I think it’s safe to say that Hoya lacunosa has become my favorite species of hoya. I’ve got a lot of them, though it didn’t start out that way. I found the first at a big box store a few years ago. It was lush and full and very overwatered. I dried him out, moved him to bark, and we were all happy.
Last summer he put out a peduncle and became the first of my hoya to bloom. It was my first experience of the scent of lacunosa blooms. That’s what capped it off, sealed the deal, made me a believer. It’s not overpowering. It reminds me of hyacinth in the spring or walking into a florist shop. It’s light, it’s heady, it’s visceral. Sometimes in the early evening I’ll catch just a hint of it drifting through the house, or I’ll walk into the plant room and know that buds have opened before I ever see them.
So, I started collecting lacunosa – find one here, see a new one there – and slowly the collection grew. There are similarities, of course, but it’s the differences between them that are the attraction. Some leaves are splashier, some are longer, some shorter and wider, some variegated. They all seem hardy, resilient, happy to grow, and eager to bloom. What more could you want?
There are three other species of lacunosa getting ready to bloom after this guy. So even though it still looks like winter outside, inside it smells vaguely of spring.
I’ll keep you posted.
