Schefflera hardiness

[NC_Palms]

How cold hardy is Schefflera? I have seen a few of the variegated ones planted in Fernandina Beach, Florida but nowhere north of that. 

[Silas_Sancona]

Regular ol' arbicola, inc the variegated types.. I'd say 9a would be a  serious roll of the dice, at best, if placed in the best possible spot w/ protection.

Tried a few back in San Jose ( CA, borderline 9b / 10a in my part of town ) years ago and lost them the first winter I'd put them in. They were more more exposed and it was a wet / cold winter that year so it is possible they could have survived a warmer / drier winter there. Have seen standard green arbicola growing in yards around town so those might be slightly hardier..  also would occasionally see the bigger common Schefflera around town as well. 

Back if Florida, remember these getting nailed big time back in the 2009-10 freeze there. Most, esp. protected ones, came back by mid-spring though.  When I lived in Sarasota, we'd bring these into our greenhouses thru the coldest part of winter there. Nursery i worked for grew them by the 100's.  Bigger ones in the ground seemed to handle a little more cold than the 3 gals we sold the most. 

That said, look at past posts posted both by @Chester B and @Palm crazy. Both have / are growing some of the really cool.. and cold hardy Schefflera species. Those would likely be the best ones for you to look into, if they catch your interest. There's one i myself realy hope someone starts propagating here in the states. 

[NC_Palms]

22 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Regular ol' arbicola, inc the variegated types.. I'd say 9a would be a  serious roll of the dice, at best, if placed in the best possible spot w/ protection.

Tried a few back in San Jose ( CA, borderline 9b / 10a in my part of town ) years ago and lost them the first winter I'd put them in. They were more more exposed and it was a wet / cold winter that year so it is possible they could have survived a warmer / drier winter there. Have seen standard green arbicola growing in yards around town so those might be slightly hardier..  also would occasionally see the bigger common Schefflera around town as well. 

Back if Florida, remember these getting nailed big time back in the 2009-10 freeze there. Most, esp. protected ones, came back by mid-spring though.  When I lived in Sarasota, we'd bring these into our greenhouses thru the coldest part of winter there. Nursery i worked for grew them by the 100's.  Bigger ones in the ground seemed to handle a little more cold than the 3 gals we sold the most. 

That said, look at past posts posted both by @Chester B and @Palm crazy. Both have / are growing some of the really cool.. and cold hardy Schefflera species. Those would likely be the best ones for you to look into, if they catch your interest. There's one i myself realy hope someone starts propagating here in the states. 

Thank you! It seems that S. arbicola is becoming increasingly common in North Florida. But I have yet seen any along the Georiga coastline.  

There is a cold hardy Schefflera at the NCSU Arboretum in Raleigh. I think it might be the Yaun Shan variety. 

[Chester B]

I grow Schefflera taiwaniana and S. delavayii without issue.  Most people around here think they are as hardy and most likely hardier than Fatsia japonica.  I've seen no damage on mine and there are larger specimens in the area that look flawless.  I'm pretty sure these two are zone 7 plants.  They seem to grow at a pretty good clip too, but give them room they turn into small trees.

 

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, NC_Palms said:

Thank you! It seems that S. arbicola is becoming increasingly common in North Florida. But I have yet seen any along the Georiga coastline.  

There is a cold hardy Schefflera at the NCSU Arboretum in Raleigh. I think it might be the Yaun Shan variety. 

Interesting, wonder if it is just a result of warmer winters in various areas, or just being such a commonly stocked plant at the big box stores there ..and almost anywhere else in FL. Id bet someone somewhere in S. georga has some in their yard.  On a side note, Barring what issues one would have planting them in full sun here ( sizzle sizzle, lol ) was thinking about how, out of the other stuff i see offered through the year, I've  never seen Scheffleras offered at any of the box box stores here.. heck, have seen Camelias, Azalea, and Loropetalum from time to time locally.. Talk about wrong plant choices for the region..  anyway..  

Remembering it earlier, Schefflera sp. I'd refered to  ( that I really want to get ahold of ) is S. macrophylla..  Not the biggest fan of green leafy things that don't flower, or have "something" that will instantly draw my attention but  ..that's a really cool plant. 

[NC_Palms]

I was just at a Home Depot in Savannah and they were selling variegated Schefflera in the shrub section. 

[palmsOrl]

Definitely too cold in Savannah to plant this in-ground and have it survive the winter unprotected as far as I know.  My understanding has always been that Schefflera arboricola is a freeze sensitive zone 10 (10a) plant.  I see them planted all over the place in the Orlando area, but it does not freeze every year in the metro area, and hard freezes in said area are few and far between.  I would say this plant is worth a shot in protected 9b areas, but I would not plant in the ground in 9a or colder zones.

[Xenon]

Have seen S. arboricola on Galveston Island (solid 9b, 10a most years).  Don't think it's a long term plant in 9a or even low end 9b.  I would expect to see it in areas where you start seeing many large "Norfolk" island pines (Araucaria columnaris). 

S. actinophylla is not hardy at all and freezes back below freezing. But grows so fast that it works as a shrub/small tree in warmer 9b. 

[NOT A TA]

Two variegated S. arboricola  (trinette?) varieties are used extensively here. One is larger and more green and often used as a tall hedge (4'-8') replacing Ficus hedges that suffered insect damage regularly. The other is smaller, typically lighter colored, and often used as a specimen plant or low hedge (2'-5').  I propagate both types by cuttings and air layering but don't know anything about their cold hardiness. Here (sandy soil) they like a lot of water to grow quickly and will grow aerial roots during the humid months. They do seem to prefer a lot of organic material in the soil (for ideal growth) and withstand periods of drought pretty well for such a leafy plant growing in sand. I suspect they'll become victims of a disease or insect infestation within the next ten years or so due to over planting. They've become the "go to" screen planting here in S FL,  cheap and fast growth but never get really tall (without support).  Once a branch gets long & heavy they lay over.  In a natural environment they would root themselves once they lay over but in cultivated areas they get trimmed or run over with lawn mowers.

 

Top pic small variety, middle pic "taller" dwarf, and bottom pic you can see the size difference of mature leaves from both size plants.

[NC_Palms]

22 hours ago, palmsOrl said:

Definitely too cold in Savannah to plant this in-ground and have it survive the winter unprotected as far as I know.  My understanding has always been that Schefflera arboricola is a freeze sensitive zone 10 (10a) plant.  I see them planted all over the place in the Orlando area, but it does not freeze every year in the metro area, and hard freezes in said area are few and far between.  I would say this plant is worth a shot in protected 9b areas, but I would not plant in the ground in 9a or colder zones.

Hypothetically, if I were to plant a Schefflera in zone 8a, would it act as a dieback perennial and come back in the spring? 

[NC_Palms]

So I imagine that Schefflera in Jacksonville and Saint Augustine is pushing the limits? 

[Ivorhooper]

Taiwaniana and rhododendrifolia are very tough. Survive very well in the UK.

Taiwaniana is by far the prettiest!

[NOT A TA]

Pieris japonica variegata has a somewhat similar size, appearance, leaf, and growth rate to the dwarf schefflera's  but also flowers. It's good in zones 5b-9 IIRC and there's a few different forms with different color characteristics.

 

[NC_Palms]

20 hours ago, NOT A TA said:

Pieris japonica variegata has a somewhat similar size, appearance, leaf, and growth rate to the dwarf schefflera's  but also flowers. It's good in zones 5b-9 IIRC and there's a few different forms with different color characteristics.

 

I used to grow P. japonica in my evergreen garden when I used to live in zone 6b. I rarely seem them planted in the South though. 

[NOT A TA]

40 minutes ago, NC_Palms said:

I rarely seem them planted in the South though.

Up North where I was I'd include them in designs only if they were protected and on south side of buildings. I think on the Southern end of their range (9's) I'd limit the full sun exposure.

[Jcalvin]

On 9/23/2019 at 11:42 AM, NC_Palms said:

So I imagine that Schefflera in Jacksonville and Saint Augustine is pushing the limits? 

I’ve seen plenty mature scheff’s in Jacksonville: friends of ours has a nice variegated one on Roosevelt Blvd; we’ve got a friend that lives in Riverside that has a neighbor that has had one in the ground ever since we’ve known him (about 15 years); you see plenty of them on North side; seen them in Yulee at a lady’s house that sells lilies; Callahan at some people that have a nursery that specialized in roses; in Georgia on Saint Simons Island and one on the mainland in Brunswick. These are in 9A. Callahan I believe is 9A but pretty close to 8b. All of these were in the ground. 

I live in 8b, but I’m fairly close to 9A (within 15 miles). My aunt had one for a number of years, but it got smashed when they were trimming branches and broke the trunk on them. It would have had a chance, I believe, if they would’ve removed all the debris oof of it and nurses it some. She did live on a sand hill, so it was planted in sand and had plenty of live oaks to keep it sheltered. She live about 5 miles of the 8b/9A border. I had one in the ground for a few years and ended up leaving the water hose on it when we went out of town for a few days. On top of that, it ended up getting some kind of fungus and died. We live within the city limits here, so, though it has got down to 21 within the last 5 years, it has stayed above that in the 7 years we’ve lived here. Checking the climate data for our area, it claims we’ve got down in the teens, but I realized that these measurements were taken at the airport in Jesup (about 20 miles north and in a pretty rural area). 

 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2019 by Jcalvin

[JasonD]

The folks at Crûg Farm in Wales have collected tons of different cold-hardy Scheffleras from the mountains of northern Vietnam and introduced them to the trade: https://www.mailorder.crug-farm.co.uk/default.aspx?alpha=S

[Michael Smith]

I would love to be able to order some of those exotic scheffleras from Crug Farms, especially S. macrophylla, but I don't think they ship internationally. Has anyone in the US been able to order from them?