(199/366) Plant Torture
July 17, 2012 Category: Photo a Day - 2012 203 views 6 Comments 
July 17, 2012 – I always know when I haven’t been kind to this plant, it throws out many clumps of these lovely tiny flowers, each only about 1cm across. And when the light fades, it throws off the most unbelievably fabulous fragrance!
This plant comes with a story.
My Mom has this wonderful plant called an Indian Rope Hoya. The leaves are very interesting, curled up, and they form these long, almost rope-like, lengths of leaves. Hence the name. Strangely, they remind me of dreadlocks. The story of how she ‘acquired’ the plant is rather funny though. She was wandering through a plant store up in Prince George. The price was too high and she ‘accidentally’ broke a chunk off. Oh my, best clean up her mess…and she pulled out a tissue and put in in her pocket to ‘dispose’ of it. Then she rushed home and planted it, and over the next many years it flourished in her home.
I always loved that plant, but I could never find one. A client of mine, when I was working at a pet store in the West End, owned a plant store on Davie Street and said he could get me one. Eventually I received a phone call that he had one in. It was a Hoya, but not a Rope Hoya. I bought it anyway, and it has done pretty well, when I remember to water it.
When I forget, it obviously thinks it is dying and starts throwing out many clumps of flowers in an attempt to propagate before it succumbs. Then I water it, and all is well again.
So basically I torture this plant in order to get flowers.
I can live with that.
Lovely photo Paige. And that poor plant!
I have the blackest thumb on the planet. I fear that if that poor plant were in my care, I would only ever see those flowers once
The picture is beautiful.
Yeah, Cite me for plant abuse!