Hoyas: Simply Stars of the Garden

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Scientific name:Hoya species. 
Common name:Wax flower
Family: Apocynaceae


There are some plants that quietly go about their business without too much fuss making them a little unnoticed in your garden.

I have these two hoyas in the garden, which flower without fail, fuss or drama. 

Then they flower, and you wonder at how marvelous the flower is and most likely think about how little you did anything for that plant to make it flower so well. 

• So why is it that they're not stars in the garden?

Hoya carnosa

 Let’s find out more.
I'm talking with Karen Smith editor of Hort Journal, www.hortjournal.com.au and President of the Interior Plantscape Association.



You could best describe hoyas as evergreen perennial twining creepers or vines. 

They mostly possess adventitious roots, which simply means roots that grow aerially from their twining stems.

• They have simple entire fleshy leaves in opposite pairs.
• The leaf shape varies considerably, with one species having heart shaped leaves: Hoya kerrii.
• being in the Apocynaceae family, their stems often exude a sticky substance.

In their natural habitat, they often grow epiphytically on trees; some grow terrestrially, or occasionally in rocky areas.

• Most hoya don’t mind being a little rootbound, as they are used to growing epiphytically, so I don’t often repot my hoya.

Hoyas are marvellous plants, and believe it or not, there are hoya societies with avid collectors 

around Australia.

Bring them indoors or grow them outside, either under cover, under the shade of a tree, or if you’re in cold climate, in a green house.

Hoya pubicalyx

Propagation:

• Easy to grow from cuttings-just need a node or two and a leaf to take root.
• Some have chlorophyll in their stems and only need a node to take root.

Potting up your hoya

• Should you ever feel the need, here'as a basic recipe.
• 50% peat, 20% potting mix and 30% perlite. 
• Or you could just use Scotts Osmocote Orchid Mix.