Hoya carnosaWax Plant

The Hoya carnosa, or Wax Plant, is a slow twining climber with thick succulent leaves and rounded umbels of star-shaped flowers that look moulded rather than grown. The flowers are pale pink with a red centre and release a strong scent after dark.

It climbs to 3 to 6 metres on a support and is equally at home trailing from a hanging planter, which makes it one of the few genuinely dual-purpose interior climbers.

Specifications

• Height3 to 6 metres (as a climber)
• Width1 to 2 metres
• Native toEastern Asia and eastern Australia, from southern China and India southward
• FoliageThick waxy oval leaves, deep green and sometimes silver-flecked; evergreen
• Growth rateSlow to moderate

Conditions

• SoilRequires a very free-draining bark-based or gritty mix
• LightBright indirect light to partial shade
• WaterLow; allow to dry between waterings
• ClimateThrives in tropical and subtropical regions and in stable interiors; frost tender

Additional Features

• FlowersRounded umbels of waxy star flowers, pale pink with a red centre, strongly fragrant at night in summer
• UsesIdeal for interior landscaping, sheltered courtyard trellises and hanging planters
• SpacingPlant 0.5 to 1 metre apart along a support
• Low MaintenanceLeave the flowering spurs in place; they rebloom year after year
• Pest ResistanceGenerally sound; mealybug can appear in still interior air
• Drought ToleranceSucculent leaves store water and forgive missed irrigation
• Seasonal AppealSummer flowering with fragrance that carries strongly in the evening

The Wax Plant is a long-lived, forgiving climber that rewards being left alone more than being tended.