My late brother introduced me to these gorgeous trees shortly after college some 50 years ago. He gave one to my parents for Christmas one year that outgrew many pots over 15 years in their dining room picture window. It was 7' tall and very full of attractive, gnarly, meandering branches Dad helped re-direct as needed. When they retired to Air Force Village in San Antonio in 1980, they sold their house. The Aralia plant went with the deal at buyers request. Prettiest one I have ever seen really. Dad nurtured it for 15 years and in that time, he gave me a rooting he took from it on one of their trips to our Galveston home. It was about 3' tall when we left the island and moved to TX City.

Mine, too, grew in the east-facing picture window looking out onto my pool in Tx City. Got about 5' tall maybe, with branches reaching left and right 2-3 feet, to entirely fill up that wide window. It really made a statement. I brought it up to Central Texas in the back of our van after trimming off the side branches. It did well in our first Temple house in an east-facing window. then I decided to try it on the covered patio and it took off out there, doubling again in size! I just dollied it inside in winter. It tolerated the breezes out there, so I don't think these trees are very draft sensitive. Then one Spring several years later, after a root trip and re-potting, it started to go downhill, and despite my efforts, died over the course of 2 months or so. :(

When we bought this last house 4 years ago, I tried 2 more small Mings I found for a reasonable price on the internet. They came healthy and flourished in my central indoor atrium. They doubled in size there from Spring to Fall. Then, one at a time, mites or something got to them. I tried so many home recipes for bugs, but nothing would stop the stick sap or the leaf loss and ultimate demise of the plants. We think the heat vent, although not blowing on them directly, was a factor in drying the air too much for them. I was so disappointed to have lost these two babies I wanted so bad to flank the entrance to my bedroom (French paned glass side-lights). In my anger, I swore off Ming Aralias forever.

But you folks know how it is when you're hooked on one particular plant. ;) I order two more a month ago and those, too, arrived very healthy. They're only about 8" tall. Kind of look like bonsai trees right now. :) I'm going to try them in that central atrium once again, flanking my bedroom entrance, but will move them to the glass-lights that flank my front door in the fall when temps dip and I need to start using the heater again. Keeping my fingers crossed, as I just love the twisted, gnarly branches these trees create when their trunks go to hardwood:

Here are my new babies to coddle along: