After weeks of waiting, flowers of the somewhat cold hardy Schefflera (now Heptapleurum delavayi, below) have finally opened. First, I should clarify that the hardiness of the schefflera is to low temperatures of five to ten degrees above zero (Fahrenheit) while this garden is rated as a zone 7a with an average winter low of zero to five above. Years ago, we were rated a zone colder with winter temperatures that regularly dropped below zero, and I recall temperatures as cold as eighteen below, but don’t get me started on stories about the good old days.

I’m happy to see the flowers since several of the marginally cold hardy plants in the garden that are supposed to flower late in autumn sometimes do, or don’t, and several years after planting this is the schefflera’s first bloom. The sprawling flower stalks (below) have been teasing me for a month, and I hoped for flowers before they were wrecked by frost to see if pollinating insects were attracted to them. And, of course they are.

With the schefflera and other marginally cold hardy plants, the first winter after planting I monitor temperatures regularly so I can cover them with a basket of leaves for insulation if it’s going to get too cold. But, after the first year I don’t worry much, and at six degrees above, the winter a year ago was the coldest temperature we’ve had in several years. I didn’t protect any of the marginally cold hardy plants, and while most curled their leaves for protection, none suffered a bit.

Next in line to flower is another with autumn flowers, ‘Spider’s Web’ fatsia (Fatsia japonica ‘Spider’s Web’, above). I see the buds swelling, so I should see flowers in another two weeks. A year ago, there were no flowers, and often the blooms come after pollinating insects have shut down for the season. I’m not concerned much for the pollinators at this late date in the year, but I like to see the fatsia and schefflera go through their full growth and flowering cycle.

My daily watch has now started to catch flowers of the winter flowering Australian native Grevillea (Grevillea victorae ‘Murray Valley Queen’, below). While its stated cold hardiness is only to ten degrees and probably questionable at that, the evergreen shrub had no problem at six degrees. But, even in a mild December, the cold quickly shuts down flowering that extends through the winter in milder areas.

So why bother and possibly waste time and expense on plants that might not survive our winters? Curiosity, and there’s a joy when the limits of cold hardiness are stretched.