Another fairly new plant for us is Oreopanax floribundus which we acquired earlier this year from Crug Farm.
A member of the Araliaceae family, it bears many of the classic traits of this family, which I must confess we have a great fondness of, having quite a number of other Aralieaceae in the garden.
Crug explains on their site that while they were in the Americas they explored the stunning central mountain range of Colombia where they found Oreopanax floribundus (collection number BSWJ10669) "growing at high altitude on the edge of a dense forest. This species has distinct palmate leaves, covered in bristly hair thickly so on the contrasting pale undersides, while the individual plants are dioecious (plants either male or female) bearing large terminal paniculate inflorescences."
As you can see from the photo (left) from Crug's website, it has a very exotic and interesting shape and form, looking from a distance very much like a Schefflera.
We had first seen this plant in person at the RHS London Plant and Design Show held back in February at the RHS Halls in London, although we were aware that Crug would have them for sale prior to that. As you can see from the plant on the stand below it has a lovely form and has kept the interesting leaf shape so far. Sometimes the younger leaves on other Araliaceae have a different shape to the much older ones on the same plant, or younger plants have a different leaf shape that gradually changes in appearance into something that looks totally different altogether as the plant itself matures.
Our plant is still on the small side and as it's pretty much untested outside yet we have opted to keep it in a pot and moved it to a warmer spot for winter. I think we will wait before testing it outside for winter until its been trialled by a few more people. At the moment there is not much information available on line, probably down to it not being easily available in the UK until Crug released plants recently.
Our plant has, however, decided that now would be a good time to push out a new flush of leaves. I would have preferred that it had not done this until the spring, but it clearly decided to do this now. It wasn't the warm conditions that promoted this as it was already flushing a new set of leaves whilst still outside with the cooler temperatures, prior to being brought into a warmer spot.
I suppose this is already an indication of its hardiness....
Gaz
A member of the Araliaceae family, it bears many of the classic traits of this family, which I must confess we have a great fondness of, having quite a number of other Aralieaceae in the garden.
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Attractive purple new flush of Oreopanax floribundus
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Crug explains on their site that while they were in the Americas they explored the stunning central mountain range of Colombia where they found Oreopanax floribundus (collection number BSWJ10669) "growing at high altitude on the edge of a dense forest. This species has distinct palmate leaves, covered in bristly hair thickly so on the contrasting pale undersides, while the individual plants are dioecious (plants either male or female) bearing large terminal paniculate inflorescences." As you can see from the photo (left) from Crug's website, it has a very exotic and interesting shape and form, looking from a distance very much like a Schefflera.
We had first seen this plant in person at the RHS London Plant and Design Show held back in February at the RHS Halls in London, although we were aware that Crug would have them for sale prior to that. As you can see from the plant on the stand below it has a lovely form and has kept the interesting leaf shape so far. Sometimes the younger leaves on other Araliaceae have a different shape to the much older ones on the same plant, or younger plants have a different leaf shape that gradually changes in appearance into something that looks totally different altogether as the plant itself matures.
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Part of Crug Farms Display at the RHS London Plant and Design Show |
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| Our Oreopanax floribundus is now flushing. |
I suppose this is already an indication of its hardiness....
Gaz
This gardening blog follows our journey as we create our Tropical and Exotic themed garden. We hope you'll enjoy the journey as much as we do. We started our Exotic Garden in 2005 and this site will show its development, as well as our travels, both abroad and within the UK to gardens, nurseries and friends.
I really like that floribundus already. It's going to be gorgeous when it's larger.
ReplyDeleteCher Sunray Gardens
I think it will be as well :) it'll stay as a potted specimen for awhile, hopefully that will keep it at a more manageable height
DeleteWhat an interesting plant! The new growth is especially beautiful. At first thought It does seem odd that it is flushing with cooler temperatures, but on the other hand if it is native to high mountain ranges, maybe that is not unexpected. It seems happy with you so far!
ReplyDeleteHI Debs, I do love the colour of the new growth and hot it gradually changes tone as the leaves get bigger. So far so good, it seems happy :)
DeleteA beautiful plant! I too am very fond of the Araliaceae family and eagerly awiat Oreopanax floribundus's arrival (hopefully) here. Thaks for the plant porn!
ReplyDeleteHopefully it won't be long and it will be more widely available there :) We're big fans of Araliaceae and could happily fill our garden with them!
DeleteThis is a stunning plant, very wise of you to keep it mobile in a pot.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Martin :)
DeleteThat's lovely. I sometimes daydream about having a garden planted only with araliaceae and aroids. Those new leaves DO seem to indicate hardiness. Crug looks like a wonderful resource to have for us UK gardeners, though i'm a bit constrained money-wise and I admit the postage and packing costs alone have put me off buying so far, let alone the prices of the plants themselves.
ReplyDeleteEnjoying your blog!
I'm glad you're enjoying the blog :) When I mail order from them I usually wait until I have a small group of plants that I want then order at the same time, helps spread the cost of p&p. It's difficult to choose which ones to go first though, as they have plenty of treasures!
DeleteInteresting plant. Love the purple of the new foliage. It looks like it's going to be very tall! Maybe it just decided to go ahead and get started on a growth spurt!
ReplyDeleteHi Holley, it does look like it's going to be a tall one but being kept in a pot hopefully it will slow its growth down and keep it at a more manageable size, cross fingers! :)
DeleteA fascinating addition - I hope it proves to be sufficiently hardy to grow outside. I suppose that uncertainty is one of the downsides of growing plants so recently introduced to the country, but what fun to be "early adopters"!!!
ReplyDeleteReminds me of a castor oil plant and am now going to have to check which family they belong to :) I like the colour of the emerging new foliage. How long does that last for? Good luck with overwintering it.
ReplyDelete