them before they vanish into the ether.

I am fascinated by the sp. 22 Khao Yai they have listed, but am not planning on getting that so far. Does anyone happen to have this? Can you tell me something about it if so?

Hi Quinnfyre. Actually, you're right, most plants are in 3.5" pots. I mentioned 2.5 because when looking for specific plants in the past, they were in 2.5". For instance, Syngonium wendlandii is in a 2.5". There were others, too,

As for price..Asiatica has an Aglaonema 'Valentine.' I was searching for one a while back. Found it on Asiatica for 65.00..'3.5" pot.' I decided to wait..Went to Ebay, and found this Aglao from a seller I frequently buy from..think it was 4.99 in a 4" pot..

When I was looking for H. Caudata, found it too on Asiatica..it was and still in a 2.5" pot for 22.00.
They have one Hoya, H. macrophylla, 'Pot of Gold.'
I'd love to get my hands on that beauty, but 60.00!!! Can't swing it. lol.

5 hour drive? Why not make a day of it..Spend the night. Take your s/o, friend, relative..Wonder how big their green houses are?? Call it vacation. :)

I've discovered Codes and Coupons for various stores. Google the name of the store, comma, then codes and coupons. Ex. Asiatica, codes and coupons. A list will pop up containing codes for online use, or coupons, that need printing. I haven't tried Asiatica, but you never know.

No car : ) Kind of makes it hard to take a 5 hr drive.

Public Transportation?

Quinn,
I am growing the Hoya sp. 22 Khao Yai...seems to be a good grower and the leaves are pretty...have yet to bloom since I think I got it last fall sometime.

Joni

OOOO, Joni! I wanna see pics of the plant! Leaves are my fave part of the plants, anyway!!!

:)

Carolyn

I called them several weeks ago to check on a plant to see what the total price would be...My biggest complaint about them is the shipping charges. They wanted to charge me $23 to ship one 3.5". By the time all is said and done this little plant would have cost me close to $60! They told me two plants can ship for that price...then I would be spending $90 for two small plants. I said NO thanks...USPS charges $5.50 for 2-3 day delivery. I don't wish any vendors or business to close down or go out of business(very sad) especially one that sells a lot of hoyas, but most of us can't afford it or are not willing to pay $23 shipping for such a small plant and I'm one of them.

Yeah. If the shipping cost to me, in the same state and not all that far away from them, is $17, I can only imagine what it would be out of state. And guess what? They charge me sales tax too. Oh well. Usually when I pay that much in shipping, it has been more like overnight. Actually, I paid $16.50 in shipping to get a few plants 2nd day air... from Hawaii. And from FedEx too, which is what I think Asiatica uses. Well, we'll see how it goes. Maybe prices will go down as it gets closer to the end?

I agree with everything said about Asiatica, but knowing they're shutting down for good, I couldn't resist ordering once I received the postcard from them. I ordered H. dasyantha, H. (white-blooming) patella, H. mitrata, H. sp 22 Khao Yai, and H. ssp 24 Nakorn Sri Thumarat....the last 2 are discoveries from their friend in Asia...just hope they're not duplicates...but, their leaves look fabulous! I thought of waiting, but knew that the best would be gone...so, I took the plunge and ordered. I know of nowhere else to get a white-flowered H. patella. Shipping was $30, not extremely bad for 5 plants. I believe they're shutting down due to their ages...and I'm saddened by the loss of ANY hoya source. Barry said they'd ship Monday or Tuesday. Fondly, Patrick

I've ordered a couple times through the years from Asiatica. The way to get around the shipping cost is to go together and order with a friend(s). That way the shipping cost is divided. Yes someone has shipping cost on to their home but still it's a way to order prior to them closing. Kind of like when a group does the Liddle order.
The plants I received were healthy and a reasonable size. Bigger than what I expected for a 2.5 inch pot.,,,,Debbie

Patrick congrats..how exciting! I can see where it makes sense to pay $30 shipping for 5 plants, cuts the shipping per plant and makes it worth your while. It sounds like you got some really nice hoyas and some that are rare or hard to find...makes it worth the prices. Me, I'm just too cheap I guess,lol...Enjoy them!

I grow both the Khao Yai and the Nokorn Sri Thumarat. side by side you almost cant tell them apart. Both have bloomed for me and as far as I can tell they appear to be just another clone of hoya rigida. Both are very fast growers. Somewhere on one of these online forums I have pics posted of one of them in bloom,i'll see if I can find it and let you all know.

Confession: I decided to order a couple things from them after all. The whole last chance thing got me. But I didn't order the Khao Yai, and if it's a rigida clone after all, then I'm glad I didn't. Rigida is lovely, but huuuuge leaves, and I already have too many large leafed types on my wish list to add any that are too similar to ones I have. Patrick, I too ordered now just in case they would run out of the ones I decided I wanted.

Debbie, I wish I had some local hoya friends. Actually, I wish I had some local houseplant/gardening friends. My neighbor and friend was my gardening buddy, but she up and moved to Tulsa years ago. Everyone else kind of looks at me like I'm a different species. They appreciate it, but can't relate at all.

Quinnfyre,
I'll be your local hoya friend. I'm about 4 hours from Asiatica but with my luck it's probably 4 hours in the opposite direction of your 5!
Cass

Cass, that would be perfect for BOTH of you!!!!

:)

Cass, I live in Philly. I'm not entirely certain I am 5 hrs away from Asiatica, but that's my rough estimate. It's located near Harrisburg, right? Where do you live, approximately? You can answer me off forum, if you want. Though most people here seem pretty nice, and I'm not sharing addresses or anything : )

Well, what do you know! I am in Philly as well, northwest. You? Now I guess we have to be hoya friends!

South and east. Very close to Ikea, actually, ha. Luckily, one usually needs a car to go shopping there, so I keep the Ikea trips to a minimum.

Well after days of calling and not getting an answer from Asiatica,this morning I called again and Barry answered the phone. I have been calling to see if they plan on discounting the plants and to also check availability of a few that i'm interested in. He told me that any plant on the site that the price is green instead of the usual red,it has already been discounted. As for the hoyas he says they are selling so fast he has no intention on discounting them.

Hi everyone....I just received my order from Asiatic AND, all I can say is "WOW"...this is the 4th order from them, and by far the very best....the hoyas are 2-3 times larger than ones I received in my previous 3 orders. H. patella is the smallest of the lot, but has 5 vines and is very decent in size. H. dasyantha is almost huge, and the other 3 are superb in size. I just revisited their website...I just might HAVE to order more!! LOL Quinnfyre (Jane), I hope you're as pleased with your order as I am with mine! BTW, which ones did you buy? As David mentioned, they are selling out quickly. If only their shipping rates ($30) were more reasonable!! I'll mull over another order for about 10 minutes, as I saw at least 5 I'd like to have! Fondly, Patrick

How long did it take for your order to ship once you placed it? Mine is still listed as not shipped yet. I hope I get what I ordered. I got parviflora and a pink flowered version of finlaysonii. Parviflora is still listed in their selection, but that particular finlaysonii is gone. I hope it is gone because someone pulled it for my order, and not because it ran out before I could get to it. I'm not getting my hopes up until I am told that it has shipped. I hope mine look as great as yours do! I do think the list of what's available is shrinking steadily. I'm not planning on ordering anything else at the moment, but we'll see.

Quinn....it took several days before I heard from Jane regarding the order...and they shipped 6 days after I made the order...and I received the package 2 days after the ship date. Kind of slow, but well worth the wait! Best wishes, Patrick

I too ordered a few plants and received them...healthy as before but full of aphids. I sprayed them with a Spray Oil from Bonine and quarantined the 5 plants...they should be fine. I know it happens...just an FYI for those of you that received their plants recently.

Joni

Eeek! Got my order today, and they are both huge! Finlaysonii in partcular. In one fell swoop, it is, I believe, the largest hoya I now own. Exciting! It sorely needs a cleaning, and I believe I will carefully move the rootball and medium into an orchid pot rather than a net pot, just because I can't really water a net pot in my room very easily. But they look great. Parviflora looks to be a smidge dry, but in this weather, and looking to be a thin leaved guy, this is understandable.

Also, for a nursery that is closing, they sure added a bunch of new hoyas this week. I will have to decide if I have any spare money to pick up a few more before they disappear.

Pics to come, once I get them cleaned up a bit.

I too succumbed to the farewell Asiatica party. Timeline was:

July 1: Placed Order
July 6: Order Shipped
July 8 10:30AM: Order Arrived

Never having ordered from them before, I didn't know what to expect. These are, however, quite among the largest I've received in the mail. Well, one of my cuttings from Ted Green was actually about this large. (lol!) Oh, and Joni sent me plants at least this big. Maybe I've just had a good summer.

Here they are:
Hoya onychoides

Hoya finlaysonii 'Red Halo'

Hoya erythrostemma 'Cotton Candy'

Hoya sp. 22 Khao Yai

There is a new leaf on the Khao Yai, on which I found 4 merry aphids. (Thanks for the warning!) I didn't find any more, but I sprayed all the plants down with water and gave them a nice dose of neem & they're in isolation here, overlooking M's Pub, which should put them in a good mood.

Congrats greedyghost...those are some good looking hoyas you got there. Nice size plants, glad Joni's warning paid off for you!

Always a good idea to quarantine new plants...you never know what's going to be hitch hiking,lol...Unfortunately, plants and bugs seems to go hand in hand.

Thanks for posting! Enjoy.

soooooooooooo tempting!!!!! I want (at least) one, now!!!!

Carolyn

Tell me about it - although, compared to the nearly inevitable snail infestation (no matter what preventative tactics I employed) in my freshwater planted aquariums, aphids are almost welcome. ^_~

lol Carolyn. I know what you mean - when Quinn posted about them putting more plants up on their site, I almost knocked my head against the wall. Plus, I put in another order with TG today. heeheehee Soon I'm going to be living on the street w/ a grocery cart full of hoyas.

Ok, here are a few pics for now. My computer is getting too warm in this weather, and I believe it has a faulty fan, so when it kicks into a higher speed to try and cool itself off, it makes an absolutely horrible sound. So, I have to limit my Photoshop time. I suppose there are sites that do an autoresizing when you upload, but I guess I prefer to do it myself.

Hoya finlaysonii, pink flowered version:

Hoya parviflora:

Yes, finlaysonii is in a huge cachepot. It is too heavy to stay up otherwise. For both, all I did was move them to 3.5 inch orchid pots, and add a little more coconut bark to make up for the loss during shipping, and also because the orchid pots are a tiny bit taller.

No aphids on these guys. I wiped down each leaf with some neem oil and VF-11, so if they were there, I would've seen them. GG, your order seems to have gotten processed faster than mine. I placed my order on June 26th, but ours shipped out at the same time. Yes, the new additions to their list are a little maddening, because I was all set to go with a 2nd order if I had the spare money, and if I was happy with my 1st order. Now I gotta go back and try and decide what I both really want, and can afford.

By the way, I like your hoyas' view : )

Oh, by the way, I hear you about the snails, GG. If you happen to be talking about bush snails. I hate those things with a passion. They are almost impossible to get rid of, and when you think you're good, they appear again. My one terrarium has 'em, and now I am unable to move anything in there to anywhere else, because I fear introducing snails to my other terrariums. Aphids, by comparison, are a piece of cake. And quite frankly, much cuter. Not that I want aphids, mind you, but snails are disgusting looking.

I was surprised your order arrived yesterday, too - I knew you'd ordered well before me. Maybe it just took them that long to fit that awesome mega finlaysonii in your box ^_~

Ugh, my skin just crawls thinking about snail warfare. I was talking about pond snails, but I think from your description, we can assume bush snails are the marines to my pond snails' navy. I don't even want to think about how many of those horrid things I've hand-crushed with the blunt end of a chopstick. And you're exactly right! Your aquarium can look "clear" for a month and then ... one morning... you see... a snail... slithering up the glass. Makes my blood run cold. It's kind of like the end of a horror movie, after all the characters think they made it out alive.

And like Asiatica... airing a new list of offerings... after we think we've safely made our decisions and placed our orders.

Quinn, Very nice hoyas!! The finlaysonii is absolutely HUGE! The parvifolia is a very good size as well. Looks like these hoyas are much bigger/larger than some of the older posts I've seen posted here from previous years. I guess they are selling out all of their stock. Great for all you guys that are buying them. Enjoy!

GREAT plants!

I wish I read this thread before going to PA. I was minutes away from the Nursery. I was Hoya hunting the whole time in PA as well. At the smaller specialty nurseries I found only Carnosa. Then went to a local HD up there and did manage to find Linearis and 'Marlea'. So that was a good score.

Then I went to a mall and I noticed that Hoyas are being used in the planters hanging down to the lower level. They were all pretty nice sized. I also noticed that these planters were mulched I guss to lower the amount of watering.

I took a pic so when i go back next year I can compare. Maybe Asiatica will still be open until then.

-David

Everyone's plants look amazing but it's kinda sad that Asiatica is closing.

GG look up assassin snails, not hard to find these days and they actively hunt and eat other snails. I have three assassins in my thread fin rainbow tank and they keep the pond/ram's horn snail population under control. I don't mind snails in my aquariums and have a bunch of exotic snail species like red Nerite and Sulawesi yellow rabbits but I despise them in my plant collection.

Mike

Thanks for the tip, Mike. They must not have been as common back when I was originally doing my research, because I only remember fish predator suggestions.

I can easily sympathize with exotic snails - I think they're pretty cool to watch when they aren't devouring your plants and overwhelming your ecosystem. In fact I have a picture of a nudibranch as my desktop - that counts as a gastropoda-luva, right?

My order should be shipping this week, and I'm very excited to get some quite rare plants. Asiatica closing is a true loss to the gardening world as well as the horticulture industry. I don't think most people realize the huge number of plants that Barry has brought into commerce. I hope he continues to do so in some fashion. There are a number of specialty mail order nurseries not doing well or closing, and rare plants are only going to get rarer.

I don't think you can state that prices are high for plants that aren't available anywhere else. Some prices for some plants are high, yes. If anyone knows where to buy Hamemellis japonica 'Falling Star' for less than $90 however, I'm all ears.

Also I don't find their shipping to be any higher than other specialty nurseries. Keep in mind they're a business and have to cover their costs. They don't make money on shipping, but have to pay for the costs that a normal person doesn't incur (or doesn't pay attention to anyway) when shipping an item. Not only does it cost for the shipping, but you have to pay for boxes and other shipping materials and labor of preparing the plants for shipping and packing them. As far as "...USPS charges $5.50 for 2-3 day delivery." For what? A single bare-root hosta sent priority costs me $7.50 to ship from WI to the east coast. 2 potted hostas costs me $20 sent priority. Add $5 for packing materials, and my time for preparation, packing, and driving to and from the PO (total about 1/2 hour so say another $7 to pay for someone who I assume makes $10/hr in shipping- note that $10/hr costs the business around $14/hr) and you have a pretty high cost to the nursery. Shipping plants is expensive, no matter who is doing it. If it isn't, the nursery is losing money or making it up in the retail prices listed or elsewhere.

The Plant Geek
www.confessionsofaplantgeek.blogspot.com