Madame De Smet Dwarf Umbrella Tree Schefflera arboricola Madame De Smet

Gold over fresh green, changing from one leaf to the next: that marking is what Madame De Smet adds to the dwarf umbrella tree. Each leaf is a hand of glossy oval leaflets radiating from a single stalk, and the gold falls unevenly across them, so no two leaves on the plant look the same. It grows as a compact, bushy, multi stemmed shrub that takes regular tip pruning, so it can be kept as a full, rounded plant in a pot for years.

Indoors it is a dependable plant for a bright room. Outside, keep it to frost free districts, on a covered patio or in the dappled shade of taller trees, where hard sun cannot scorch the gold. In the ground it can flower and set berries that birds spread, and the species is regarded as a minor or potential environmental weed in Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales, so cut off the flower spikes before the fruit colours and keep it away from bushland.

Light without the burn

Light decides how much gold you see and how tight the plant stays. It wants a brighter spot than many indoor plants: within a couple of metres of a bright window, out of the afternoon sun that comes through glass. In too little light the gold fades towards green, the stems stretch between leaves and the plant leans towards the window; turning the pot a quarter each week keeps it even. If the room is dim, or you want a low hedge outside, choose Schefflera Alpine Junior instead: its plain leaf takes both lower light and more sun. Outdoors, morning sun and afternoon shade suit Madame De Smet, while full summer sun bleaches and browns the variegated patches. Indoors, a cold draught from a door or an air conditioning vent brings on sudden leaf drop.

Winter is when it is lost: a pot kept wet through the cool months drops leaflets by the handful and softens at the base, so water thoroughly in the warm months and far less from May to August, always letting the pot drain. Use a quality potting mix that drains well, and feed with a controlled release fertiliser in spring or a liquid feed once a month from spring to autumn.

Shaping, reversion and pests

Pinch out or cut back the growing tips in spring and summer, and the plant branches below each cut into a fuller shape. It recovers well even from a hard cut back to bare stems in the warm months, which is the fix for a plant that has gone tall and sparse. Watch for shoots that come up all green. Plain shoots grow faster than variegated ones and will take over in time, so cut them out at their base as soon as you see them. Older plants also send brown aerial roots out of the stems; they are harmless and can be trimmed or tucked into the mix.

Spider mite and scale build up in dry, heated rooms over winter, on the stems and the backs of the leaflets; a lukewarm shower in the bath every few weeks knocks them back, and horticultural oil deals with established scale. Like other scheffleras, the leaves and sap contain calcium oxalate crystals, which cause mouth pain, drooling and vomiting if a cat or dog chews them, and the sap can irritate sensitive skin, so wear gloves when pruning and keep it out of reach of pets.

Choosing a size

This plant is supplied in one size, 300mm, at $109.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to low water gardens.