Hardy Tropicals UK

Greetings...it's been ages since I've posted anything. With the last three horrible winters, I know some people have had problems with these. However, I've been most fortunate with my Shefflera macrophylla, as it's doing very well indeed. Of course, here on the Isle of Wight it doesn't get as bad as some of you guys experience. Nonetheless, mine has been through several brutal winters with temperatures down to -6C. It's seen -5C too many times to count and I believe it was two years ago we had over 48 hours continuous below 0 degrees...followed by a couple hour respite and then plunging below another 24 hours. Amazingly, this thing has shrugged it all off.

What makes this specimen especially attractive is it has two trunks, one slightly higher than the other making for a nice full plant. The first two seasons saw nearly a foot of new trunk each year. However, last year it exploded. After the first flush of new growth, it then followed with another flush, something it didn't do the previous two years. As a result, I saw an amazing two feet of trunk added just last year.

I just took the pictures below today, so this is what it looks like even after another wretched winter. To say I'm tickled with this plant is an understatement. It really blends in nicely with bamboos and palms.

wow
must have

I love these plants so much that if I had a child I would sell it to get one but I haven't so I guess it's a kidney that's got to go!!

What an absolute beauty!!'

What an awesome plant!

I remember your previous photos.

Springy wrote:I love these plants so much that if I had a child I would sell it to get one but I haven't so I guess it's a kidney that's got to go!!

What an absolute beauty!!'

a bit drastic springs

Springy wrote:I love these plants so much that if I had a child I would sell it to get one but I haven't so I guess it's a kidney that's got to go!!

What an absolute beauty!!'

Don`t listen to Call Springy, I to would sell your child for one of those! I have a nice Hoi that was cut down to ground level in 10/11 winter at -8c, but that is growing well now. Not a patch on Macrophylla. Who`s selling them.

crug still has the ones for £85 don't they?

that plant is amazing.i hope mine lasts long enough to be like that

An absolute cracker Doug!

looks stunning doug really wish this was more readilly available.. but still worth having at £85...

Anybody tried winter protection on these?? They are amazing looking plants. Doug yours is fantastic.

What a stunner.

Congrats on your achievement , you must be well chuffed

I don’t know how much Paul is asking for them from Edulis. His is an independent [that is not via Crug] seed introduction. I think Nick’s plants at PanGlobal may have come from him.

I wish mine looked respectable; let alone as wonderful as yours!

I’ll post pictures of mine if it isn’t raining too hard tomorrow. I’m glad I got cuttings of it. There isn’t much left after the last few winters; and this is in Cornwall! Up country this will need winter protection.

Chad.

Well done Doug, it looks amazing. Too cold to grow well here methinks so please keep posting pictures for us to drool over

Ness

Mr List wrote:crug still has the ones for £85 don't they?

Yes, that's what Crug still has them listed for, although I would swear mine was originally closer to £100.

When I picked mine up I asked Bleddyn for the largest he had. He came back and said he really didn't have any larger one's left...but had this double stemmed one. Getting that was the best thing I ever did. It's made the plant look so much fuller. You can see it below when I first got it, and then a few months later after some initial growth. You can see it was happy.

Bleddyn talked about it having pretty lime green leaves, which was true. However, I could see some darkness around the veins and was suspicious it wasn't really supposed to look like this. I sprinkled a mix of iron, manganese and magnesium sulfates around it and also started watering it with Maxicrop+Iron. It immediately darkened up and took right off.

Next week I'm going up there to pick up a Shefflera taiwaniana!

Amazing foliage!

I used to have a Schefflera arboricola with variegated leaves. It grew on my balcony all year round without protection. I saw one the other day at a local nursery, advertised as a house plant.