Hoya Collages

This is a continuation of the Horticulture Exhibit 2011, at the Manila Seedling Bank Foundation, where i got some materials in the previous few posts. I made them into collages in groups because Bom of the Plant Chaser, already posted the individual plants.  Hoyas have an exhibit of their own, however the flowers already dried when i visited. So i content myself in so few remnants and grouped them with those from other private nurseries outside the exhibit area.

Top left is Hoya imperialis, while top right is Hoya diversifolia. I specifically asked for the name of the H. imperialis because it is so big unlike most of the Hoya flowers. This photo of H. diversifolia is my own, and this is its first flowering since it got into my care.

Hoya imperialis at different stages of flower opening. One flower is about 3 inches in diameter. Literatures say it has a very strong scent especially in the morning. A good reference for its description, culture and requirements is found HERE.

This is my very small Hoya diversifolia plant showing only the flower stalk, the flowers are shown at the top right side of the first photo. It just clings to a coconut husk for support. It suffers water deprivation when i am on travel, which is not good for hoya, resulting in this stunted growth rate. However, it still gave a small flower umbel. I noticed a first flower layer followed by another 2 sets inside at different stages of development. The youngest layer died when i forgot to water it for one day. Moreover, it is located outside the west window, where the afternoon sun is very strong. I wish i have more appropriate location for it, but i am deprived of that, sorry for it! 

The two tarpaulin posters have titles: A Selection of Hoyas from the Philippines I and II. The names are written below the posters, but not readable in these photos. So I surmised, a total of 44 Hoya species are endemic to the Philippines. My prior Hoya posts are HERE.

The Philippine Hoya

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

http://www.flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com