# Serissa Japonica as tree: do we like it?



## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

I saw this shrub or whatever at my neighbor's large scale layout. Looks like the right scale, with small leaves, a nice, gnarly trunk and tiny white flowers. I Googled it and saw that its is used in bonsai. But is it good for us?


----------



## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Its fairly tropical..often used as "indoor bonsai" because it wont survive winters in most US climates.. 
listed as Zone 8 or higher..will only survive outdoors year-round in the southern US. 

Scot


----------



## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

*WE LOVE THEM.* They make the very best scale trees. They are the two in the front with the white flowers. These are a dozen years old or more.


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I believe that Serissa Japonica is the old latin name, the current name seems to be Serissa foetida, "Tree of a thousand stars" 

Looking up that name, it can be fussy as a bonsai, you might want to read up on it depending on your climate. 

Here's one link: http://www.bonsai4me.com/SpeciesGuide/Serissa.html 

After reading up on it, seems Todd has quite the green thumb! 

Greg


----------



## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 25 Apr 2011 08:48 PM 
I believe that Serissa Japonica is the old latin name, the current name seems to be Serissa foetida, "Tree of a thousand stars" 

Looking up that name, it can be fussy as a bonsai, you might want to read up on it depending on your climate. 

Here's one link: http://www.bonsai4me.com/SpeciesGuide/Serissa.html 

After reading up on it, seems Todd has quite the green thumb! 

Greg 

See, there's the problem. Mine love a daily dousing and if I don't give it to them, they die back. They are finicky and I have many that are still under 8" after over a dozen years. I have about the poorest soil imaginable (clayey with hard pan about 12"-18" down). 

BTW, when you cut them back, they *STINK* to high Heaven. Could a snow rose by any other name smell as bad?


----------



## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Greg, we live in Seal Beach. Does that give you a hint as to what our climate is like?


----------



## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

Same as his...


----------



## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Joe (and anyone else), you are welcome to come over and see the various "trees" and ground covers that work in our area. You can also take cuttings, suckers, soil plugs, etc. and try these out on your railroad. As an added benifit, both M&M and Upland Nurseries are nearby, and both specialize in miniature plants. M&M advertises in GR Magazine.

Just let me know. 

As for a Green Thumb, I have many talents, but gardening is not a stong suit. A nice "drink" of water with one cap of this in your watering can a couple time a week, will let practically anything grow in any soil. Done daily, you can bring plants back from the almost dead.


----------



## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Todd, that's a date. I've been wanting to check out those nurseries anyway. Of course, groundbreaking for my garden railway (insert clever name here) is still months away. For the first time in years, we'll be home for almost three months, so I can start digging. As you may have read in my other posts on various topics, my wife is a neatness person (our bed is made each morning practically right after we're up) so there can't be any of this, "I'll get to it later" stuff. If I start to dig or lay track, all work will have to be done ASAP. Plus I don't intend to dig much, just bring in some dirt to make a couple of hills--both for esthetic reasons and to allow the trains to reach the slightly higher portion of the layout without straining (the difference in elevation from the flats to the mountains is about two feet). Anyway, you're safe until then, ha, ha.


----------



## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By joe rusz on 26 Apr 2011 03:37 PM 
Todd, that's a date. As you may have read in my other posts on various topics, my wife is a neatness person (our bed is made each morning practically right after we're up) so there can't be any of this, "I'll get to it later" stuff. 


Bring her along. Several husbands have used our railroad to show their wifes that these can be beautiful gardens and not just a jumble of track lying in the weeds.


----------

