serissa is a tropical( as Iris said)* that loves and withstand cold

Serissa is a SUBtropical, from southern China. It survives below freezing
weather. It apparently prefers a cool rest in the fall in order to thrive,
similar to pomegranates & other Mediterranean natives. Some varieties of serissa
succumb to excessive heat, but the ones I have right now seem to be doing all
right in our unusually hot summer, with plenty of water & a little shade. I
gather serissa does reasonably well in Florida; don't know about the Bahamas. You
would have to ask growers in Hawaii.
Iris

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I leave mine out on my sun porch until the temps are supposed to go down
quite a bit below 30 and stay there for awhile. I then bring them into
my growing room. I typically see some leaves turning yellow, but have
never experienced even a significant defoliation. They seem extremely
tough to me and they are currently growing like bushes ;-) here in our
un-Cleveland like high 80's/low 90's extremely humid summer. I
personally really like Serissa's - tiny leaves, I can play with them
nearly all year long, gorgeous flowers and very forgiving. I started
with one from a nursery (think toothpick thin Mallsai without the glued
on rocks) and have simply let it grow wild for a couple of years -
trimming back only when it got too unruly for my growing area. I now
have about a 1" trunk diameter and will probably think seriously about
starting to style it next spring. I also have a bunch of them that I
started from cuttings - MAN can you get some really good root structure
that way! They are still growing for size and coming along nicely. I
do have one mame' sized one as well that is actually in a bonsai pot.


Jeff Isom
Cleveland, OH / Sunset Zone 39

-----Original Message-----

Serissa is a SUBtropical, from southern China. It survives below
freezing
weather. It apparently prefers a cool rest in the fall in order to
thrive,
similar to pomegranates & other Mediterranean natives. Some varieties of
serissa
succumb to excessive heat, but the ones I have right now seem to be
doing all
right in our unusually hot summer, with plenty of water & a little
shade. I
gather serissa does reasonably well in Florida; don't know about the
Bahamas. You
would have to ask growers in Hawaii.
Iris

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++