Hoya doin?

Do you remember the Pokémon craze? “Gotta catch ‘em all!” That’s kind of how I feel about Hoyas. There are SO many different species that all have something special about them. Paradisia Nurseries even have a numbered collection of some 128 different cultivars - if that doesn’t ignite the collectors resolve within you, nothing will.

Hoya carnosa

Hoyas, also known as wax plants, are a tropical vining plant in the Apocynaceae or dogbane family (and they’re related to Milkweed - you can see the resemblance in the star shaped flowers). Most are epiphytic, which means they don’t need their roots in soil, and are happy growing attached to a log or tree, getting their nutrients and water from the air, rain and decomposing organic matter. Some hoyas are terrestrial though (roots in the soil) and grow in a more shrub like fashion. Despite being of tropical origin, they are quite hardy and drought tolerant and make excellent low maintenance house plants and hanging basket specimens.

Can you see the nectar dripping off the flowers? (Hoya pubicalyx ‘Royal Hawaiian’)

Hoya leaves are generally quite thick and come in a wide variety of shapes with different patterns and variegations, from long and skinny (Hoya shephardii) to highly variegated and heart shaped (Hoya kerrii ‘variegata’) to hairy with fluted edges and dark venation (Hoya villosa).

The hairy leaves and dark veins of Hoya villosa

The flowers are fragrant, star shaped, and usually born in clusters (although Hoya pauciflora has single flowers). Each individual flower may be as small as a few millimetres (Hoya ignorata) or up to 8 cm (Hoya lauterbachii). You can often see nectar dripping from the flowers which is edible and quite sweet! Plants flower from the same spot year after year, so don’t prune off dead blooms - they tend to dry up and fall off quickly anyway. Hoyas are also said to like being root bound, so they don’t require potting up regularly (bonus!).

This hoya has flowered multiple times on the same site - the rough section is where all the previous flowers have fallen from.

I currently have 13, which is probably bad luck, so maybe I should get some more…..