Nice post, Andy! I've always been interested in Scheffleras, although what is hardy in the UK is not necessarily hardy in my zone! 😆 One day I'll try out S. delavayi, although it doesn't really look like a real Schefflera 🙄 . There's also S. "Yuan Shan", as well as some east African species which need a bit more hardiness testing.

Cameron... Schefflera Delavayii is not so easy to get hold of over here. There are two versions of it .. one with smooth unserrated leaves and the more common oak leaved variety.
As you can see most are in pots. Since the '09/10 Winter we have had more severe frosts over a longer time period. I do believe they do best under a canopy which can help reduce radiation frosts
My Taiwaniana is about to have a second flush this year.. so this plant will put on a foot of growth this year

Good to see side shoots forming also.

What the nice plants! I feel jealous a little bit! You British could obtain almost any plant from over the World. Good luck with yours!

Hi Igor... Yes we are fortunate to have intrepid explorers who travel the world and collect seed from places of considerable cold.
Sadly in your part of the world these plants would probably fry in your Summer heat. As for your winter 🙄 😆

Really nice....I like the one in the second pic that is throwing out a billion leaves at once!

Nice post, Andy! I've always been interested in Scheffleras, although what is hardy in the UK is not necessarily hardy in my zone! 😆 One day I'll try out S. delavayi, although it doesn't really look like a real Schefflera 🙄 . There's also S. "Yuan Shan", as well as some east African species which need a bit more hardiness testing.

Hey Cameron... I just remembered the Schefflera Delavayi at the UBC http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/potd/2007/11/schefflera_delavayi_1.php. Thats a stonkingly good looking plant 😀

Really nice....I like the one in the second pic that is throwing out a billion leaves at once!

Yes Jim this plant was multi stemmed. It was grown from seed collected at 4000 mts in Taiwan. It even flowered and set seed. But they were not ripe enough to survive the December '10 freeze and nor was the plant 🙁

Wow.......those Scheffleras are beauties!!!!

I'm always looking for Scheffleras but the available species (taiwaniana and delavayi) will not likely be hardy in my climate. I would love to try the rhodo type. Does anyone sell seeds of the Rhodo type??

Hi Tim... nice to hear from you again 😀 I am sorry to say that hardy Schefflera seed is difficult to come by.Possibly one reason is that one seed can produce a plant costing £40-£50. More lucrative to sell plants than seeds. Anyhow I'll keep a lookout.
I visited Pan Global Plants a few months ago and aquired two more Schefflera... another slightly different form of Taiwaniana and the rare Schefflera Delavayi (oak leaved form)

Above is Delavayi

Schefflera Taiwaniana much longer leaved than the Crug plant.

Hi Andy,

I must have missed this last post.

Your new purchases look GREAT! They are beauties.

In your opinion what is the hardiest Schefflera in the UK? Any tips on growing them? I ended up getting a Taiwaniana, a Delavayi and a 'species' which was collected at 2,150m in northern Vietnam which they thought was a Alpina or Chapansis.

Which is the least hardy in my group?

Hi Tim..... there's not a lot in it to be honest. Alpinia is very close to Chapana in appearance. Many of the Vietnamese Schefflera will take a freeze if only overnight and a return to above freezing temperatures. None will survive permafreezes of the like we endured during that cold December in 2010 except of course Schefflera Chapana and it still mystifies me how it did survive. Having said that it hasn't grown much either and I don't feed it. I still have some pics of the Scheffleras back then.
Schefflera Alpinia before the snow

and after

Completely flattened 😯
Schefflera Taiwaniana

And after

🙄

Hi Andy,

great photos of your Schefflera specimens. They had some height to them. Cistus Nursery states that S. delavayi is hardier than Fatsia japonica out in Washington State. Delavayi sounds like it may be a solid zone 7 plant?

WHERE can I get one of these at! I have been looking for Taiwaniana for almost 2 years and no place around here sells it. I have heard its good in zone 6 from a few people but I want to try it myself. If you get seed or take any cuttings Tim I would be glad to get them from you Taiwaniana or others since your the only US member I know who has one. seems to be a pretty hard find.

Mike check your nearby garden centre's that are supplied by Monrovia
http://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/plants/2909/yuan-shan-hardy-schefflera.php