Hoya or wax plant is a very sturdy vine commonly associated with other trees and shrubs. They are sturdy as they survive even without attention. Sixty one (61) of them are already identified and endemic to the Philippines. But many species are still in the wild unidentified. Many of them are already with foreign collectors and breeders. In the country however, they are not very familiar. Dr. Monina Siar of the University of the Philippines has been famously associated with hoyas and helping world scientists to collect, identify, propagate, and breed them. She has already identified nine of them and her name has already been sufixed to some, as in
Hoya siariae.
According to her, the top five most expensive Hoyas today are H. imperialis ($25-75), H. paziae ($15-20), H. bicolor ($12-25), H. buotii ($12-25), and H. siariae ($12-25) (source: BAR Digest 2007). All of them are native to the Philippines.
I quickly photographed some of the blooming ones from her collection at the Institute of Plant Breeding, UPLB. She even gave me one plant to take home, the
H. diversifolia, unfortunately does not have photo here.
unopened flowers
I would like to post this to
Todays Flowers
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Hi Andrea - its so good to have you back again. I missed you. I love the hoya's but I've had difficulty with them in the past especially in the winter time. Some of those flowers I've never seen before - the scent must have been incredible.
ReplyDeleteYes thats me in the photo you commented on.
we have a hoya flower before but sad to say it was eaten by snails... who among you there have such plants? can i have some? please...
Deletethese hoya in your pictures look very lovely.
ReplyDeleteI have not tried any hoya yet - they must be very demanding like the orchids?
Andrea, I second Rosie's comment. We all miss you! The hoyas you are posting today is very precious. How wonderful to get a plant from a famous person.
ReplyDeletealoha andrea,
ReplyDeletehow are you, its been a long time...i have a friend who grows many exotic hoyas here and they smell amazing in her greenhouse, she also has them growing up large trees in her jungle...very impressive.
Hello Andrea! it is good to hear from you ;-)
ReplyDeleteWhen I see a new hoya bloom that I have never seen before... I would just pause to admire its beauty (even from photos!). Their shape is no doubt almost similar but their colours are admirable.
Good luck with the hoya you received! What a privilege to have one from an expert :-D
I wish Dr Monina Siar all the best in her effort to identify hoyas. Her job is definitely an adventurous one and I hope the 'wild' does not give her much trouble.
Hello everyone, thank you very much for missing me, but i realized nobody will visit here if i did not go to theirs first, hahaha!
ReplyDeleteHi Rosie, thank you for immediately coming back to my post. Imagine our hoyas were able to reach your part of the world, they must have been shocked with the cold, so they feel tortured with your winters.
James, in my post i mentioned that they are the most undemanding plants because you can leave them unattended and will still grow, unlike the plants in your thoughts.
Autumn Belle, yes it is really a privilege to receive a lovely gift, and it is wonderful to have generous friends like Monina, who toured me in her garden even at high noon.
Noel, i wish i can see a garden as prolific as your friend's, with wonderful scents in the atmosphere.
Hi Stephanie, thanks for missing me. I am sure Monina will be very glad for your beautiful thoughts of her. I will tell her to read this blog and i am sure she will be more inspired to pursue her passion with Hoyas.
This is hte first time I saw this hoya plant and flower. The flower does look like wax especially not opened. Very very pretty, I love it. That lady did a good job to plant those, and you are lucky to receive one from her!
ReplyDeleteI had you on my sidebar blog list, noticed you just came back after three weeks! It is nice to have you back. Enjoyed this post.
Welcome back, Andrea.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing your tropical plants. Hoyas have an interesting form.
They look like little balls of beauty! I do not recall ever seeing this flower before. How interesting to the eye...
ReplyDeleteJust like a ball... fascinating.
ReplyDeleteHi Andrea - your Hoya selection is fantastic! I love those potted plants very much - they are pretty and they usually bloom during our winter.
ReplyDeleteTHese are so different and beautiful. Thanks for making us all aware of them. I wish I could see on in person, they are probably even more beautiful
ReplyDeleteHello Andrea,
ReplyDeleteThe flowers of the wax plant are very interesting, yet beautiful. Thank you for sharing them with us.
Hi Andrea, a fascinating flower and plant, and one you have just introduced me to. Your photos are lovely! Thank you so much for sharing them with Today's Flowers.
ReplyDeleteI think plant lovers are really generous people. I've been reading people here in the blogsites that they have been sending materials to bloggers in other parts of the world. One of them is Skeeter of In the Garden blog, she is sending me sees of that wonderful gourd, which she produce for the birds in the vicinity. Thank you Skeeter, my prayers for you.
ReplyDeleteHi Ami, thanks for watching up on me to surface again. I am glad to be back and be with plant bloggers again.
Kathleen, Skeeter, Bangchik - yes they look like hanging balls or sometimes inverted umbrellas, and very colorful, unusual.
Katarina - it is nice to know that our Hoyas are appreciated in your part of the world and they can already withstand winter.
Teresa, Noelle, Denise - i am happy to share our unique plants to the outside world. It is nice to be known for something beautiful and unique than the negativities in the newpapers and televisions.
My friends thank you very much to be here with me, to share with my finds!
First let me say thank-you for visiting my blog.I hope you will come back for more visits.I realize that I need to follow your blog,I enjoy all the flowers you post.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,Ruth
Andrea,
ReplyDeleteThis is of course a new plant to me. It resembles a milkweed vine to me the flowers that is. Does it milk when broken?
Good luck with your gourds, we tried them a few years ago and failed to get female flowers to set fruit. The male flowers were pretty and they bloom at night, so enjoy!
Andrea, Chatswood is most certainly a Sydney suburb. There have been some massive changes there since 1985. You'd hardly recognise it. I'll try and get up there sometime soon for some photos on my blog.
ReplyDeleteSydney - City and Suburbs
Hi Andrea, beautiful flowers! I really don't recall ever seeing these before, I love their symmetrical(sp?) shapes and colors. Glad to see that you are blogging again, I have been very lax myself at posting these last few weeks, and have not had time to check out anyone else's either. Happy Earth Day,
ReplyDeleteKathy
Hello Andrea! So good to see you and introducing us to your lovely hoya blossoms.
ReplyDeleteHi Andrea,
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to read your lovely comments from other people. They love you! Your flowers are really beautiful. I've never seen them before! I think that's one of the things so great about blogging and entering photo challenges, we all get to see flowers from all over the world! Thanks for stopping by my blog. You asked about my camera, it's the Canon 50D. I put a bit more on my comment section, so you can read it there. Would love to know how it goes with you!
Ruth - thank you, of course i will be visiting again your posts.
ReplyDeleteRandy - i wonder how the gourds will be pollinated when flowers dont open at the same time. I hope female flowers will come out too, if i will not be able to seed them not only I will be disappointed but also Skeeter who used a lot of time sending those seeds to me.
Yes Randy, Hoyas exude milky sap when bruised. I just dont know milkweed, i only know they are the foods for monarch larvae.
JBar - thank you so much if you will be posting Chatswood photos, i have lots of memorable experiences there, that will be like coming back to Sydney again. Maybe you can also post some things from North Ryde, i worked at the CSIRO for a while.
Kathy of Gardening Angel - yes i also sometimes cannot post often, even now i can't seem to do that. Thank you for the kind words and appreciation. I am actually choosing those plants i know not many are very familiar, or not very much available in temperate countries.
ReplyDeleteDiana - i hope you will find time to visit and comment again.
Patti - so you also read other people's comments, which i also always do in other blogs, haha. I somehow feel that i already know some people because of those. Yes i am very grateful for the bloggers comments, plant lovers are really generous and kind. That's why i also try to choose something not many people are very familiar with. I asked your camera model because i rally appreciate your photos, even if photographers say it doesnt depend on the camera! It is in the eye of the photographer and the eye of the beholder, as every beauty is!
very nice macro shots, dear
ReplyDeleteHave a nice weekend
graceolsson.com/blog
Hoyas have such beautiful and interesting-looking flowers. Lovely pictures.
ReplyDeleteGrace Olson and Sweetbay - Thank you for dropping by, i hope you will visit again.
ReplyDeleteYou will see that I am one of your newest followers. I am looking at your last few posts. I never heard of a hoya. It does indeed look like wax! The hoya is very pretty.
ReplyDeleteJust noted your comment in my recent post. Came here to check out your Hoya diversifloria. Unfortunately no pic of the flower. But I have a hoya that could be diversifloria. Is your flower same as the one in this link?... http://stephgreenspace.blogspot.com/2009/07/hoya-in-bloom.html
ReplyDeleteI quickly photographed some of the blooming ones from her collection at the Institute of Plant Breeding.
ReplyDeleteVertical garden planters