Thank you for posting your pictures. I just picked up one of these a couple weeks ago and am still deciding where to plant it. Think I have a good spot now =)

I've got some ASK for a very shaded area. From what I read online I thought that in the shade in my short growing season it would probably top out at 4' tall and wide, but NHBabs pointed me to this thread because of Thyme2dig's enormous specimen. I skimmed, so maybe I missed it, but how much sun does T2D's get? Larger than 4' would be great for my location, but it will determine if I put one or two there. If 7' wide is the norm in deep shade then I should only plant one. Also, I am at minimum 2 weeks behind everybody else, and possibly more. On the coast or Maine our summers come late. I know it's a fast grower, but our season is shorter.

I have grown both. The Sun King can take from light shade to full sun. Mine was grown in light shade, but probably in the PNW with less sun and temperature would have done better in full sun. I bought two Pseudopanax laetus spring of 2014. One I planted under the canopy of large hemlock trees, the other out in full sun. Deer chewed the one under the trees down to a nub, but after I sprayed it with deer repellant it has recovered. The one in the sun was missed by the deer but I spray it with repellent which makes them lose interest after they did find it. It has gone from the one foot tall plant I bought to over three feet tall. They went through both winters without any damage, but then our last two winters weren't very cold. The 2014/15 winter got down to around 20 degrees, while this winter only got to 27 degrees. From what I have read they can't handle much below 15 degrees, but these being from Dan Hinkley's collection that Monrovia Nursery is selling, with him claiming them to be hardy into zone 7 I thought I would give them a try. Mr. Hinkley is known to find the hardiet sources of plants he collects. When we have a real Arctic storm with temperatures into the low teens or lower, then we will know how they will do here. I do like the look of the plant with evergreen palmate leaves giving that jungle look. If you like the look of P. laetus I would suggest you get Schefflera delavayi, Schefflera taiwaniana, or Schefflera fengii. All of these are very hardy west of the Cascades in the PNW. The director of the Rhododendron Species Foundation, Steve Hootman, says these three are the hardiest of the Schefflera. I believe him since I have all three of them and they have handled temperatures into the low teens. The owner of Cistus Nursery, a mail order source for S. delavayi, claims S. delavayi is hardy to 0° F. You can buy S. fengii from Far Reaches Farm, if they haven't been sold out yet. They also sold S. delavayi in the past. Their source of S. fengii is from Steve Hootman's collection from the RSF which also sells it from time to time. The RSF have Schefflera minutistllata in their spring catalog, and I saw three plants for sale at their gift shop nursery. I don't know how hardy they will be since I have only had them for three seasons. Schefflera taiwaniana has been sold throughout the PNW nurseries that handle Monrovia plants. This is another Dan Hinkley plant.

as long as the plant stays green.. it can process light into energy ... no matter how ugly the leaves look ... in nature.. it is not uncommon for some plague to roll thru..and devastate certain plants.. and if otherwise healthy .. most plants can and do recover ... and usually bugs dont kill their host outright.. or it would be a form of suicide ... check your pots at night.. to make sure you didnt move slugs with them.. keep in bright full shade ... plant in early fall..when the temps start dropping overnight ... ken