oh, it's very nice! variegated ones are not seen often.
this one looks like my parsley, only variegated.
I am keeping several for close to 5 years, grew large fernleaf from cuttings, and have 2 smaller parsley and one larger ming. I keep mine on water-wicks like AV's to be evenly moist but not wet. but still, they weren't doing that well until I started putting them outside on the balcony when nites get to mid-70s. just in 4-5 weeks they bush out and grow like crazy. without that they were more like 'tree-ferns': just large crowns. had to cut them off eventually, hated to do it, but they were looking too funny.

Hey Planto,

Such a beauty! Variegated to boot.

You call the Polyscias, 'Snowflake,' I've seen the same or similar Aralia as Lace Leaf and Fern Leaf.

Whichever name is correct, I agree, Aralia's are fussy, and drop leaves if you look at it the wrong way. lol.

Although I have problems with Ming's, I've learned a few tidbits along the way.

Although ALL care is important, the #1 priority is proper watering.
Too much water causes rot, too little, leaves yellow and drop.

I discovered, watering until soil dries until crumbly is considered proper watering.
Mature Ming's are not as fussy. Older such as in well-rooted, 2' and taller.

Hopefully, others will chime in.

But, again, your plant is beautiful...love its colors. Toni

don't know about lace, but it's def not a fern-leaf. I have a fernleaf and it looks like this. just like a fern :).

petrushka,
I remember seeing your fern Aralia, do you have any pictures of your Ming? At what point (height wise) did you have to cut yours back? I will probably have to cut mine back eventually as well, it's so hot and humid here, I don't think I'd even be able to put it outdoors (not to mention, come August, my outside plants are receiving a full blast of afternoon sun, almost everything burns...).

Toni,
So far, I've been letting mine dry out almost completely before watering again. It seems to be working. I'm so used to my PL, such a water hog, it's something to get used to letting this plant dry out, haha. I might have the incorrect name, I found the name on Plants are the strangest people.

Planto

of course I have pics :).
I cut it when it gets leggy (that means it's like a palm: stalk with a crown on top), back to the node that has some growth, usually 6"-8" back. you can root the cutting, which is what they do usually to propagate them. I did it only once.
it's really bushy, even in winter, since I bag it for 3 months at least to keep it warm and humid. it's multi stalks of course.

and this is my fruticosa 'parsley'. very similar to yours.
it grows even slower then regular ming.

I keep info files, all kinds of clippings from the diff sites. I have a pic of smth that looks very similar to yours, that is called fruticosa 'dwarf variegated'. it's def a fruticosa. and def variegated ;)...self-evident, dr Watson...

Pet, ohhh, I love your Fern Leaf, too. I've never seen an Aralia like yours..love the foliage.

The Aralia I saw that was either marked Fern Leaf or Lace Leaf variegata, was on Hirt's site.
I can see the difference now that you've posted your FL.

Planto. Often, different sites/nurseries name plants what they want. lol.
Common names differ by location, too.

I agree, less water is much better than over-watering, especially w/Mings.

petrushka,
Wow, I just love your Aralias (especially your 'parsely,' I had to show my plant what it needs to aspire to look like one day)! 'Snowflakes' or 'dwarf variegated,' either way, as you stated, it's definitely variegated either way. :) Names aren't all that important sometimes haha.

Toni,
Do you have a picture of your 'Parsley'?

Planto

toni,
I went to search for lace aralia - it's guilfoylei, common name celery leaf, oak leaf, there's 'victoriae' that is variegated. never seen one before, though it's related apparently to Hawaiian hedge panax which I was trying hard to see, hard to get close-up pics.
now I am thinking that it does look like lace aralia somewhat. compared with ming 'parsley' it has wider leaves though and not so curly on the edges.
here's a pic from commercial site

planto, if I saw your aralia, I would buy it too. it's really a beauty.
I have to say, once I figured out what they like and put them on water-wicks to prevent them from drying out (am an underwaterer, keep forgetting... my duties!) - they are pretty much care free. but I did keep the baby fern-leaf bagged for the whole year! white it was establishing itself.
they need very bright light. mine get sev hours of morning light and then western thru sheers : fl to ceil gigantic windows. and they were still dropping leaves in winter! it was because I set nite temps to 65F and near windows gets to 62F - they hated it. once I figured out to bag them - no more drops.
by the way, you say you have hi humidity and very warm - that's optimal. 85-95F + above 80% humidity that's just heaven for them. I have 60% in winter and 80% in summer and 70-74 indoors - but that's not enough for ultra growth.