I am re-posting these downsized for you, but the orientation needs to be changed in some kind of photo editing program. ^_^ I've also linked you to a little guide I did that might fill in where your impatient teenager left off. ^_~

Your plants look so lush! That last photo of the view off your deck really made me homesick. v_v Reminds me of Shoreview.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to embed photos

Thanks for the info, GG! And you're welcome to visit Minnesota any time!

Lisa

I know what the hoyas are saying. "More light eek, more plight please!"
Perhaps adding a back panel sheeting with reflective mylar will reflect the sunlight back from the rear and spread the sun light all around for even growths.
Try it, its inexpensive and works wonders.

I surely wish I had a few racks like those tho. Lovely, maybe eventually I shall have racks and many plants. :) Thank you for sharing your pictures.

~Tina

What Hoya is that with the huge leaf you are measuring in front of the TV? I want one of those. :)

Michelle

Beautiful Hoyas Lisa!! Must be great to have a hoyas named after you Australis 'lisa',lol...one of my favorite hoyas! I hope to have a hoya named 'Nancy' one day :o)

Love that view out the Hoya window!

GG, great job with the photo editing...you're a computer guru!

GG did a great job on your photos, making them smaller. Now we just need to know what they are. I love the larger leaved ones and also the leaves with the patterns. I lost all my larger leaved ones last winter, and slowly replacing them.
You have a beautiful collection and the perfect window for them.

Here are the three sideways ones, flipped by Denise, so that we can all quit turning our laptops sideways. ^_~

I find it's always a tricky compromise for those of us who grow our plants indoors, to provide for their needs and still have a house that meets our own. Although I might not be the best example, since I've turned all my windows into banks of artificially lit shelving units, there's still a limit to how far I'll go to maximize growth and blooming conditions, in the interest of keeping a tablespoon or two of homeyness.

Still, it's always great to hear advice on strategies to bump things up. I know we've discussed here before the option of putting up reflective screens and I'm glad to know it works as well as we speculated. ^_^ It might be fun to mod a decorative screen so that one side had mylar on it and the other was... less industrial. lol

I still make it out to MN pretty regularly since my sisters remain in Minneapolis, but your picture just got to me somehow. ~_~

Country road... take me home... to the plaaaaace... where I beloooooong...

need to know what the large patterned leaves in the last photo are. It's gorgeous. The others are nice, but I love the patterned leaves. Thanks to Denise for flipping them.

Thanks for the photo help, Denise!

Michelle, the hoya above the TV that has a vine directly in front of the TV is a beautiful 'Silver Splash' obovata I purchased from e-bay vendor Cowboyflowerman about a year ago. If you're looking directly to the right of the TV at the plant with the 11 inch leaf, that is vittelinoides.

Eileen/FL, I think the one you are referring to with the eight inch leaf his Joni's aff. clandestina, probably (OK for now anyway), my favorite. It is tough, beautiful, and easy, easy, easy.

Nancy, thank you for your kind words. You are an expert who grows stunning hoyas and your feedback is encouraging.

GG - thanks for your input. I just mentioned this in another post but next time you're in the Minneapolis area, you might want to check out Orchids Limited off of 494 and Fernbrook in Plymouth. He's got beautiful stuff and it is my idea of heaven when its the middle of January.

Tina - I am a scavenger by nature. The entertainment stand was free - a cast-off by an acquaintance. Three of my 'racks' are garage sale items: two wrought iron aquarium stands and a wrought iron CD stand. I try to keep my plant stands and pots the same: wood and wrought iron for the stands and clay for pots. I live in a small townhouse with limited space and if I don't try to unify the plants somehow, it starts to bother me and I feel like I need to start cleaning. Which I don't like to do.

RFG/Michael - I truly enjoy your postings that focus on the botany and horticulture of hoyas. Thank you for those posts. In terms of this post, my hoyas will have you know that they are not screaming, 'More light eek, more (p)light please' but rather cooing to me sweetly: 'Thank you for all the food, water, and love you lavish upon us in your less-than-ideal growing conditions. We know you wish to share your living space with us and don't wish to add mylar and grow lights to the living room and loft decor. While you are not meeting our needs to bloom for you, we will still throw strong and green vines to help provide for your oxygen needs and lift your spirits when the cold and ice of January feel like they will never lift and you feel like you must throw yourself from a bridge'. That is what my 'hoyas' are saying and if you listen ever-so-carefully and very intently, and with the reflection and open-mindedness of a truly thoughtful person, you might hear them say it to you as well.

Lisa

Lisa,

I just turned them. GG was kind enough to repost them. I've never been sure how to post without them being part of a photo site and I didn't want to put your photos on my photo site. I've about used up all my room...

Great plants, BTW. They look plenty happy to me, too!

Denise in Omaha

Wow! Great job, the plants look amazing! Kellie

Beautiful plants, Lisa! I love the cozyness of your little jungle. Actually I see a lot of direct SUN landing on those plants in several of the pictures, so I would think they are getting enough light in that window. They all look happy to me. I think it was late in the day in a couple of shots which maybe made it look dark on the one side. That is actually more light than some of mine get in the winter time. I have a bunch of them in a North window. They actually seem to love it there. H. memoria even bloomed in the N. window.

Nice Hoyas Lisa, and GG and Denise thanks for doing the tinkering.

Lisa I have to ask what the Hoya is in the photo above you vitellinoides? The leaf look a bit blueish green and with a network of veins covering the leaf. You are measuring the leaf in the photo as well.

I like the view from your window as well. I could imagine myself sitting the deck watching the red winged blackbirds in the cattails.

Mike

I too have loads of wood and iron in my home. So I know the look and absolutely love it. Currently am in a pickle with the need to move a *huge* white oak entertainment stand from the living room into a SE bedroom. I intend to rip off the backing and stuff it full of plants. LoL It once lived as an entertainment stand, with your average stuffs in it, but once it's in that room, it will be loaded with plants.

Hubs made the mistake of buying a big screen for the wall, with a small stand for the dvr and all that jazz. Sooo... that means my beautiful oak entertainment stand must either GO or be moved to another place for other use. And instead of being sold off, I'm going to use it! :P I might as well! It'll give me much more space for plants as it's about 8ft long and 6ft tall.

I do love the pictures genny and thanks for turning them denise, it makes it a lot easier for my brain to focus on what is in the images. LOL

~Tina

Denise and Kellie - thank you for the kind words.

Mairzy - I'm not expecting blooms but will thrilled if I get 'em!

Mike - the first leaf I measured was calycina and the color on the photo is off - too much light. The second leaf I measured was vitellinoides, and the third was aff.clandestina. Hope that ID's it for you.

I love my deck and yes, I do watch and listen to the red-winged blackbirds. There is a walking path below at the edge of the pond and its rather humorous to see the protective mamas dive at the passers-by. Lots of other wildlife as well: egrets, geese, robins, yellow finches, blue-birds, cardinals, deer, foxes, mink, turtles, snakes, rabbits, etc. Most compelling is the pair of trumpeter swans that seem to migrate through in the spring and fall. They are huge with an incredible wingspan. Their call is a bit unsettling as is the sound of their wings overhead. I have heard them late at night as I'm falling asleep and the sound of their wings along with the splash as they hit the water never fails to send a thrill down my spine and put a smile on my face. I haven't seen them for a couple of days and I think they must have known about the temps in the 30s forecast for tonight. For those further south - maybe you'll be seeing them soon!

Lisa

You know what I can't wait for? The sound of the geese overhead as they migrate. Nothing sounds more like fall than that sound.

I love trumpeter swans & the red-winged blackbirds too. And egrets!