Mike, they're all SO beautiful! Don't you just love Meliflua? Those Orchids and Kohleria blooms are really pretty...Wow! Thanks for sharing them! You take great pictures.

oh mike, you are a genius!!!!

congratulations for all this magnificent species!!

in italy we say " having green thumb".....

Gorgeous Mike! Very pretty macros... love them!
Cheers~
Sara

Mike, they're all SO beautiful! Don't you just love Meliflua? Those Orchids and Kohleria blooms are really pretty...Wow! Thanks for sharing them! You take great pictures.

Oops...Sorry about the double post. Computer glitch,lol...
NO idea how that happened!

That Hoya meliflua has bloomed for me three times since the summer. My plant was difficult after I first rooted it and did not take off for quite a long time. Now this is one of my most carefree Hoyas and there is never an issue with growth or insects. Thanks Pug. :)

Thanks Lalla62, we say green thumbs here in Canada to.

Sara I got a new set of macro ring lenses so I have been using the whenever possible. Thanks for the nice comments.

Mike

Mike, all of the pictures are just stunning! Hope you can find more chance to use the new lenses and share the results with us here :)

Love the pics Mike! I have been putting my orchids outside at night and cutting back on the water in hopes that they will set a spike soon! Thanks for sharing :)

Whoa, beautiful flowers and pics. Nicely done!

Mike, I agree gorgeous photos, and really love the meliflua. I finally managed to get one myself this summer, and can't wait till it blooms.

Gorgeous Bulbo too BTW.

Renee

Well Hoya pachyclada blasted it's buds again but there have been some other bloomers.

Hoya obscura had a nice big group of flowers.

Hoya heuschkeliana has been blooming in both the pink and yellow forms. They yellow variety is much more appealing in my opinion as it has larger flowers.

Hoya lobbii has bloomed for the first time. The flowers are very attractive and quite a bit larger than I expected. The scent is anything but appealing but not strong enough to smell from even a small distance.

There are still a couple more Hoyas working on buds so hopefully they make it to bloom. There have also been several more Kohleria and other Gesneriads blooming but I have not been keeping up with the camera.

I took this photo with a Cokin tobacco filter to help accentuate the fall colours. The leaves have almost all fallen leaving just the dried plant growth. There was a light dusting of snow today, the first of the year. Happy fall everyone.

Mike

Mike, to bad on the pachy buds.My imperiallis lost all of her buds today.I just can't get them to full term.I like your obscura.

Cindy

Very NICE Mike...thanks for sharing!

Cindy, I'm sorry to hear about your imperialis buds...I bet they bloom next Spring again.

Congrats, Mike! Happy Fall to you too!

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Gorgeous pics.... I used to live in London and that Fall scene sure looks familiar ! I miss the woods and country-scenery especially this time of year... sally

Thanks Pug.My plant keeps growing peduncles but just can not seem to get the flowers to not abort.I guess when I do see the flowers it will very special.

Cindy

Awesome pictures Mike, each and very one of them!!!! i particularly like those of the Kohlerias.

Thanks for sharing!!1

David

Cindy I swear I am getting used to blasted pachyclada buds so I know how you feel about your imperalis. One day we will get to see those blooms.

Saldut that is the nice thing about London, lots of natural areas right within the city. The river courses are all lined with trees and parks and there is even a bog with carnivorous plants and orchids within the city limits. Fall is a beautiful time of year and if I can't get out of the city at least I can still go to a floodplain and get a little dose of nature on the trails.

David I admit that I became a little obsessed with Kohlerias this summer and built up quite a collection. I must have about 30 different species and hybrids. I have actually started hybridizing and hopefully have some interesting new hybrids in the works. If you ever want to try Kohleria let me know and I will send you some rhizomes.

Thanks everyone for the nice comments. :)

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: Check out my Flickr photos

Mike don't let your pachy get so dry when you have buds forming.I have no problems getting this one to bloom but good god my imperalis is so madding.This time I had hope, they were so big just a couple more weeks.On day we will each get our difficult ones to flower for us.

Cindy

I'm just catching up on some older posts. I love your hoya pics. I'm waiting impatiently for peduncles on my hoya. They don't seem to want to cooerate. Also your kohleria are awesome. I have a few gessies, but no kohleria. I'll have to get me a few. LOL Too bad you are in Canada. I don't think rhizomes would make it thru the post. :(

Great photos, Mike! The Kohleria flowers remind me a lot of Sinningia. I grew Sinningia leucotricha for several years until I lost it...

Denise in Omaha

That Sinningia leucotricha is a favorite of mine also. I have had several over the years. They go mostly dormant in the winter if outside leaving nothing but a big caudex in the pot. My adult son accidently threw one away once that was on the porch thinking it was just something dead. UGH!
They have some of the most "petable leaves" of all. Soft as a baby bunny's ear. :-)

Yes Denise the Kohleria are also Gesneriads but they form scaly rhizomes as survival structures instead of the tubers that are seen in the genus Sinningia. I have not tried to grow Sinningia leucotricha but I think I might have seeds. I have raised Sinningia douglasii, sp Rio das Pedras, pusilla, eumorpha, and sp Santa Teresa.
Kohleria are not difficult to grow but for the most part they require bright light and frequent fertilizer applications. There are shade loving species but most enjoy sun, they hybrids like very bright light to sun. These are great plants for sharing as most make rhizomes that can be broken apart and shared, plants can also be started from cuttings. The Violet Barn has a nice selection of Kohleria and other Gesneriads and so does Lauray of Salsbury.

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinningia sp Santa Teresa on Gesneriads.ca

I have been trying to take more photos of single flowers and their parts lately. I took a few of Hoya lobbii tonight and some of them are in my Flickr Hoyas set.

Mike

Hoya buotii is in bloom now with a rather small group of flowers, still a few flowers is better than none at all. The scent from the flowers is not very nice, kinda sweet but the undertones are unpleasant, at least to my nose.
I hope to take some more shots of single flower/flower parts when I have time.

Mike

Thanks for sharing your photo,its so pretty.I read somewhere that the flowers smell like vanilla.
My plant grew about 6 peduncles this sept but no flowers yet and I only have three peduncles left.The other 3 dried up and fell off a few weeks ago.

Cindy

Thanks Cindy. You know my plant has made so many peduncles but this is the first one to mature and try to bloom. I attribute this blooming to RFG's recommendation to use a high Phosphorous fertilizer. The first set of buds blasted because they plant dried out but these buds followed right behind. This is definitely a Hoya that likes to stay moist and well fed, it grows like a weed once it's settled in.

Last night I noticed the scent was different as I had been smelling it during the day. At night the scent is sweet and kind of like vanilla but there was a fairly strong undertone of mothballs or something. Regardless of the questionable scent this is a great Hoya with an impressive growth rate and those large hairy flowers are impossible not to love.

Mike

/Mike.

Sorry your lasiantha has been dropping buds. I've yet to figure out what mine really wants, but it did pull off its first full blooming session after dropping its initial couple sets. Now it has another set that look like they're going to pop any day. Is this one that goes through a phase where it is constantly in bloom, like multiflora/javanica?

I love the thought of an orchid that smells like bacon in the morning. If you have one that smells like Jimmy Dean's sausage, I think I'll have finished my Christmas shopping for my sister.

That first Kohleria photo is one of the loveliest Kohleria shots I've seen in a long time. Way to go! It seems like photos never capture how seductive their leaves can be. Your lighting is just perfect for showcasing these plants.

And finally we get to see some of your macro shots! I've been dying for you to draw up the curtain on this project! Well done!! I see we're in for some wonderful treats in future. You're going to have to start framing some of your work.

/Denise.

That's a lovely picture of your Sinningia leucotricha. If you ever decide you want to try your hand at Kohleria I'll harvest some rhizomes for you. There are some varieties that grow like weeds.

GG it's great to see you back on the forum.

You know I had a near disaster with my Hoya lasiantha recently when I forgot to water it. There are some yellow leaves and I think I am going to have to take some cuttings and root them come spring. My plant is quite large so I am confident it will recover and I will probably be able to sell some cuttings as well. All of the peduncles are still hanging on but none of the buds have made it to maturity. I do find that this Hoya blooms often when it's happy but after moving my plant to another room where is has more space the buds have always failed to develop and I assume it's a temperature or humidity issue.

I have four or five more Kohlerias to photograph so I had best get busy before they start dropping flowers. I recently traded some Kohleria cuttings for a few more Sinningia species so hopefully I see some blooms from those as well. Oh and Denise I highly recommend Kohleria, great bang for your buck.

Hopefully there is a nice sunny day some time soon so that I can get back to the photography. My studio lights work very well but they just don't give enough light. I have another smaller 12"x12" light cube coming and that will help tremendously with smaller subjects.

Mike

Well there are still a few Hoyas maturing buds and yet another blasted due to insufficient moisture. I hope to have some more Hoya photos by the weekend.

In the meantime I have another orchid in bloom, others to come. This is Encyclia polybulbon, a miniature Central American and Caribbean species. The blooms smell a bit like honey. There is a penny in the last photo to show just how small this orchid is. My plant was purchased as a division last March and is blooming for the first time, it's mounted on tree fern and grown in the orchid case.

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: Encyclia polybulbon in Orchid Species Photo Encyclopdeia

Thanks, Mike!

Sorry to hear about your lasiantha. My baby plant got mad at me and dropped a couple mature leaves a while back when I was out of town and I hysterically thought it was all over for a few beats. But it immediately stopped freaking out as soon as I watered it. You'll have to let us know how hard/easy it is to root the cuttings you take in the spring. I'm guessing similar to multiflora?

I have my plant in a north facing window with very leaky gaps, here at work and when the weather changed so suddenly it was in bud so I was afraid to move it, and it's been in bud ever since. It doesn't mind the chill of the cold panes against its leaves and the drafts, apparently... That was interesting. My violets in the matching window do.

I like the Sinningias, so I'm glad you've been acquiring some more. I had forgotten all about the whole tuber thing until the one I got from you started to swell and then there was a half second where I was like: WTF IS THAT!? Then I remembered what plant I was looking at...

It's so hard to get good photography light in the winter. It seems like there is a much narrower window and it is obviously unobtainable for those of us who work, except on weekends. On the other hand, the light is nice and clean.

That Encyclia polybulbon is too adorable. I'm definitely glad you set a penny up in the photo, particularly after first presenting us with the close up. I gasped when I scrolled down. You're so dramatic. :P

I took a bunch of photos tonight but there were only a few that I was happy with. I will have to wait for a nice sunny day after all.

Another penny photo but at least this time there are Hoyas involved. A size comparison photo of Hoya lacunosa 'Ruby Sue' and Hoya nummularioides.

Mike

Oh, Mike! That picture is awesome! I love it. You are inspiring me to get off my butt and find some hours of good natural light this weekend.

I think I need to get one of those tripods that clips onto things. I never really got the point of them before, but now I see they would be perfect for taking pictures of plants blooming within our ubiquitous wire shelving units.

I have never used one of the bendable grip tripods but I really want one of the mini table top tripods for shooting macro photos. I have a full sized tripod but it's a piece of junk so I am hoping to get a studio tripod with a ball head for easy leveling and adjustments.

Mike

There should be another group of photos of some very tiny Hoya blooms coming soon. I hope to do a few more flower size comparisons as well.

I just could not resist posting this dainty and very beautiful Bulbophyllum orchid that is blooming today. This is Bulbophyllum makoyanum and if you are interested click the photo and there are a few other shots on my Flickr site.

Mike

Too cool Mike. Looks totally alien!
& btw, I'd be happy to buy a lasiantha cut from you! *wink*

Stunning as always, Mike. I agree with Laura that they look alien. Rather like spinning discs that detach at the last second and latch onto you with a eight tiny vicious mouths. Maybe I've just been watching too much horror, but it looks like they have wee rodent incisors.

After I learned that orchids can spit stuff that attaches to you, I've just never trusted them. It's all fun and games till someone is violated by a sexually predatory flower.

Thanks Laura. One whole branch of the thres on my Hoya lasiantha has yellow leaves now so if it pulls through I will have some cuttings. Lets talk in the spring amd by that I mean remind me. LOL

GG I fully admit being fascinated by the weird and do orchids ever deliver. If anyone ever thought orchids were boring they just need to explore the species orchids and not the mass produced orchids destined for grocery stores, those are the new African Violets if you ask me.
Orchids are hands down the most sexual plants I can think of, some are blatantly sexual in their appearance and enough to make you blush. Initially in Victorian England women were discourage from keeping orchids because of their sexual nature, reguardless of their sometimes over the top appearance they are seriously seductive flowers. You gotta watch out for those Catasetums though, always walk in groups and stay in well lit areas at night. LOL

Check out the video for some more alien plants.

Thanks for putting up with my non-Hoya related stuff, more Hoyas coming soon.

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: Venetian Snares cool outta this world plants.

Wow. I never knew how truly freaky orchids were.

Here's a link for Venus Fly Traps, where the author speaks of the sexual appearance of the traps.

But still not as freaky as an orchid that's a sexual predator.
Whoa.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tippity Twitchet

Laura you probably think we're nuts. LOL
I put a video of a Catasetum orchid that launches its pollen onto unsuspecting bees,either that or unsuspecting orchid growers.
Great flytrap article. I love learning little tidbits of info/history like that.

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: Catasetum projectile pollen

Wouldn't that knock a bee down? Poor fella wouldn't know what hit him. And as far as an unsuspecting orchid grower...
Why am I reminded of the scene in "Silence of the Lambs" where Clarice visits Hannibal in the facility,
and Hannibal's neighbor hits Clarice in the face with...
Well you remember.

Just re-read the flytrap article. LOL. It is fun, isn't it?

Gosh darn if letting those women folk into the sciences didn't spoil all the fun. LOL
I have a new dislike for the words Tippity Twitchet though, ewwww. LOL

The buds on my tiny mystery Hoya are ready to burst but I will be away for the next couple of days. I hope that when I return the flowers are still in good condition and I can get some photos. I think I proabably missed the nummularoidies flowers other than the size comparison photos.

Mike

Hope you don't miss your mystery buds! That would be a shame!

BTW- your humour comes thru your type quite well!
But I think the old fart w/ the 15y/o wife had all the fun. EW.
I have never been impressed with old men taking child-brides...
Bountiful, BC. Warren Jeffs. *retch*(excuse me)

I'd sooner be violated by an orchid.