Our sunroom hoya plant is in bloom. The blossoms, which form in clusters, almost look fake in their perfect symmetry and seemingly solid appearance. Even the plant itself, with its thick, glossy leaves, resembles an artificial “plastic” plant.
But there’s a hitch in the system: the blossoms, quite
frankly, stink. Apparently, to make up for an infrequent blooming schedule,
hoyas have adopted a strategy of emitting an intense scent to attract as many
pollinators as possible.
I am not at all fond of the smell, and you can count me out
as a pollinator. To me, the blossoms offer the uncomfortable odor of a shotgun
marriage between a cat’s litter box and gasoline fumes.
I’m sharing images of our hoya that I captured with my
smartphone.
—Mitchell Hegman
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