{"id":4371,"date":"2015-03-25T09:54:53","date_gmt":"2015-03-25T16:54:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogadmin.plantlust.com\/blog\/?p=4371"},"modified":"2024-01-24T06:57:28","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T14:57:28","slug":"stopped-cold-by-the-foliage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plantlust.com\/blog\/plants\/stopped-cold-by-the-foliage\/","title":{"rendered":"Stopped cold by the foliage…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walking back to the hotel our first day in San Diego I spotted a tree that stopped me in my tracks. Instant plant lust! Never mind that I had no idea what I was lusting after.
\n\"by<\/a><\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve written before travel induced plant lust<\/a> is a malady I frequently suffer from. Identifying the new object of my affection becomes a game, will I spot it again\u2026maybe in a nursery, or a botanical garden? Or perhaps a local gardener will walk by while I\u2019m drooling, take pity on me and whisper the name in my ear?
\n\"by<\/a>
\n\"by<\/a><\/p>\n

At the time I remember thinking there was something vaguely Manihot<\/a>-like about the leaves. Although now when I look at images of both plants I see that\u2019s not the case.<\/p>\n

\"Manihot<\/a>
Manihot grahamii, photographed at Cistus Nursery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Maybe I was thinking of the Trevesia palmata my friend Peter has written about<\/a>? Nothing gets my plant lust fired up like a big foliage rosette.<\/p>\n

\"Trevesia<\/a>
Trevesia palmata, photo courtesy of Peter Herpst, The Outlaw Gardener<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thankfully I solved the mystery when I spotted this later in the trip, at a San Diego-area\u00a0nursery: Tupidanthus calyptratus<\/a> aka Schefflera pueckleri.
\n\"Tupidanthus<\/a><\/p>\n

And at another nursery, also labeled Tupidanthus calyptratus.
\n\"Tupidanthus<\/a><\/p>\n

Only hard to USDA Zone 10 I will not be growing this one in my garden. And you know what? I\u2019m okay with that. I feel tremendously lucky to be growing three other scheffleras, all of which seem perfectly happy here in USDA Zone 8. Why lust for that, when I\u00a0can grow these?…<\/p>\n\n\t\t