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Friday, February 17, 2017

Critters, critters!

Garden Critters

I looked for the meaning of critters, and found that it is an informal word for any living creature, from a wolf to a spider! Oh so it would be correct to put what i am thinking of in this post. Originally, i thought it only refers to the small animals like the insects or spiders. I am glad i checked it first, that is the beauty of the digital age, and that Google is just a click away!


 I have been following this inside the room one morning, it bumped several times into the closed glass window. Then it dropped to the floor, i guess it died. Sorry! Or probably it got hit when something got its hind wings, a big part is torn.

 PALM KING, Amathusia phidippus

This is probably its partner, although i am not aware how to distinguish the sexes. It is not a butterfly but a moth, a big moth.
 This one is also a moth, but i completely do not know its ID

 a small butterfly on a Turnera ulmifolia flower

PYRALID MOTH, Doloessa sp(Pyralidae; Galleriinae)

Can you see the owner of this long house? Of course it is a spider, the web is there.

I touched it, and suddenly it crawled upward leaving a space at the middle. There you can see it on top of the long house. The long house is a decoy to show the predators that it might be big, or so that the predators will not see where the real spider is located. The house provides for a good mimic. 

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

First Flower Parade in 2017

I have always been missing the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. It is not unusual to realize it is already the middle of the month when i see the posts of my blogger friends on Facebook. When that happens the posts at the site is already too plenty, and posting that late does not anymore invite many to my posts. Of course it is very delightful seeing a lot of comments in our posts. They are the life of my blogs. Besides, it is really like a reward when people come and leave comments. You always make my day, invigorates me to do my day at a more efficient pace.

When i don't have much flower photos to post, i just post my hoyas flowering that month. It is also another way of documenting my hoyas in bloom. I actually make monthly and yearly comparisons. That is also the reason i post the monthly blooms in monthly Facebook albums, another way of collecting data. Moreover, i am trully flaunting them, LOLs.

Hoyas named after people: 

 Hoya valmayoriana

from Dr. Helen Valmayor, an orchidist and a pillar in Philippine ornamental industry

Hoya ilagiorum

This is named after the Ilag family, composed of academicians, professors, and scientists; both the parents (Drs. Leodegario and Lina Ilag) and their children.

Hoya buotii

from Dr. Inocencio Buot, a botanist, professor and former dean 
of the University of the Philippines at Los BaƱos-Open University

Hoyas named after places of origin:

Hoya benguetensis

from Benguet, a province in the Cordillera Region of Northern Philippines

Hoya bicolensis

from Bicol, a region composed of a few provinces at the south of Luzon

Hoya halconensis

from Mt. Halcon, a mountain in Mindoro province in Southern Luzon

Hoyas named according to their description:
 Hoya multiflora

 Hoya crassicaulis

 Hoya pubicorolla ssp. anthracina

 Hoya alwitriana 

 Hoya bifunda ssp. integra

 Hoya imperialis

buds of Hoya alwitriana

buds of Hoya imperialis

Our World Tuesday
GBBD
Floral Friday Fotos

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

In Focus: Hoya carnosa




Hoya carnosa is one of the most common hoyas. Most hobbyists start with this as the beginner will not be disappointed with it. It is comparatively easier to grow, not very choosy of environment conditions, as long as they are kept in moderation.  Moreover, the roots are not kept wet nor dry for a long time. But it is difficult to kill, so everybody in the hoya industry normally starts with Hoya carnosa as one of his first plants.

As an epiphyte it is happy growing with trellises or climbing on trees, just like in its normal habitat in the forest. The scent is not very sweet, but not also bad. But i don't choose it as my favorite hoya scent.

Some plants start to flower while they are still small, while others start slow and flowers soonest when leaves are already plenty. The above lant is just a small cutting with only 3 leaves, as you can see the flower buds are growing way ahead of the shoots.

This plant started slow, not producing any bloom until it has a lot of vine twining and dangling among themselves. Normally, the first peduncles arise from the dangling leafless stem ends. Eventually, even the older stems produce more peduncles and flower buds. The above picture was taken in May 2016.

 This is the picture of the same plant in April 2015. You can see that there are still few vines entertwining, hence fewer peduncles with flowers and buds.  I looked at all my photo files through the years and flowering was common in the months of March to May, just at the height of the long dry season in our hot tropical climate. I have not read or asked growers in temperate climate, where they are kept indoors provided with complete requirements for growth. I suppose, genetically they will also be blooming during those months. By the way, the above plant is only growing in recycled half bottle of a 1L coke, the bottom with the bottle's mouth as the normal drain port.

 Hoya carnosa has a moderately half-filled umbel, that is positively geotropic. That just means the flower umbel is facing the earth or drooping to the ground. The corolla varies in color among the common varieties in circulation. There is a white, a pink, and a red corolla. Moreover, the leaves are just green with a few specks, lighter green in another form, variegated, or krinkled. The variety i put here is the normal original variety circulating in commerce.


The umbel is a very conducive hiding place for the white spiders. Here it caught a bee much bigger than itself, starting to suck its juices. A lot of flies are already waiting for the carcass, they will in turn finish what the bee left off.