Some of you may recall that I, a long-time dues-paying member of
the I Hate Serissa Club, became the "proud" owner of one this
last spring when Jackie spotted a rather interesting little
shohin-sized tree at the Florida show.

Herewith a report.

So far, I've seen nothing of the highly touted temperamental
nature of Serissa foetida. This little tree stayed outside
until temperatures dipped into the upper 30s. Then it came
inside to sit on a sunny windowsill under a fluorescent light.
Then, when we baby-sit the grandkids down in St. Pete Beach, it
went down with us and spent two weeks in the semi-tropical
winter sun. Then it came back up here and back outside while
temperatures hovered in the near 80s for a couple more weeks.
Then temperatures dipped suddenly down to the 20s and it was
jerked back inside to the sunny window and the light.

Now from what I'd heard, that is a lot of environmental change
for a serissa. I expected it to be leafless by now.

Instead, it has added 2 inches and had to have a major haircut
in early January. Not one single leaf has dropped.

I'm gonna put it into a bonsai pot this spring and will chop
quite a bit of root in the process, I suspect, so I'll hold
final judgment until then, but . . .

As far as i can see, Serissas are tough!

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Sad Fact:
14% of Americans think Noah's wife was Joan of Arc. :-(

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Jeez Jim, it certainly sounds hardy.
If I'd subjected half my trees to those drastic climatic changes I'd expect
to be surrounded with fallen leaves.
Maybe I should add a serissa to my collection.

Mark Hill - Harrisburg PA - Zone 6 - where we got our first snowfall of the
season today !


-----Original Message-----
From: Internet Bonsai Club ] On Behalf Of
Jim Lewis
Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2005 4:30 PM
To:
Subject: [IBC] Serissa comment

snip

As far as i can see, Serissas are tough!

/snip

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Very tough indeed.

Last winter, I brought my Serissa indoors and forgot
it in a dark corner of my house. I even made efforts
to kill it by watering it every month or so !

To my surprise, it came back from certain death and
now it grows so quickly that needs regular haircuts.
It hasnt dropped a lead either.
I have brought it inside for the winter in a
north-facing window, spray its leaves a couple of
times per day, water it whenever needed and it is
doing fine !

In fact, it has started blooming !

Dimitris.



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Serissa are a cool-loving subtropical. They are hardy to well below freezing
and thrive on a cool rest period in the fall. They also need good humidity.
People have trouble with them by overwatering and keeping them too warm without
enough light. That said, I have killed my share, but I have to have them.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"A tree never hits an automobile except in self defense." - Woody Allen

HI Jim
I am leading an experiment since 2 years , it started in sept 2003 and
I have put 6 cuttings of serissas in a pot and left outside all winther
in zone 7 Geneva -switzerland and rooted well and made flowers. I
started with 3 and added when I coudl fiond otehrs more even long
watery stems from green houses and all survived
the first one did not loose one leave in 12 months last november
started to yellow and loose some but new sprots were already there
before the leaves fell ..
As Iris said * is a cold loving semitropical * and under tropics
sometimes nights are quite cold too

Jim Lewis wrote:

Some of you may recall that I, a long-time dues-paying member of
the I Hate Serissa Club, became the "proud" owner of one this
last spring when Jackie spotted a rather interesting little
shohin-sized tree at the Florida show.

Herewith a report.

So far, I've seen nothing of the highly touted temperamental
nature of Serissa foetida. This little tree stayed outside
until temperatures dipped into the upper 30s. Then it came
inside to sit on a sunny windowsill under a fluorescent light.
Then, when we baby-sit the grandkids down in St. Pete Beach, it
went down with us and spent two weeks in the semi-tropical
winter sun. Then it came back up here and back outside while
temperatures hovered in the near 80s for a couple more weeks.
Then temperatures dipped suddenly down to the 20s and it was
jerked back inside to the sunny window and the light.

Now from what I'd heard, that is a lot of environmental change
for a serissa. I expected it to be leafless by now.

Instead, it has added 2 inches and had to have a major haircut
in early January. Not one single leaf has dropped.

I'm gonna put it into a bonsai pot this spring and will chop
quite a bit of root in the process, I suspect, so I'll hold
final judgment until then, but . . .

As far as i can see, Serissas are tough!

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Sad Fact:
14% of Americans think Noah's wife was Joan of Arc. :-(

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Boon Manakitivipart++++
************************************************** ******************************

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+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

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