My wax plant, Hoya carnosa, was given to me as a small rooted cutting a few years ago.
I had never seen a plant like it before, but fortunately, I gave it the right care—a sunny window, water whenever the topsoil seemed dry, and a pot trellis on which to climb.
The Wax Plant’s Features
The foliage is heavy, and the leaves are dark green with a few creamy white speckles. The entire plant shines and looks as fresh as sprinkled with soft spring rain.
The white flowers have a delicate pink tinge and appear in umbrellalike clusters. You have to touch them to see if they are real, for they appear to be made of wax. In the very center of each flower is a tiny red wreath, which looks like a small crown.
When the flowers are mature, a liquid substance slowly forms in the center of each, and when it is as large as a tear, it drops to the ground. This, and the fact that it blooms during the Lenten season, possibly account for one of its common names, tears of Christ.
There were at least 15 flowers on my plant just before Easter last year, and their sweet scent filled the house each evening. The perfume is noticeable only at night, disappearing without a trace during the day.
How To Grow The Wax Plant
Cuttings are easy to start in moist sand, perlite, vermiculite, or sphagnum moss. Be careful not to take too many cuttings—if you do, you’ll cut off the blooming tips and forfeit future flowers on your old plant.
41349 by Clara G. Stattner