Schefflera delavayi (well, "ok its not really a rock garden plant")

[James R.]

Schefflera delavayi

[McDonough]

Schefflera delavayi

This was one of those weird "eye-openers" when I moved to the Pacific Northwest (near Seattle Washington), to buy a house that was rather overgrown with established plants, to find that Schefflera was a hardy shrub there!  Heretofore, I only thought of this plant as a tender house plant.  There were many other such examples, but when one jumps from Zone 5 to Zone 7-8, it is a world of difference.  What would be the zone limit of this plant?

[James R.]

Schefflera delavayi is from the high mountains in Taiwan. It is still rather hard to find in the States but i would bet it would survive a lot colder temps than here it got down to  Nine deg.F. the year before for two weeks in Portland Oregon with freezing rain snow and everthing in between and the mother plant to the one I have didn't even get a single damaged leaf. I have 3 two in my green house and this one that I keep outside the one in the ground does better than the ones in the pots but they are young and I like to have insurance on big ticket items.

[cohan]

James, very interesting to see these Asian alpines..no doubt all greenhouse plants here!

[Lori S.]

Here's some more about it:
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200015279
A plant of "(e)vergreen broad-leaved forests, wet forest margins, and as scattered trees in valleys or on stream banks; 600-3000 m" - certainly montane, if not alpine. 
Here's a photo of it in bloom from UBC:
http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/2007/11/schefflera_delavayi_1.php
It's always strange to visit warmer climes and see "houseplants" thriving outdoors!

[cohan]

Somehow less shocking (though still exciting) to see 'houseplants' outdoors when you are actually in sub/tropics, but to see them outdoors (year round of course) in 'temperate' climates is more of a surprise!
Speaking of which, Lori, and off topic--do you know of anyone successfully growing any Hederas outdoors in Calgary? maybe 'baltic' ivy as a groundcover?

[Lori S.]

do you know of anyone successfully growing any Hederas outdoors in Calgary? maybe 'baltic' ivy as a groundcover?

Can't say that I do, but I wouldn't be too surprised to hear of one making it through a winter in some sheltered spot.  (I don't mean to imply that "making it through a winter" is anything like "acting as a groundcover" though.    Pachysandra terminalis can also survive the winter here... even several winters, as in the case of my neighbor's plant... again, surviving, not thriving.)
Can any other cold zoners out there comment?

[Hoy]

I grow a few Hederas in my garden but I reckon Hedera helix is the hardiest. It is native of S Norway coasts and tolerates the more continental climate much further inland. They flower in autumn and berries ripen in spring. I can collect some if I find ripened berries this spring.

PS. Here is one of the ivies, Hedera hibernica climbing a birch tree in the garden.

[cohan]

I grow a few Hederas in my garden but I reckon Hedera helix is the hardiest. It is native of S Norway coasts and tolerates the more continental climate much further inland. They flower in autumn and berries ripen in spring. I can collect some if I find ripened berries this spring.

PS. Here is one of the ivies, Hedera hibernica climbing a birch tree in the garden.

Trond, it would be very fun to try from berries-- though hardiness in your subtropical garden doesn't suggest much here They were hardy in Toronto, but that's z 5-6-- a world of difference!

[Lori S.]

Various Hedera ivies are sold as "annual" basket plants here... providing a cheap and easy way to try a hardiness experiment with little investment of effort.   (Having said that, thank heavens they not generally hardy here as they can be horribly invasive pests in warmer climates, e.g.  Canada's West Coast.)

[Hoy]

Various Hedera ivies are sold as "annual" basket plants here... providing a cheap and easy way to try a hardiness experiment with little investment of effort.   (Having said that, thank heavens they not generally hardy here as they can be horribly invasive pests in warmer climates, e.g.  Canada's West Coast.)

I can understand that, Lori, I am, to tell the truth, a bit worried, the ivies cover a lot of my woodland and I have started to remove a lot! They climb every trunk they find and cover the ground with a thick mat of leaves. Lonicera periclymenum, also a native, is almost as weedy but deciduous.

[cohan]

Various Hedera ivies are sold as "annual" basket plants here... providing a cheap and easy way to try a hardiness experiment with little investment of effort.   (Having said that, thank heavens they not generally hardy here as they can be horribly invasive pests in warmer climates, e.g.  Canada's West Coast.)

Although the forms I have seen sold this way do not look likely to be the hardiest types. This is the one I had in mind:
http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/396.pdf
apparently originally from Riga--I think Latvia is generally something like z5..

[Lori S.]

Here you go.  At this source for "classy" groundcovers, you can get enough for a really good hardiness test (50) at only $0.87/plant!  

http://classygroundcovers.com/item--Hedera-helix-'Baltica'-%7B50-Bare-Root-plants%7D-Baltic-Ivy--197

[cohan]

I did see that link too, and was going to send it at first, then decided the Arnoldia was more informative-- I didn't even think to see what Classy was selling them for...lol