Variegated China doll

Radermachera sinica 'Himalayan Marble' is the variegated form of the China doll plant, until recently sold as Radermachera sinica 'Variegata'. It carries the same glossy, doubly divided, almost ferny foliage as the familiar green plant, but every leaflet is margined and splashed in cream and white, so the whole crown reads lighter and brighter in a room. We also stock the plain green Radermachera sinica, the lime leaved 'Golden' form and a bonsai form raised on a sculpted trunk; this is the one to choose for crisp cream and green foliage on an upright, bushy little indoor tree.

Origins

Radermachera sinica is a flowering tree in the Bignoniaceae family, native from the eastern Himalaya through southern China and northern Indo-China to Taiwan. In the wild it becomes a substantial evergreen tree with fragrant, trumpet shaped flowers, but indoors it is prized for its shining, intricately divided leaves and its neat, compact habit, and the species holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit. 'Himalayan Marble' arose in cultivation as a sport of the green plant and is kept entirely for its foliage.

Care

Care is much the same as for the green China doll, with one important difference: light. The cream portions of each leaflet hold no chlorophyll, so 'Himalayan Marble' needs brighter light than the green form to grow well and keep its markings, ideally bright, indirect light with a little gentle morning or evening sun. Keep the compost evenly moist through the growing season, watering when the surface begins to dry, and never let it either dry right out or sit in water, as both cost it leaves. Average room humidity is fine. Keep it warm and settled, above 10C and away from cold draughts, radiators and sudden moves, because China dolls famously drop leaves when their conditions change abruptly. A pinch of the new shoot tips now and then keeps the crown dense and bushy.