Thursday, July 26, 2012

A proud Schefflera parent am I…

There is joy in any new plant acquisition. There is the happy discovery of a new-to-you plant, the bargain impulse buy that you may regret later but you’re too caught up the moment to care…and then there are the ones you’ve been dreaming of and/or planning for awhile…

Yes…I am the proud owner of this Schefflera delavayi from Cistus Nursery

I can’t stop grinning…

I keep having to stop what I’m doing and go look at it.

Here’s what the nursery has to say about it…“In our never ending search for garden hardy evergreen Schefflera relatives, here's one that's actually a Schefflera. This Himalayan species grows eventually to 6 or 8 ft and can have leaves in excess of 2 ft with an exquisite tawny indumentum. So far has proven hardier than even Fatsia to a low USDA zone 7!! Dappled shade is best with even moisture.”

**sigh**

While I was tempted to bring it into the house and put where I could look at it when I woke up during the night I did not. That would mean I’m a freak. I mean a girl has to draw the line somewhere…

35 comments:

  1. lust and envy. working up to all seven deadly sins...

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    1. Some of them are going to require a lot of imagination to commit over a plant!

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  2. oh my goodness. That is one beauty of a schefflera. It's epic. It reminds me of mine... perhaps another potential one to look into. I notice it has five sets of leaves on every stem. Mine has that except one baby one in the centre on some of the stems .... hmmm... I'll be googling away now! I LOVE your new plant!!!!!!!!

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    1. Interesting, I hadn't thought of that but you're right! I went back and looked at photos of yours and it is definitely a little delavayi-like. Let me know what you find out okay?

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  3. It's incredibly beautiful and HUGE! WOW! You are one lucky plant parent! Thanks for the vicarious thrill!

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  4. Here in Zone 5 I can only resort to vicarious admiration via other friend's blogs - so thanks for sharing your proud parenting moment...... now..... in regards to bringing it into the house to putting it next to the bed.... been there, done that! Trust me, though few would admit to such freakishness, I am sure many of your most reliable commentators would unabashedly admit to being part of this illustrious group! Of course fair warning.... when the plant stand which is too close to the bed should decide to fall in the night, and in a half lucid moment you think you are being buried alive...... not saying anything here, just creating a possible scenario.... LOL!

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    1. Hopefully in that imaginary scenario it wasn't a new agave on the plant stand...

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  5. That's a beauty and hardy to zone 7 even better! Of course you want to bring it in, I'm sure you'll find the right spot for it.

    Plant producers are finding more and more hardy plants for those of us who push our zone.

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    1. And plant hunters too! I'm thinking that it will spend the rest of this season in a container, and then next spring we'll see where it's
      real garden spot will be.

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  6. Wow, it's a beauty... definitely understand the desire to park it next to the bed at night so you can enjoy it upon waking. Sounds like normal behavior to me! LOL

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    1. So glad to hear I'm not alone in this!

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  7. Mmmmm, I know that "just got a plant I have been looking for a long time for" feeling!

    Enjoy it well :)

    The zone 7 rating surprises me. In the UK people lost them around -9C and that was in parts of the UK where the temperature rebounds somewhat during the day (unlike the Central Belt of Scotland where I live).

    I would take a lot of care of it if it were mine, which I know you are going to do, so your new Scheffie has no need to worry!

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    1. Really? (-9C) Good to know. I will certainly do everything in my power to not loose this baby. I do know there is a large one at the McMenamins Kennedy School just blocks away from me, however it is in a sheltered courtyard. There are two others in gardens here in Portland that are doing fine through a couple of winters...although I do think my location is going to be a bit harsher.

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  8. A lovely plant. Is one of the most sort after plants in the UK.

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    1. See and I thought you guys had all the Schefflera you wanted available everywhere! At least that's how it looks to us over here...

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  9. Why not sleep out in the yard tonight? Call it "camping" and nobody will suspect a thing. ;-)

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  10. YUMMY! I had no idea it was so hardy. If I ever need to replace my Tetrapanax, I'll be looking for this beauty

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    1. Hopefully it won't come to that and instead you'll discover another ideal spot...

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  11. I look forward to your site selection --now I can envision it in situ !

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    1. Yay! Probably on hold until next spring though...

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  12. Line? What line? There's a line? Plant geeks know nothing of lines. I love that last shot of the trunk and it's cinnamoniness.

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  13. Great plant! I can see that it would look great under the canopy of deciduous blue oaks in my garden. What does it do in winter? When they say hardy to Zone 7, is that with dieback or some sort of special treatment? Here in Zone 9 Cottonwood CA, the temps rebound during the day to 45 up to 55. Your thoughts, Miss Loree?

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    1. Gosh Zone 9...whatta ya worried about!? Seriously though I know of three of these in the Zone 8 Portland area that have been in the ground for 2+ years and they look great. My Schefflera taiwaniana was evergreen with no damage last winter (although 23 was the lowest temp here). I say if you can get your hands on one (did I mention that Cistus does mail order? Although no doubt smaller plants that way) you should snap one up!

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    2. Thanks, that was just the insight I was looking for! If it stays green I will grab one when I next go to Portland!

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  14. I wonder.....if it would work in 6b?

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    1. How do you feel about building a small heated greenhouse cover?

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  15. Well done Loree, that's a fantastic looking Schefflera!

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    1. Thank you! Coming from my favorite Schefflera collectors that's quite the compliment!

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  16. that is so bad....as in, michael jackson BAD. i was at cistus last week where i got my hands on a tetrapanax 'steroidal giant' after seeing your posts and deciding that it's probably root hardy enough to take a gamble on. i'm curious to see how that schefflera does in northeast portland. i'm in north portland and within the last 5 years it seems like we are sitting just between 8a and 8b...woohoo climate change! i'm finding that drainage is the most important factor. i don't like being constantly soggy all winter and neither do most borderline hardy plants.

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    1. "i don't like being constantly soggy all winter and neither do most borderline hardy plants" well put! I hope your Tetrapanax does well and I will post updates in the future about how the Schefflera is doing!

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