I am a sick chick!

For years I never had a houseplant. But then I took a couple home from my Mom's house 2 years ago and it started an avalanche. I have so many now in my dining room, you couldn't sit and eat in there if you tried.

Today I saw a Schefflera that was so pretty I had to get it. It is huge too; as if I have a place for it. It may have to live outside here. As if I have room out there either. LOL. I put a green one outside 20 years ago to die and it is now a tree. It even survived our freezes last winter.

I took this pic inside the store so it is dark but you can see the heavenly variegation.

Here it is outside so you can see it in the light.

I chopped mine up last fall because it was getting so big. The 6 cuttings all rooted but due to neglect I lost all except two. The mother plant is being trained to grow over a rock in hopes of moving it to a bonsai pot.

I am amazed at seeing schefflera in the ground in FL and Mexico growing above the eaves of the houses and blooming. Here is one blooming in Cancun.

kell, we grow that Orbilfolia outside in big pots.....I just keep propagating it.....I love it!!

Kell: That is one Gorgeous Sheff ... I sure would like to find one of those ... nice variegation in those leaves! I have a small variegated Sheff that's not doing real well .... then I have two huge that were originally house plants, now planted in the yard. Mine have never bloomed like they do in South and Southwest Florida, but are nice just the same! If we have real cold temps or hard freezes in the winter, they turn to mush, but always come back in Spring and end up towering over the roof again. I pull all the bottom leaf/branches off of mine so light can get to the plants underneath! This pic was taken year before last. I will go out and take another one now:

A closeup. Notice all the yellow leaves on the ground ... it's soooo dry here right now, the Sheff's are losing more leaves than ususal. Hopefully that Tropical situation down in the Caribbean will dump a lot of rain on us this weekend - that's what's predicted anyway. We have about a 9" deficit in rainfall! Haven't had sufficient rain since 2005!

Wow, thanks for sharing that,plantladylin! Awesome!

Your greenhouse/sunroom is awesome also! I had absolutely no idea that these plants grew into trees like that!

Susan

This message was edited Jun 1, 2007 1:27 PM

Yep .... when I planted two in the yard years ago I just figured they would live until Winter and when themps got into the 30's they would die. Needless to say ... these suckers have grown and grown! As I said, if we have real cold weather in the winter, which we do at times, especially a hard freeze, they turn to mush ... leaves just soggy brown things hanging on the ground and then I pull off the dead leaves and have just dead looking sticks coming up from the ground until new leaves begin to sprout and they begin growing again. We haven't had any hard freezes here in a few years, but every so often we get temps below 32 and everything freezes back. Hibiscus will grow taller than the roofline of the house too and cold temps freeze them back to the ground too, but they always come back with warmer weather also. I am always chopping Hibiscus back so they don't block the windows ... should never have planted them under the windows years ago. But, that's Florida ... and things an hour south of me grow even more abundantly! The Ficus Benjamina (popular houseplant "Weeping Fig") grows in the ground in South Florida, huge trees! Some things just take over down here!

Hmmm, I wonder if they would grow in zone 7 (Virginia). After all, I would never have thought that anything froze in FL. I guess I could try it;maybe cover it up some in the winter????

I was amazed when I read that China Dolls grow into large trees in areas! I would love to see the large hibiscus bushes/trees as well.

Susan

This message was edited Jun 1, 2007 4:44 PM

Wow Butch, I have never seen that pretty flower before. I wish mine would bloom.

Well Plantladylin, mine is pathetic in comparison to yours. I need to go out and look at it. Mine is still in the plastic pot it was in when it was condemned to death many years ago. It long ago broke open. I rarely water and never fertilize it. Maybe I should be kinder to it so it starts to look like your beauty.

Oh BTW the name is Schefflera arboricola “Dazzle” and it is a new 2007 cultivar.

Does anyone grow Aglaonemas? I have now been suckered into buying 3 of them over the last 6 months. They are so big, bold and beautiful that I can't resist. They are supposed to be easy too and so far seem to be. I got this one yesterday. Aglaonema Gold Dust. It looks like a dieffenbachia but so much easier.

I love the Aglaonema's (Chinese Evergreen's) ... I have a couple of just a dark green common kind .... that one you got is a real Beauty, Kell! I find them very easy as indoor houseplants ... they do real well in low light and I only water about every week and a half to two weeks!

Plant Files: http://davesgarden.com/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=chinese+evergreen&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search


edited to say: Click on this link and scroll down ... Plant Files has 9 different Aglo's ... you should add yours to Plant Files, Kell!

This message was edited Jun 1, 2007 5:48 PM

That is great, Kell......
Lin, I have more than a half dozen rooted big pieces of the variegated (I call it Arborfolia???)....

Gail, I have two Arboricola 'Trinette' (variegated) plants, but Kell's looks a lot different, larger leaves with more white variegation. Here's a link to Plant Files for Arboricola's:

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/716/index.html

Check out the new aglaonemas at Park Seed. WOW!! - but they are expensive.

Their current web site does not show it but cached pages do. Their catalog is a lot better.

http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:KqGRzeohwVUJ:www.parkseed.com/gardening/Park/AS.p10.v51/NV.scChannel.Vegetables%2520AS+park+seed+Aglaonema&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

There are some really neat ones out there! I was just looking at Asiatica website earlier and just love the one called "Easter Parade" and "Fourth of July" and .... "Valentine" and "Bangkok Dream"

Check out these: Many Beauties ... some are kinda pricey too!

http://asiaticanursery.com/index.php/cPath/16/sort/2a/page/1?osCsid=ff6dacd602f0e73a2343c8440af3a65d

i can tell I am missing out on some good web sites....never heard of that one, Lin....gotta check it out!!!

i want Thai Snowflakes....only 25.00 for a 3" pot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Thai ones are incredible but I read that they all hybrids from one that is very difficult to keep alive unless you have a GH and they all inherited the difficulty.

Here are some more pictures. If only they were easy I would gets lots of them!!
http://www.tropicalnurseries.com/aglaonema1.html

Here is a close up of the one I posted earlier, Gold Dust. I have an even prettier one I will take a picture of tomorrow.

Kell if you get tired of her send her my way. We had one for years and she finally died last year of maybe to much cold. We just didn't get her in in time. :(

I agree with Kell about the Thai hybrid Aggies. I was able to keep my 'Pride of Sumatra' for about a year and a half and then it died. I really want to try again, but am not sure my heart can take that kind of pain again.

Oh, That Tropicalnurseries has some nice ones! I'll take #'s 1, 4, 7, 8, 17, 20, 22 & 23! Hey, why not one of each!

Only ones I've ever grown are the common ones found at HD, Lowes & Wal-Mart! And there have been times where some of those haven't survived in my care!

I am not working like i said!!!! have to check out tropical nursery site...

Hey Kell, did you get that Schefflera at Armstrong Nursery in Dublin? I was there today and saw one that looked exactly like it.

Yes, Liz. I got the Aglaonema Gold Dust there too. I go broke there all the time. For a little nursery they always have things I want. I got a great tree bougainvillea too.

Murder in a small town!! My husband spied the 20 year old plus Schefflera. And he killed it dead with great gusto.

The roots had grown into the cement and between the cement and the house down into the foundation. Or that was his excuse.

I feel terrible. It had such a desire to live. And now it is dead.

How it could live like this for so long. And I rarely if ever watered it.

The roots had grown into the cement walkway.

I am remorseful. I was so mean to that plant. And now it has had a violent death. Poor poor Schefflera. But then again, real estate is expensive and it wasn't paying much rent.

Hey Liz, have you been to the just opened new Navlets in Danville?? So much nicer than the old one there. So big. I liked.

If it makes you feel any better I once possessed and abused Scheff too--I inherited it from the previous owners at my old house, it was in a 12" clay pot, and I think it must have been pretty much 100% roots and hardly any soil, I did water it every once in a while but probably not as often as it needed it, but it never let me know it was unhappy. Kept it that way the whole 3.5 yrs I was at that house, then left it there for the next person. I have one as a houseplant too but I've treated it a bit nicer.

I'll have to add Navlet's to my to-do list for this weekend--I had been wondering if they were open yet but the last time I drove past they weren't yet and then I'd sort of forgotten about it. But I have about $70 or so left on a gift card for them, so guess I'll have to go spend it now!

*Sigh* Danville is such a long drive from here!