last updated: august 3, 2026
i am always happy to answer any questions you may have about specific plants/general plant care so feel free to drop me a comment on my profile or e-mail me at neopetgameboy@protonmail.com
i picked this one up from a somewhat local nursery. it was my first time going to there and i was pleasantly surprised at their selection. i have a mini tabletop greenhouse that i currently use mostly just to house any propagations but i would like to spruce it up with some high-humidity loving/terrarium type plants soon because i think that would be super cute. i have a few plants i would be interested in adding to it, and this was one of the begonia i had been eyeing as a candidate. so i was happy to see them in stock and at a very affordable price, i only paid $8 for it (usually it would cost anywhere for $20-35 on like etsy or the like) i love the delicate laceleaf shape and the flowers are so precious!! excited to grow this one more.
i am a little behind on updating here!! every june i attend a local houseplant expo with my friends. (pictured to the left is a bog garden of different species of sarracenia that was in display at the event's "best in show". i'm terrible at remembering to take pictures when i'm out with friends because i'm too busy YAPPING, so this is the only pic i took the whole time. oops.)
i *try* to hold off on plant purchases throughout the year to save myself for this event because it is a great way to get ahold of more "uncommon" things without having to purchase online. which i feel is REALLY hit or miss and at this point i would just rather be patient and not order things online. anyway, there are tons of vendors that come in from all over the place for this event. i always have a list of plants i am interested in but to keep myself focused and to not spend a ridiculous amount of money i whittled my list down to just two plants. and i was able to find both of them!! the first plant is the hoya heushkeliana. there are a few versions of this plant out there: inner variegated, outer variegated, and a plain green one. i opted for the inner variegated. it can sunstress and get a nice pink blush to the leaves. i specifically sought this plant out because supposedly the blooms smell like popcorn. i happen to have a vacant popcorn ceramic planter that it would pair lovely with. the blooms can be either yellow or pink. the vendor did not have them labeled and i did not ask them, i sort of want it to be a surprise because i truly think i would be unwell if i had to choose between the two colors myself. this way fate gets to decide for me. the second plant i was after is a newer begonia hybrid. there was only one vendor there selling them because it is fairly new. behold....the begonia pink urchin i looooooveeee it. the pink bullae (the "spikes") on it are so precious. this is in a 4" container and the seller had them all in a little humidity dome. my plan is to acclimate mine to my grow cabinet, but should that go south i do have a cloche that i could display it in as a backup. how exciting!! i am very pleased with my new additions!!
outside of the plant show, i do have another exiciting thing to report!! my nearly 7 year old hoya krimson queen has peduncles for the first time. AFTER I WAS JUST TALKING SMACK ABOUT IT. I TAKE EVERYTHING BACK. i'm particularly jazzed about it because the blooms have a chocolate-y scent. the blooms are also larger than most of the other species in my collection. will update when they are opened!!
did some plant chores today~ a few weeks ago i put my alocasia frydek in a no drainage/semi-hydro setup. this is really the only way i can successfully grow alocasia at home. at work i take care of them just fine in soil/nursery pots but for some reason that just doesn't work for me at home. i'm guessing it's because i don't water them enough at home and maybe the airflow/humidity is different. (i don't recommend growing plants in no drainage situations lol) this one is in a chunky soil mixture + a layer of leca at the bottom that i use as a water line indicator. it was cycling through leaves prior to moving it and this has completely fixed the problem. i even have a new leaf on the way 0:-)
another exciting development is that my begonia ferox is putting out a new leaf with more pronounced bullae. (bullae are hair-like structures on the leaves and petioles of many begonia species. begonia ferox has very dark, pronounced bullae that almost look like black spikes.) for context, last year i overwatered my begonia ferox before leaving on a trip out of state and it dropped all of its leaves. it is one of my favorite plants and is a little difficult to get ahold of so i was patient and tried to regrow it. the rhizome was just an awkward, leafless stump for a while. when it finally put out new leaves none of them had any bullae. usually the leaf is covered in them but mine was putting out leaves that either had none or only had 3-4 per leaf. that being said, this new leaf looks a lot more promising and maybe if i am extra patient the plant can be restored to its former glory.
not houseplant-related but i wanted to share some pics of my porch plants!! i don't do this every spring because my apartment faces south and i have to CoNSTAnTLY water these plants so i only do it when i feel like i'm in the right headspace to handle it over the spring/summer....but i have a few things potted up. i have some different petunias, lantana (my beloved), a dark-leafed ipomea, and an absolutely STUNNING coleus. i'm not sure what variety of coleus it is but i'm in love. it's a swampy green color with red splotches on it. and it really is the star of the show on my porch, which is saying something because i have 3 different colors of lantana.
up-potted a few of my plants that were needing it! i repotted my anthurium clarinervium into an 8". the most recent leaf has not entirely hardened off yet but i can tell it is smaller than some of the older leaves so it was definitely time. i love how thick and udon noodle looking anthurium roots are. it is putting out yet another new leaf as well, hopefully i did not disturb it too much by repotting. i also moved my philodendron green congo nuclear into a larger pot. because of the shape of the pot i had to plant it directly in the planter which i typically don't do and advise against...hopefully it's fine. i custom spray painted the new planter myself and i'm loving the colors. it was in the cutest popcorn ceramic planter. i'm hoping to find a hoya heuschkeliana to replace it. supposedly their blooms smell like buttered popcorn, so that would be a good fit. the philodendron green congo nuclear will have to move out of my cabinet as well. praying it can handle all of these sudden changes.
i don't know why, but i've been quite resistant to trellising my hoya up until now. i do like the way they look trailing, but i think certain species can benefit from a trellis, and my hoya pubicalyx is definitely one of them. i really think it looks cute and whimsical now!! manifesting blooms on this plant next year, hopefully. i plan on pumping it full of phosphorous for the rest of the year.
also!! the new leaf on my philodendron florida beauty is almost hardened off and it is looking lovely. it's already spitting out a new leaf and hopefully that one will be just as nicely variegated.
watered my plants today!! i typically water on tuesdays or sundays, which tend to be my days off. i don't water plants necessarily on a schedule (as i feel that can lead to overwatering) but rather, i just check in with my plants on these days and if they need water i go ahead and do so. i have a lot of growth to report! firstly, my philodendron green congo 'nuclear' has almost tripled in size since i got it ~4 months ago. it is almost too big for the cabinet so i will have to find another pot situation + a new place for it soon. i love the variegation on this plant so much (the leaves are variegated on both sides + the newer leaves tend to have a bright orange-pink color to them) AND it doesn't have the same problems that erubescens philodendron have where they get horribly leggy + their leaves constantly get stuck in their cataphylls.
i have four hoyas blooming at the moment, i took a picture of my silver lacunosa blooms. this plant currently has 8 blooms open on it and even more active peduncles. the scent is a sweet, jasmine type of scent. this is another plant that will need to potted up to the next size sometime this spring. it is a rather thirsty hoya for me right now, i often let the leaves get wrinkly before i get around to watering it and i think a bigger pot will help it get along without as frequent waterings.
my hoya mathilde has started to push out 3 peduncles. which is *wild* to me because i grew that plant from cuttings that i got not even a year ago. i really love the color of hoya mathilde blooms, they are a pale green color and they are fuzzy! HOWEVER. it has recently come to my attention that the blooms smell like cat piss. which i did not know!! mathilde is a hybrid of serpens x carnosa so i had just assumed that it would have a chocolately scent like the carnosa. i guess we will find out soon enough.
one last hoya update! my hoya polyneura is giving me not one but *two* new growth points!! this particular hoya grows sort of slower for me (and i do grow it in a bit lower light than i normally would so that does make sense) but i seem to get little growth spurts on this plant. this will be my second year growing it from just a 2 leaf cutting!! very exciting because i really want to have a nice, lush pot of this plant eventually. one of my fav plants ever ever ever for reallllll
my philodendron florida beauty has a newly unfurled leaf and THANK GOODNESS it's actually variegated. this plant has what is referred to as polaroid variegation, meaning when the leaf is first unfurling the variegation isn't apparent until the leaf starts to harden off. so i'm left holding my breath with every new leaf. so far this plant has alternated between non-variegated and variegated leaves, so i am relieved to see that this one has some nice patterning. should look lovely one it fully hardens off. last update: my anthurium clarinervium has a new leaf on it. i really love the red/brown sheen the new leaves on a lot of anthurium have when they are first coming in. this is another plant i will likely be needing to pot up sometime soon. i really need to do a spring "refresh" and purchase some more moss pole sleeves, sphagnum, stakes/trellises, etc. to get ready for all the *spring plant chores* ahead of me!!