Polyscias, Parsley Aralia 'Elegans'

When this 'houseplant' became too large and tall for indoors, I planted it in my south Louisiana garden. That was about 9-10 years ago. I...Read Moret is well over 12' tall, has been undamaged and unfazed by any of our weather conditions (hurricanes, drenching rain, temps into the teens on occasion and of course also in the 100F range). I would hesitate to call this a tropical houseplant. It has attractive, highly gnarly bark, and quite muscular roots.

I have been having difficulty with this plant too. I was keeping it in a terrarium under fluorescent lights. It was doing fine until it w...Read Moreas attacked by aphids from another plant. It started dropping leaves rapidly. I treated it with insecticidal soap. That took care of the aphids, but it did not bounce back the way I expected it to. Now I have it outside for the summer under 60% shade cloth and it seems to be stablizing. Below is a link to a well-written article, and based on what is says I'm going to keep it out of the terrarium. I'll post an "after" picture at the end of the summer to show how it responded to the drier conditions.


http://www.rhapisgardens.com/ming-aralias/

I recently purchased an Aralia/ Parsley at our local Conservatory in Columbus, Ohio. Repotted and have been observing for about 4 weeks. ...Read MoreWatering with all the other tropicals but it seemed to get real dry recently and started dropping leaves with stems attached. Watered immediately but doesn't seem to be reversing the stem/ leaf droppage. Have in south window, gets direct sun with no evidence of leaf burn. Signs seem to point to the location acceptable.
Any suggestions? or similar experiences?
Thanks.

Bought my example from - of all places - Ikea! I'm not sure if it's the big-box nature of the store, but I guess they have the bargaining...Read More power to obtain some occasionally uncommon specimen, and in good health too (contrary to the average Lowe's or Home Depot plant). I'd seen an occasional Aralias in smaller reputed nurseries, but usually only Ming Aralias. This one got my attention because its compound leaves are smaller.

Mine was obviously mass-produced, so it has a thick trunk cut back with many branches coming off random nodes. It's definitely tree-like (like the Ming) but in its own way since the leaves are smaller - more Bonsai-like, in a rainforest way. Great buy, though, and it's a hardy plant.

The aralia likes to be somewhat dry between waterings. I kept mine a bit too wet at first, and it responded by browning a bit and dropping new stem growths. However, I gave it a bit more sun and let it dry out about 1" into the soil between waterings. In the spring I let it get direct sun in a south-facing window for several hours a day and the plant never scorched. In bright light, it grows slowly, though new leaves come up and enlarge rather quickly in the spring and summer before they taper off and stay that way. However, it seems to tolerate purely indirect light as well, though it definitely grows even more slowly in these conditions. The one time I left town and let it get too dry, the delicate leaves all drooped heavily. However, some water and sun had it bounce back in a few days.

I definitely recommend this plant if you want something different and dependable. Not common, but it's hardy and definitely nice to look at. A great unconventional find.