It's beautiful--congratulations! Thank you for posting an update for us. This is one where the mature growth habit is hard for me to imagine w/out seeing a picture of as much of the plant as possible, and yours shows a lot. In fact, I can't find a single pic of an entire mature plant anywhere or much detailed info of any sort!

So do you just grow yours as a sprawly, free-standing shrub? How would you describe the scent? Is it very strong? My little 8-incher opened one puny flower right before we left for vacation last summer, but it just wasn't enough to go on. Sorry to bomard you but really appreciate the info! 'Mare

Nice looking plant you got there. I've heard that the Hoya odorata is not really odorata, but supposed to be called Hoya cembra - anyone know if this is true?

I have this hoya and mine is also going to bloom soon, for the first time too!

Detrick , I do not have odorata , so this is nice to see. I am fascinated at how it is growing in the desert environment. We moved from southern Arizona , 3 years ago...rural Sahuarita , to be exact. I have not forgotten the very low humidity and drying winds !!
Thanks for posting,

Florajilly

mare2 - i'm growing mine as a "sprawly, free-standing shrub". here's a description of the fragrance that i posted 1/3/04. "it has the sweetest honeydew fragrance! actually, the fragrance reminds me more of the smell that comes from a jar after you've caught honey bees in it. must be the hormone that they give off when upset." i've tasted the drops of nectar that drip from the flowers. very sweet! i'll post a pic of the whole plant in several days.

florajilly - sahuarita! i've traveled that road many times when commuting to kitt peak. i was surprised to see that odorata handled the heat well. i did have to water more often! it definitely responds to warm temps. i had it outside and the nights were getting chilly. it had several long bare branches that weren't doing much. i cut them off. then i decided to move it in the house in october. in less than one week, 4 peduncles started sending out buds. i had only noticed one before bringing the plant inside. too bad i cut those branches off. they might have been putting out leaves by now. oh well...

detrick

Detrick,

I am impressed with you being able to grow your Hoya outside. What is the coldest normal temperature you have in the winter months? Do you have other Hoya plants outside? Have you seen any insects at the flowers? Maybe you will be rewarded with a seed pod.

I have been experiencing with one Hoya outside, which was in a very shaded area with only early morning sun for the summer and it did pretty good. I had to put it in a mini greenhouse a couple of weeks ago as we were getting temperatures under 50. Monday had to bring the mini greenhouse inside as it reached 29 degrees.

Good luck with your success!

Deb

deb - 29 degrees! mine (only two) have been down to 35. they have probably been lower since the 35 i saw was several days after we went down to 19. however, that's not normal for tucson. we've been the 20s for the past three mornings. i don't even think that is normal. mostly we are in the high 30s to low 40s. for the most part, they were in the 40s and 50s last winter in the greenhouse. then i warmed the greenhouse into the 60s. no greenhouse this year. they are in the house around 70 degrees.

no insects probably because it's cold. i would like to grow odorata from seed!

detrick

Oh thank you thank you!! That's really beautiful as are all your plants! Very helpful to me. Now all I have to do is catch some bees and make them upset for smelling purposes. When my family gives me That Look again, I'll tell them to blame Detrick. ;)

Detrick - what's the potting medium it's planted in? It looks like course yellow sand....?

Julia

mare2 - that's too funny! they already think we're crezy with all these plants.

julia - i use smart soil from lowes. i started using it for my plumeria straight out of the bag. it worked so well that i put my two hoyas in it. i put the sand on top to keep away the gnats. happy to report no gnats.

so what other sweet smelling hoyas can i add to my collection?

sand keeps gnats away? no kidding! i'll have to pick some up...i've had a mini-plague since winter set in.

as far as sweet-smelling hoyas, i love my h. obscura, it's growing like wildfire and putting out more peduncles/ buds at the moment.

julia

What's the deal with the gnats ? What do they want with the plants. We have sand flies here in Florida . People call them no-see-ums , and they're tiny , but they don't bother plants , their purpose is to make humans itchy and miserable.
I think I will put odorata on my wish list for next year .

Detrick , Isn't Kitt Peak amazing. You can never tire of the view. Now I live at 24 feet above sea level !!
Ha !! :)

Florajilly

Detrick,that's a beautiful plant. How long you had the plant before it started blooming. I bought one from logeess last year. It is in 4inch pot and is 20inch tall. I was hoping to see some blooms on my h.odorato too, worth waiting.