Nice to have ya here anym!

Welcome aboard, anym!

How nice to have a participant from the UK...and a zone 8A (where is that ENVY emoticon????)

We love photos!!!! Lots of them.

Barb

Welcome! I find it interesting what growers in the UK are able to accomplish because I also face relatively mild winters and summers here in Seattle.

hello!

Welcome

50x80 seems like a pretty nice sized terrace garden to me!

Thanks for your kind welcome. 😀

Welcome Andy!

I enjoy Yucas too..........I see you like Scheffleras. I'm trying to get some of the hardy forms but there isn't much 'good' data in the USA on their hardiness. Which species do you think are the hardiest??

Hi Tim... yes I have just been admiring your Yuccas in one of the Yucca threads. Truly amazing 😀 I'm really excited about your hybrids. They are doing a lot of hybridizing in Germany as well so hopefully i will get hold of some.
Schefflera... I have grown about 7 different species and killed them all. December '10 was a wake up call for exotics in the UK especially inland areas. That freeze virtually wiped out all Cordyline Australis that had previously survived 15-20 years. Ditto with Schefflera. I would say Schefflera Chapana is quite hardy and also Taiwaniana. Schefflera Myriocarpa survived a two week freeze last february with -11C but defoliated. Scheffler Impressa (Rhododenrifolia) is also very hardy. Most of these plants can take a short freeze but not a prolonged one. I am going to restock with fresh plants but they are pretty expensive over here.... £250 for a 20lt container Schefflera Alpinia 😯

Hi Andy,

I have excess hybrid Yucca seeds........if you want some PM me your mailing address and I'll mail some to you.

Regarding Schefflera...........do you know of any sources in the USA? How about seed sources?? Are these hardy Scheffleras hardier than Trachycarpus or Eucalyptus neglecta or E. debeuzevillei or how about Fatsia japonica?? I'm just trying to get a feel of how hardy these Scheffleras are. I would imagine our climate are different is different from yours and perhaps Scheffleras may gain hardiness when grown in warmer summer time areas..........I'm assuming my summers are warmer than yours??

Thanks for your kind offer Tim for the seeds I'll pm you soon
Schefflera ...Dan Hinkley collected seed from Fansipan Mountain in North Vietnam but not sure what happened to his booty. He sold Heronswood to Monrovia but I have not heard of anything since. I am quite surprised as the Wynn-Jones who went with him have made a small fortune from their seed grown plants at Crug Farm Plants.
Regarding hardiness.. here's a current thread from the UK's GOTE forum http://www.growingontheedge.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7124
Seed is not easy to get as many plants perish before seeding. I hope the above thread gives you an idea of their hardiness.
Your summer heat may be too much for the as most of the Vietnamese Scheffleras grow in Forests with high precipitation. My Schefflera Chapana drooped badly in direct sun and 84F temps.

Hi Andy,

thanks for the info. Based on the elevation data of their native ranges the following seem to be the hardiest:

Schefflera hoi 3,300m
Schefflera multinervia 3,200m
Schefflera rhododendrifolia 3,200m
Schefflera glabrescens 3,200m
Schefflera delavayi 3,000m
Schefflera taiwaniana 2,900m
Schefflera shweliensis 2,800m
Schefflera chinensis 2,700m
Schefflera macrophylla 2,600m

Tim... Sorry to say Hoi and Multinervia (they look very similar) are too tender. Both of mine were killed quite easily at between -5 / -8C
Rhododendrifolia,Delavayi and Taiwaniana are worth a punt but would probably be more at home in the Pacific Northwest
Macrophylla survived two Winters for me but they are only growing now in Zone 9a areas of the UK.
Never heard of the other Scheffleras but probably Chinese from the south part of China
I have only two schefflera in the ground Chapana and Myriocarpa and they are both still alive. Myriocarpa grows near the top of Fansipan but is much more tender than Chapana which grows lower down. Alpinia looks very similar to Chapana and has good hardiness.
BTW my Taiwaniana plant was from seed collected at over 4000 metres and was still killed by the 2010 December freeze. Temperature Zoning is one thing but does not mean alot when you have to deal with permafreezes which changes all the rules of plant hardiness 😀

thanks Andy! Who would have guessed S. chapana would be hardy.......here's the description:

Schefflera chapana Harms, Notizbl. Bot. Gart. BerlinDahlem

异叶鹅掌柴 yi ye e zhang chai
Agalma diversifoliolatum (H. L. Li) Hutchinson; Schef-
flera diversifoliolata H. L. Li; S. pingpienensis C. J. Tseng & G. Hoo.
Trees, to 10 m tall, hermaphroditic. Petiole 20–50 cm;
petiolules 0.5–7(–11) cm; leaflets (7–)12–14, elliptic to ovatelanceolate,
8–18(–21)× 1.8–8.5cm

Forests in valleys; 1600–2200 m. SE Yunnan [Vietnam].

In a collection log I found this species which may be hardy.......it's growing with plants non-typical of other species. Have you heard of this species??

Araliaceae
Schefflera tenuis
Determined by: Jun Wen, July 2006
Yunnan: Gongshan Zizhixian: Cikai Zheng. Danzhu, E side of Gaoligong Shan, on the trail from Danzhu to Danzhuyakou. Conifer-deciduous forest with mostly conifers at the elevation. 27°37'56"N, 98°35'52"E; 2680 m (8,790 feet).
Growing on the roadside. Tree ca. 4 m tall. Fruits green.

Your winter killed a species collected at 4,000m? WOW. What's the snow line in that area??

Tim... not really sure where the snow line is.Heres the info http://www.mailorder.crug-farm.co.uk/default.aspx?pid=11441 Worth having a peruse at Crugs Scheffleras.