I feel your pain!!! grrrr.

If it is going to a PO box they will be there or the storage locker???So sorry ..I hope they stay ok....

Okay here's how things have progressed since my initial posting. Instead of driving down to the PO not knowing if anyone was in the back or not, I decided to call again. I stayed on the line long enough this time to actually realize that there was an answering machine advising me to leave a message at the beep which I politely did!!! I gave all the details about what was going on as well. Then I went outside to the gh for a while. When I came back in I checked my cell for any missed calls and lo and behold I had a message from the post office. It was one of the regular clerks whom I often deal with when shipping packages. I am in so often shipping things that they all know be by first name now!!! He told me that if I could get thee before 5 o'clock he give me the box. The actual time that I came in and found the message was about 4:40 luckily for me the PO is only 3 minutes from the house. SO I now have in my possession a very nice shipment of hoyas that made it from Bangkok,Thailand to my hands in 3 days!!!!

they have been dipped in a fungicide/insecticide so I had to clean them up a bit but they look very nice and i'm on my way outside right now to take pictures which will be posted just as soon as I can get them uploaded!!!

I certainly pays to know people at the st office,even if like I said they do close too early and take too many holidays!!!

Pictures to come!!!

Okay as promised here's the picture of my Epiphytica order. This shipment of hoyas left Bangkok, Thailand on 9/1/10--it arrived at my post office today 9/4/10. Three days is not a bad turn around time on a foreign shipment!!!

This is what I got!!!!
EPC 619
EPC 620
EPC 469 ETS10
EPC 233 RB5
EPC 201 sp. UT-001
EPC 603 aff. rigida
EPC 203 RB-comp
EPC 211 aff rigida PCBR-KYnp-MST
EPC 215 aff lyii-this is not the same square leaf hoya that many of us are currently growing from Asiatica as hoya lyii. This one has leaves about the size of a U.S. penny maybe slightly larger, shaped almost like the leaves on hoya serpens and fuzzy all over

If you'd like to see individual pics of any of these you can visit their website. All of the hoyas from my order can be found on pages 5-7

Here is a link that might be useful: epiphytica

I'm BEYOND jealous!

Carolyn

NICE Score David...I've never heard of any Thailand orders arriving in the states in 3 days after shipping...that has to be a world record! Lucky you! Enjoy your very nice hoyas!

Pug I don't know what kind of plane they were on but it obviously didn't waste any time anywhere!! I've gotten a number of hoya shipments from Thailand and none have ever arrived in less than a weeks time. I had one to take close to 3 weeks to get here but all of the cuttings were still healthy and viable. As you said this has got to be a record!!! Almost makes me want to place another order!!!!

Lucky lucky you David.
I am so happy you got those babies today instead of Tuesday.

Hey David what is the one with the variegated leaf?

Nice batch, now tapping foot trying to decide if I want to place another order from thailand this year.

Dee

Nice cuttings David and unbelievably fast shipping! The various aff. rigida species are all very nice looking plants.
I was able to add Hoya sp ETS 10 to and order I just put in with Mr. Shirley, really excited about growing that one.

Mike

Dee, that's EPC 469 sp. ETS10. I have absolutely no idea what ETS10 means though!!!!
Not sure what the blooms look like either,the foliage is what attracted me to it.

Mike Epiphytica has several nice aff rigidas that i'd like to have. He also has a pink flowered one that I tried to get but it was sold out.

Jack the guy who owns the nursery has been an online friend of mine for several years now and offered me the chance last month to get mass cuttings at a reduced price to redistribute ,like a David Liddle order but i've already hosted one this year and just wasn't up to do another one right now. This might very well be something that I would take on in the sprig of 2011 though if enough people were interested. We'll just have to wait and see!!

David

I am standing in line for the spring David. I really like the "speckled" leaves. There are so many variations to the speckled look.

Dee

David, I am TOTALLY in for a spring order!

Carolyn

check out the speckled hoya lacunosa heart leaf that he has. it was sold out is the ONLY reason it didn't come in on this order!!!! It's on my wait list with them though!

"Eskimo"? Yeah, I LOVE that one!!!!

Carolyn

Put me in the line, too!

What a lovely order. I feel you on the Saturday hours front! And I am inspired by your noble and successful campaign against post office hours.

Soooo much more effective than the time I got to the post office too late Sat w/Carolyn's package and had to go to 5 different locations (including a stab at FedEx) before it was successfully posted with sommmmmeeeee deception about the contents. (Did you know that non postal employees (aka the lady at Walgreens) can't accept plants?)

That aff lyii sounds really charming and of course I love the aff rigidas... v_v

David,

Spring of 2011 already arrived for you all!!!!

I'm trying to place an order with Jack, but he does not answer me when the order is placed. I saw that you and Jack are friends, so please tell him to answer me! LOL.

I think he might be out somewhere.

hi Mitzi,

That's sort of typical for Jack!!! Usually if he doesn't respond to an email right away, in most cases it means he's out collecting hoyas!!! Anytime he's around the nursery he will normally respond within a day or two at most.

I've got a list of things I wish to order from him as well, I just haven't gotten around to sending it to him yet.

david

David,

He answered me!!! He was probably doing what you said! Collecting our beatiful hoyas.

Thank you for your answer!

He seems to be a nice person!

Mitzi,

I've only ever dealt with Jack via email and he's never been anything but friendly. Anytime he writes to me he always asks about my family and my cats,not only is he a hoya person but he likes animals as well.

I knew he'd get back to you sooner or later as he always does. He's not one to just not reply to emails. As I mentioned in the opening of this thread i've been dealing with him for several years now and have not had any issues with him ever getting back to me. Sometimes it may take a day or two sometimes a little longer but most times that just because he's in the jungle looking for our favorite plant!!!!

I'm glad to hear that he got back in touch with you,now that I know he's in I may as well go ahead and get my list in as well!!!

david

david

David,

Are you still considering doing a group order with Jack? If so, add me to the list as well! I totally drool when looking at his site....

Kelly

Kelly,
I did email Jack last night about some things i'd like to buy from him and had a response this morning. After emailing him though I thought about him asking me last year if i'd be interested in hosting a group order for his plants. Basically just like we do with Iris Marie I guess is how it would go. I'll email him again and see what he has to say about doing something like that.

I'm sure a group order to Epiphytica would spark a LOT of interest as he has some really cool hoyas. I'll talk to him and see what he says but i'm not gonna make any promises here that this will be a reality.

david

Good enough- even the consideration is appreciated!
My want list just from that site is $325...needless to say, I would not be ordering that much...

Thanks, David!
Kelly

Kelly,

WOW your wish list is very expensive!

I wish I could order as much cuts as I want but due to the problems with custom and post office the order always must be around 8 cuts, nothing more!

Also I'd love to participate with you guys but the distance does not allow me to! Very sad!

Mitzi

Kelly,

Don't feel bad. I sent my wish list in to him last night. Actually it was just a reminder for a wish list that I had sent to him last year as some of the ones I wanted last year were temporarily out of stock. Turns out they are all back in stock and my invoice was attached to the email. I'm not gonna give the exact $$$ amount but I will tell you that it was only $10.00 off from what your wish list $$$ amount is!!!!

I ordered 13 hoyas from him this time and already grow between 25-30 others that I bought in the past from him. A number of them are currently forming buds for the very first time since getting them so i'm quite anxious to see them in bloom. One thing I can say about the plants that i've gotten from Jack is that they have all arrived nice and healthy and i've always been pleased with the size of them as well. My only issue with them would be it seems that anything that I get from Thailand tends to be a bit slow getting started. Most of what I have gotten from him has arrived as rooted plants so it's not an issue with rooting them,they just seem to sulk for a while,then they suddenly get over it and start to grow!!!

You go, David! In the earlier picture of the ones you received last year what is wrapped around the bottom of them? And these are all rooted?

Kelly,

those were all in sphagnum moss with plastic wrap around it,yes they were all rooted. They all survived but one which I had a feeling was going to die to begin with (sp. ETS10) but that's on my new order so i'll have a new one soon. the really thick leaf hoya to the upper right is about to bloom and is really neat.

I have in the past gotten hoyas from Jack that came rooted in coconut husk but he hasn't sent any like that in a while. It's like small thick slabs with the cutting rooted right into it and a rubber band around the entire thing.

I did email Jack yesterday to see what he thought about a group order but haven't heard back from him yet.

David

David,

I believe the weather contributes for the delayed development of hoyas from Thailand, there is a tropical country, probably like Brazil hot and humid, and the plants should get stressed with the climate change.

My last order from Paul Shirley was a disaster, there was snowing and when they arrived here was very hot, I lost most of the cuts, the abruptly change of temperature kill all the cuts.

By the way how long does your cuts from Jack took to arrive?

Interesting he told me he is going to send all rooted plants! Really nice!

Mitzi

Mitzi,

I live just about a mile and a half from the Atlantic ocean so it get quite HOT and VERY humid here during the spring and summer months but climate change probably does have something to do with them getting a slow start.

As far as how long it takes for me to get hoyas from jack that I would guess just depends on U.S. customs. I have gotten hoyas form him in as little as a week and then again I have had it to take several weeks. In each case though the cuttings arrived safely and in great condition. Jack packs and ships them well so I usually don't worry about travel time with his plants.

I think you'll be pleased with the hoyas that you get from him. I always have been with the ones I get and he always includes a phyto with the order so there usually isn't any problem with customs.

david

David,

I thought you lived in a cool area, sorry.

I'm glad to hear that even taking long the plants arrived well, it was my major concern.

I hope the cuts I've choosen are well resistant!

Mitzi

So I emailed Jack like I promised I would in regards to what he could do for a group order to the states. I got a response from him this morning. He does not offer a discount on the hoyas but on an order of at least $400.00 the shipping and phyto costs would be free. He also included a picture of what typical cuttings would look like and i'm pretty sure they would all be rooted.

Count me in! I would think enough people would participate that reaching $400 would be easy!

Kelly

Thanks for checking this out, David. I'm interested too!

What does he have wrapped around them?

Keep us posted!
Kelly

Ohhh and I cannot participate!!!
It is very frustrating!

Mitzi

Think I have my list just about narrowed down!

David, let us know what kind of timetable we're looking at if you're willing to do it!

Thanks!
Kelly

Hey David I,m in too. Please let me know.

Friday (4/8/11) I got an email from Jack (Epiphytica) letting me know that he had shipped my hoyas that day. Monday (4/11/11) I checked the U.S.P.S. website and they had already entered customs in N.Y.-They cleared customs yesterday (4/13) and today (4/14) I picked them up at my post office.

I ordered 13 new varieties and with the exception of some yellowing leaves on 1 of them,they are all in excellent condition!!!

Here's what I got

EPC 616 aff acuta
EPC 607 cv. Viola
EPC 274 javanica "milkyway"
EPC 87 javanica
EPC 595 lacunosa "Eskimo"
EPC 527 multiflora (SV-406)
EPC 234 sp (RB6) I think this is also known as sp. VL9
EPC 392 sp. NKSTMR sp. 2
EPC 469 sp. (ETS10)
EPC 376 sp. LP4
EPC 517 sp. Cebu
EPC 605 sp. aff rigida (pink flowers)
EPC 229 sp. RCBR-SP-YKL clone A---this is the little green flowering hoya on the Epiphytica homepage.

These are not cuttings. They are all very well rooted and have been packed in sphagnum moss for shipping.

David, those hoyas look great.I am also going to be putting in a order with jack next week.I look forward to seeing my order look this good.Its nice to see such healthy plants coming out of Bangkok.

Cindy

David do you have to have an import cert. in order to bring them in ?

Cindy, have you ever ordered from Jack before??? I've always been very pleased with what I get from him as far as quality and size goes. Also if he doesn't have something that you're looking for often times he will try to track it down for you. If this is your first time with him,I think you'll be pleased with the hoyas you receive.

Sudee,it's advisable to have an import permit any time you bring plant material to the states from a foreign country or vice versa. Dealing with customs can become a VERY unpleasant experience if things aren't done THEIR way.

I do have an import permit to import/export plant material but only use it in cases where I bring in more than 13 cuttings/plants. Many people don't know this but it is legal to have up to 13 cuttings/plants imported into the U.S. without a permit. Over 13 i'd highly advise that you have a permit and a phyto if required. I'm pretty sure that in most cases a phyto is a requirement for any size order.

A few years ago I had a shipment of very healthy hoya cuttings destroyed by U.S. customs simply because the shipment was not accompanied by a phyto certificate. All I got was a piece of paper stating that they had destroyed my pest free,disease free hoyas because of a single document missing from the box.

Thank you so much David.I used to have one many years ago when I brought orchids in.

Gorgeous! Congratulations on your awesome haul! What are the IDs of (1) bottom left corner and (2) dead center with the small lanceolate leaves?

GG,

#1 in the lower left corner is EPC 374 sp. LP4 and you can find it on page 5 of the Epiphytica website hoya list. The center plant with the lanceolate leaves is EPC 229 sp.RCBR-SP-YKL clone A. If you look on the homepage you will see it in bloom. There is two shots of it one with the flowers partially open and farther down towards the bottom a shot of the blooms fully open. Both pics have EPC 229 on them so you'll know what you're seeing when you see it!!!

Nice haul, David! Thanks for identifying them - will have to look them all up this weekenda and compare them to Epiphytica wish list! Off hand I only know of two of the ones on your list!

Kelly

Thanks for the IDs, David! I have to say, I'm getting more proficient at tracking down images of these unidentified Hoyas, but EPC374 is almost trackless. Were you able to find an image before you selected it or did you take a gamble?

That EPC 229 sp.RCBR-SP-YKL clone A is making my head go all fuzzy with love. Green AND fuzzy AND small attractive leaves?! It's like someone reached down and pulled it right out of my subconscious.

Hi David,

How long hoyas did take to reach you???

Mine from Jack are already in Brazil and took only 3 days to arrive, but still at custom.

Thanks

Mitzi

David,

Sorry, I just read your post about how long it took to arrive!

GG, I don't know where or how I came up with the number EPC 374 for the hoya that you asked about. It should be EPC 376. It's the next to last hoya pictured on page 5.. There is also an EPC 374 but the one I got is 376 and I bought it based on how the foliage looked in Jack's picture.

Sorry for the mishap, I didn't mean to send you on a wild goose chase!!!!!

lol! Like a Hoya hunt ever did me any harm. I see it now. ^_^