Wax Flowers and “The Green Man”

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art gift, art print, caption, deviantart, Flowers, Grande Old Dame, Green Man, Hoya carnosa, photography, quotes, Wax

Hoya carnosa – The Wax plant

 

My late Mother inherited this Grande Old Dame when she bought the house in 1992.  I, in turn have had this beauty passed onto me. Over the years she has suffered many a drought, however she just carries on regardless. I have never re-potted her and she rewards me every year with the most magnificent sweet flower display.

The flowers are typically light pink, but may vary from near-white to dark pink; they are star-shaped, and are borne in clusters that look like tiny wax miniatures. The surface of the flowers are covered in tiny hairs giving a fuzzy sheen to them. They are heavily scented and may produce excess nectar that drips from the flowers. Like all Hoyas, this species flowers from specialized perennial structures referred to as spurs. These appear from the axils of the leaves and stem; flowers may not be produced when the spurs first appear, but in time buds emerge from the tips. Each season new flowers are produced on these same spurs, so they should not be damaged or removed.

Hoya carnosa

the Green Man is a god of vegetation and plant life. He symbolizes the life that is found in the natural plant world, and in the earth itself.