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.

Thanks John for the great info and additional recommendations for Schefflera. Any chance you have photos of the Pseudopanax? To my great surprise I found the Pseudopanax at Lowes, of all places. I'm still inclined to pot it in a container. I'm located on the north Oregon coast, not on the beach, but along the Nehalem River.

Lowes carries Monrovia plants which this plant is from the Dan Hinkley Collection that Monrovia handles.

I have photos but I can't seem to get them to post through either Photobucket or off my computer. I have posted photos on this site before but have either forgotten how or they have changed something.

John, just be patient when uploading photos on Houzz. Be sure to stay on page and give it time. And yes, my plant is from the Hinkley collection, also saw some at a local nursery in Seaside. The Pseudopanax is a lovely, tropical looking plant. It graces my patio very nicely.

During the days of Dan running the Heronswood nursery he said in the catalog(s) the property was in Zone 7, was pretty consistent about rating things in the descriptions one Zone too low.

I am east of Kingston, across the water - Heronswood is in Zone 8, like me.

Thinking the temperature spreads associated with USDA zones refer to the coldest it gets seems to be quite common. Sometimes it gets down to 5 or so someplace, therefore they are of course in Zone 7 and etc.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6/JohnKugen/Pseudopanax%20laetus_zpsntk93ueh.jpg I'll see if this works. No picture on the page, but clicking the link will take you to a picture. This was taken last fall. With the warm weather it has put on some growth.

The next time I see Mr. Hinkley I'll ask him if his zone is based on Heronswood or where he collected it. I garden in zone 8b, if I lived at sealevel it would be 9a. But in my life time, sixty plus years, I have seen zone 7 and once zone 6 in these areas.

Very bright green and attractive plant. Put in a pot makes it easy to protect if the temperature gets low enough to cause a problem. The whitish coloring of my plant's leaves is the deer repellent. Until they get above the deers' reach I have to spray the plant with it.

Since the zone does not bounce up and down with individual temperatures, is instead based on averages over periods of years statements like "We just had a Zone 6 winter" do not have any real meaning.

For years the pseudopanax was seen only in California plantings. The 2014 Hillier Manual has it placed in Neopanax, a genus it has marked as tender.

I think only people who can't think outside the box can't get the meaning from having a zone 6 winter! To enlighten you Ron, it means many, many years ago it got down to temperatures between -10° to 0°F. It hasn't been that cold for over fifty years, so our average winter lows are much higher now. The reason we are now classified as zone 8, some are in zone 9a. The Hudson Bay Company back in the 19th century recorded -30 temperatures at Vancouver Washington. So it has been much colder in the past. So lighten up Ron, don't be so literal. It doesn't put you in a good light.