Wax Vine – Hoya spp.

Common Name: Wax Vine, Wax Flower, Porcelain Flower

Botanical Name: Hoya spp., HOY-a

Decorative Life: Months to years, depending on use.

Flower Color: Pink, Red, White

Availability: Year Round

• Member of the Asclepiadaceae (milkweed family).
• Native from Asia to Australia.
• A few common relatives are milkweed, wax-plant and stephanotis.

• Flowers are in rounded, tight clusters at ends of stems.
• Leaves are oval, often thick and leathery, 2-4 inches long with both variegated and non-variegated forms, stem vining.

Best stored at 55-65F.

• Hoya named for Thomas Hoy, a gardener to the Duke of Northcumberland at the end of the 1700s.
• H. carnosa produces flower fragrances only at night controlled by an internal circadian rhythm.
• Do not remove flowers once they have died as new flowers develop from the same spur. Will generally grow well in light levels bright enough to read a newspaper in comfort.
• If possible, move outdoors in the summer. This species is very durable and essentially pest free except for scale that can be removed physically with moist cotton.