When I was young, my wise old grandmother had this long, scraggly vine-type plant hanging in a basket on the back patio.

I never really liked it because, well, because it was long and scraggly.

And it never bloomed!

If it's long and scraggly, at least it should bloom, and it would be really nice if those blossoms were beautiful, majestic, unusual, unique....

I guess you know that one day it bloomed:

That's a flower from the genus Hoya. One of its common names is wax flower, and the common name does, indeed, describe the flowers. They feel very much like a hard wax, a candle for example.

Although the flowers last a very long time -- they're wax! -- and I've had many of them over the years, I've never been able to get mine to bloom. I'm a failure.

If you go to the San Diego Zoo, visit the Owen's Aviary, a tropical aviary, where many long, large hoyas seem to be blooming all the time. Maybe the law of averages applies here.

If you're not awake yet and need some more Mornings with Mother and Father Nature, simply click here.

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