At some point I even managed to lose the Hoya carnosa which started this all off, so I took a cutting from my parents' plant, which was also ailing. I left it in a glass of water for years (it grew roots and just kind of sat there, the minute I put it in soil it just started growing).
I got married and started doing triathlon (you can read about those on my other blog). I just ran out of interest in my plants I think because of the endless issues with mealybugs. I did discover Cryptolaemus, a species of ladybird, which did a good job of eating the bugs, but they always came back.
Last summer I had gone from 40 Hoyas to 4. Then a small miracle happened. We had one of the hottest summers on record and my kerrii, which had grown a bit in the time I'd owned it but never flowered in over 10 years, grew a peduncle and flowered. It was one of the prettiest things I'd seen and suddenly rekindled my interest in these plants after 6 years. I bought a bunch of cuttings and rooted them surprisingly easy. There was one that didn't make it but it had thin leaves and the plants had been sat in the post office for several days. Several have flowered for me this year so I have bought more to start the collection again. I have gone from 4 to over 20.
