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One of the Schefflera that has been successful in gardens though the identity still has to be confirmed.
It was intoduced as "Schefflera aff impressa" but it has since been identified as
S. rhododendrifolia.
I was given this seedling grown from berries produced by an adult plant at Marwood Hill Gardens. I am going to
grow it under cover until it is a bit larger before trying it outside. It grew for far too long in the Hedychium house so it suffered a bit when it was dug up and moved. In essence I was left with a stick and a few roots. I did not have a great deal of optimism when I planted it in the garden. In my experience, Schefflera object to rough treatment and root disturbance. However, it grew a small tuft of leaves in the first summer before being snowed on rather heavily in the first winter. It has laughed at my cynicism and grown away well, it is even starting to look like a proper plant. Trees and Shrubs online says: "Schefflera rhododendrifolia is best known under its synonym S. impressa – an epithet that boringly refers to the sunken (impressed) appearance of the leaf veins on dried specimens, rather than to the plant’s impressive appearance overall. Although Edward Needham’s plants in Cornwall are perhaps the best known to Schefflera enthusiasts, and have been propagated commercially, probably the first attempt to grow this species outside was made by Sir Peter Hutchison, in Argyll. His plant was collected as a seedling in Nepal in 1965; after a few years in a pot – during which time it ‘looked as if it had strayed out of an airport lounge somewhere’ – it was planted out, and still survives, as a 10 m tree. Having come through the hard winter of 1981–1982 its potential as a hardy plant was revealed ..." |
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| 27th March 2011 | ||
