Congrats Tropic!! I'm still waiting for mine to develop a peduncle...but my Archboldiana is blooming as I type. Its a pretty large set of buds and very pretty! Its the very first time this Hoya has bloomed for me...I'm very excited!

Good luck with your Macgillivrayi!! Keep us posted...

Congrats, TB! I've been growing macgillivrayii for 8 years and one year, it did develop peduncles, but none of them budded up. I have several of them (it's one of my favorites for the leaves) and they're all growing like mad. Maybe this will be the year for me, too!

Pug, you're going to love archie's blooms. Mine bloomed once and it was very cool and huge! I'm pretty sure I still have a piece of it here somewhere, but it's lost it's label and it looks so much like macG that I won't know for sure until it blooms again. I wish someone would show archie, macG and onychoides leaves side-by-side with an explanation of the difference because I really can't tell them apart!

Denise in Omaha

Hi Denise, I couldn't agree with you more about the leaves of those 3 hoyas being SO similar. As a matter of fact for several weeks I wasn't sure it was Arch. that was blooming since even the buds look similar to my onychoides in the beginning...it wasn't until the buds were slightly larger was I able to tell it wasn't onychoides because they were greenish instead of pinkish for (onychoides).

Here's a picture of Arch. buds...

Here's another picture...They are pretty large

Last one...

Wow, really cool blooms, Pug. You don't need a macro lens for that!

I wish you luck with your buds (and your older peduncle), Tropicbreeze. :) :)

The leaves are similar, but they're beautiful, so there's no harm in that. It sure is frustrating, though, when you have a piece of plant that you know from your history is either A or B, but you have to wait⦠I have one of those, too.

Really beautiful Archie Pug; the flowers are gorgeous!

It is a funny thing about H. macgillivrayi; some of them seem to get really large leaves and some have small leaves. I have one I got from Carol a few years ago that never gets a leaf bigger than 4 inches including the stem, but I have another that rarely has a leaf under six inches. They must be different clones. My large leafed one came from an Oklahoma woman a number of years ago who sold the plant on Ebay. I always wished I could have thanked her, because it was one of the most rewarding plants that I have ever owned.

Another thing about Macs, they unfortunately fall into the catagory of Hoyas whose formation of peduncles might mean very little as far as being close to blooming. They actually may never bloom on that peduncle. You can only be certain they are going to bloom when they start forming buds like those seen in Tropics photo. The good news is they are closer to blooming with a peduncle than without one!

Doug

Thanks GG and Doug!!

Very interesting about the different size leaves on your MacG. Doug...you're probably right about it being different clones :o)...the leaves on those 3 hoyas really look very similar to me.

On a similar note, I have a Villosa that is loaded with peduncles but has never had a single bud form on any of them...Very frustrating!! I received it as an un-rooted 2 leaf cutting and after about a year and a half started forming peduncles all over and hasn't stopped...yet not a single bloom on any of them to date!! Arghhh!!! I have NO clue as to why!?!?

Gorgeous pictures y'all.

I've never tried any of these. I will have to one day.

Renee

Tropic,

Please keep us posted when your blooms open! I don't get to see macgillivrayi often. I know you must be tickled for it to bloom!!

Nancy, I am happy it has finally bloomed for you! It is a beauty too!! That is my favorite color. I used a pinky-mauve in my wedding!

I was worried when I learned yours had never bloomed. So Im glad it finally did! It was well worth the wait.

Teisa

This post was edited by teisa on Sat, Jul 12, 14 at 0:23

> My large leafed one came from an Oklahoma woman a number of years ago who sold the plant on Ebay. I always wished I could have thanked her, because it was one of the most rewarding plants that I have ever owned.

I am assuming there's no accession number on that macgillivrayi, right, Doug? I got a no-number macgillivrayi about a month ago, too, so there's no way to know if it's a hit or a miss on the bloom-happy clone.

> On a similar note, I have a Villosa that is loaded with peduncles but has never had a single bud form on any of them...Very frustrating!!

Puglvr, there was a conversation about villosa/globulosa on facebook recently (https://www.facebook.com/groups/479346905531672/permalink/486064331526596/). Need to have a facebook account and be a member of "Hoya Identification" group in order to see it, but the scoop is Dorothy Green also said their villosa never bloomed, and Carol suggested it probably likes more northern climates with their different day length and less humidity. Somebody in Manilla has never seen flowers either - so your zone 9 fits into this narrative, unfortunately.

Those leaves though!

My gosh Pug, those are just amazing!!!

Can we all come live in FLA w/ you? ;>)

Congratulations!

Greentoe, you are correct that there was no accession number on the Oklahoman macgillivrayi. It was relatively small and completely wound around and through a heart-shaped trellis, which I needed to cut free. I re-potted, and it bloomed that year and many years there after.

I feel strongly that the reason most people have trouble blooming macgillivrayi is because of day length. As soon as those days start becoming shorter than 12 hours, lights need to be brought in. I've been successful in blooming three different clones using this strategy.

Doug

Thanks Renee, Teisa, Greentoe and PG!!

Teisa, it was a long time coming...but I'm glad it finally bloomed, worth the wait :o)

GT, thanks for the link to Facebook...I'm not a member but its nice to know its not something I'm doing or not doing to cause "not" to bloom...its frustrating needless to say :o(...guess we can't get all our hoyas to bloom no matter how much we want them to!

PG, you most certainly can come on down to FL...the more the merrier...Just be ready for extreme summers,lol...Very high humidity and hot!! But most of my Hoyas seem to love it!

Thanks for all the comments. I managed to get home today and took a quick look. (Normally not there til the weekend.) The buds are getting a bit larger.

Tropic, It is so much fun seeing this plant growing in its natural environment. Love the photo!

Doug

I agree it's always cool to see tropicbreeze's in-the-tree photos. That's why, in my future dream-house, I'm going to hang big branches from all the ceilings, and just let the Hoyas grow into them. And put in a fog machine like at the Rainforest Cafe.

;)

Those swollen buds look just like some kind of expensive European candy. Marzipan, maybe...

Thanks Vermonthoyas and GG. There is a down side to having them up in trees. The lower branch the pots are hanging off (and the sprinkler system is fixed to) has died. It won't be long before it starts to break up. I have to slide a steel pipe through there and support it on a steel frame. Then I can tie off the pots and the sprinkler system to the steel pipe. I'll also have to tie the dead branch because Hoya roots are right through and around it. At least as it decays the Hoyas should feel at home.

The latest photo, the colour is starting to come through now. Won't be long before they're fully open. They seem to be moving quite fast.

Wow, those buds are just amazing! I love, love, love the new growth on macG, but it would be oh-so-sweet to get some flowers!

Denise in Omaha

Denise, the colour in the new leaves does look good. But keep trying. Healthy new leaves must mean flowers are on their way eventually.

My flower buds keep getting larger. Every time I go to check expecting them to be open, they're just bigger. But what I only noticed this morning was the old peduncle has 2 buds developing. And then saw there's a new peduncle coming on as well.

So that'll be flowering spread over a longer period of time if they all make it. Even so, that's still not a lot of flowers, but it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Old peduncle.

New peduncle

I love to watch the buds growing on those big flowering species. I've only gotten the pleasure of seeing it in person twice - once with archboldiana...

...and once with megalaster...

I'd love to see one like lauterbachii in person, but I've read it's hard to grow in the north, which probably means harder to bloom...

Denise in Omaha

I had an archboldiana but lost it. Think it was from too much sun and drying out. My lauterbachii is still only small but in a better protected position. Keep thinking it might want more sun, but then worried the results might be the same as for the archboldiana.

Well, the day finally arrived, the mac flowers started opening. Took this photo this afternoon, but in the evening they had all opened. Will get better pics in the morning.

Tropic,

That is Gorgeous!!! That bloom is just breathtaking. I would for sure be getting plenty of photos!! Congratulations!

Thanks Teisa, each year they flower, and each year I'm still amazed by the size of the flowers (probably from seeing H. lacunosa most of the year). This is them all opened out. Looking around the vines I'm seeing a lot more peduncles, both old and new. Hopefully they'll keep the vine in flowers a lot longer yet.

Exceptional photo Tropic. It is just beautiful seeing those blooms against the background of the trees - truly wonderful.

Doug

You nailed it, Doug. What makes that photograph so spellbinding is the way the canopy of branches and leaves echoes the radiating macgillivrayii blossoms.

I really love the big silky bud pictures too. How large are megalaster flowers in comparison to blooms like mac, arch, ony?

Also, I used to always wonder, when I first started collecting Hoyas, which color of these big flower plants I should buy.

Macgillivrayii pink or red?
Archboldiana pink or white?
Onychoides red or 'splash?

I mean⦠in reality what happened is I just ended up with whatever versions I got my hands on first b/c I was in a noobie panic and figured these plants were somehow not going to be around next year if I didn't get them ASAP. But did anyone actually calculate all this out and get the perfect triumvirate of colors?

I think if mine ever bloomed I would have a red ony, pink arch, mottled pink arch, and an ectoplasm-green mac, b/c mac died on me.

Thanks for all the comments. The 2 tiny pinhead buds on the old peduncle are now large green pea sized. Another old peduncle has a few half-pinhead growths on it. The new peduncle doesn't seen to have done anything. And the original blooms are still in their full glory.

My archboldiana and megalaster both died on me without getting to flowering. I do have a lauterbachii though, but it's still small. I'm hoping it's going to make it all the way.

One of my australis has produced a lot of peduncles along one vine. I got it as a cutting from a wild plant, so going by geography (plant distribution) I think it's H a tenuipes.

Megalaster is one of those hot & humid Hoyas and has pretty big leaves, so I always avoided it. But I was feeling irresponsible this year, so now I own it (like an idiot.)

That's neat your tenuipes is preparing such a big show. I can't ever remember whether this is the australis that has a bad reputation for blooming or a good reputation for blooming, but mine sure hasn't shown any signs of cooperation, other than outgrowing the others.

I have a cousin (once removed) living in outback farm territory in WA and after chewing her ear off about Hoyas native to Australia on her last visit, I guess she's finally discovered she was growing a Hoya all along. But I think it's a carnosa b/c she says the flowers are "kinda pink." Which she gets no credit for at all (!!), because as far as I'm concerned, all Australians should grow rupicola, my favorite australis!! And pick it by hand in the wild. Is that too much to ask, Australians? I, in turn, promise to go find and grow a⦠um⦠Swamp Milkweed.

Same cousin has decided she's going to visit Dec-Feb this year b/c she wants to see snow. I'm not trying to start a my-winter-is-harder-than-your-winter competition b/c I live in Omaha which has super easy winters. But I have to say that the geographical location in Iowa where my parents, in their infinite wisdom, decided to establish their farm, has got to be the least fun winter spot in the U.S. It's not the shimmery sunny ice castle ice-fishing snow-shoeing winter wonderland Minnesota becomes. It's like that scene in Little House in the Prairie where they tied a rope between the house and the barn to be able to find their cow and not die lost in a field. You literally spend the whole winter trying to get out of one snow pile, only to become stuck in a different snowpile down the road. So, that's a round-about way of saying she'll be stuck listening to my rupicola sales pitch with no means of escape.

GG my megalaster wasn't a "laster", but I think it was drying out that finished it. I got advice from David Liddle on which Hoyas were best for my climate a few years ago. He also steered me in the right direction for being successful with H a rupicola, basically ignore it and don't pamper it like a garden plant.

Although your cousin is in WA, she might still be a long way from where H. a rupicola grows which is in a small area in the far north of the state. The state of WA is about one third the land area of the total mainland US. Where rupicola grows is sparsely populated, and most people living in the area wouldn't even know what it was, let alone recognise it. H. a australis grows in the more densely populated areas. Possibly why it is more commonly grown in homes. Although the most common would be carnosa, it's been around for such a long time.

You can tell your cousin if she wants to see snow, in an extra cold winter it can snow on the Stirling Range near Albany in the south. But it doesn't happen every year.

Absolutely gorgeous blooms Tropic!! Thanks for posting!!

Haha. I was just being facetious about all Australians having to hand-harvest a wild rupicola. ;) Even if a particular plant is growing within a few miles of you, it's easier said than done to go out and find it.

It is interesting to know where exactly they grow in Australia, though! I'm aware it's a huge and varied continent and always wondered what areas (and how big) provided the right conditions for Hoyas.

Yeah, after posting that remark, I actually Googled "snow + Western Australia" b/c I was curious whether she just didn't get much and wanted to see the proverbial "feet of snow" or whether she had actually never laid eyes on it. I guess I can understand her wishes more after looking at the historical weather reports. Obviously it's inconvenient being out in the middle of nowhere, America, in the middle of winter. But outside of the mountains, it's the best place to see towers of snow bigger than buildings, since the snowfall is heavy and is never hauled away, just piled higher and higher until it actually does look like you're driving through a narrow mountain corridor.

I should probably move my rupicola and sanae out from the rest of my australises, none of which are nearly as succulent, so I can give them a different type of care (aka neglect).

Thanks Puglvr1.

GG, there's snow in the south east of the country, and ski resorts. But even there some winters they have to get in snow making machines. Powder snow never happens, it always wet snow. Near Cooktown (in north Queensland) I found what I thought was H a sanae. About 50 metres back in the rainforest there was a lot of H. pottsii growing really well under the canopy. But on the edge of the rainforest, in scrub growing on a lot of exposed rock was a whole lot of H. australis which I think should be sanae. It was being baked in the sun but still flowering well. I've got a piece of that at home as well.

This is rupicola distribution in WA. It's also in a larger area in the adjoining parts of the Northern Territory where I live.

Oh wow a map! That's so neat! Who is collecting this data?

I really liked your description of where you found the probable sanae. It goes to show that even when two species are collected in the same area, it doesn't mean that they want similar conditions.

I think sanae is a magnificent australis - I never figured out why it wasn't talked about more. Maybe australis is like pottsii⦠most people acquire one and then they're done. But there's so much interesting diversity you could fill a whole collection with it.

G, I'll see if I can dig out the photos of the H. a sanae and H. pottsii. But I'll put them on a separate thread.

Well, the time has finally come and the macs have reached their "Use by date". The old peduncle with the 2 buds is still going but probably a number of days yet before the opening. One of the other old peduncles has some pinhead buds, so I'm hopeful there. And the new peduncle still hasn't done anything. Makes me think it's waiting for the next season.

"Use by date" expired.

Old peduncle with 2 buds.

Old peduncle with pinhead buds.

The old buds look pretty cool - even more like paper lanterns than they did when they were just opening.