LOL Tiffany. I expect in time it will naturally sprawl no matter how it gets pruned! It's certain to be allowed to grow however it wants to for a while after the deed is done. I actually have needed the flat side both for pushing it against a wall during the winter and outside it's always been located against an oak tree trunk or, this year, against the galvanized stock trough. I doubt I'll see any blooms. Those buds didn't grow much after it got brought in last winter and ultimately dried out before spring. In fact, those stems put out multiple growth points below the terminal buds. Those two with bud growth didn't grow longer stems, but certainly got bushier and heavier. I'll be cutting all that growth off now. If I were planning to root any and had success, there would be instant bushes
. I'm really only tempted by the growth that lost the variegation and I'm currently tempted to get a brug or plumeria. I don't need another schef, though. It would up too much room when they have to come inside. I'm not in a hurry to prune. I hurt my back working with the cattle, so everything of any size was a painful chore to get inside and nothing is in it's spot for the winter. Lots of rearranging to do when the back recovers enough for me to do it more comfortably.
The original stem started out more or less upright, but it kept growing longer and longer it just kept leaning due to reaching for light when inside and by location outside and also due the the wind here. So gradually it got taller and leaned more until some new branches put out at the base. Those grew and leaned in there own way in time and finally the original stem is so low the leaves brush the ground.
On an uglier note. When you buy a potted green plant for a funeral and what gets delivered is a bunch of limbs stuck in a container decorated with foil, it's not a mistake IMO. That is deception. I asked the coworker what they thought they were buying and they believed I was getting a pot plant to grow. It's not the first time I've seen that occur. I no longer buy a potted plant for funerals for several reasons. There is a lot of stress in a family post funeral and being given something else to take care of just adds to that. Then if it's something that promptly starts to die, the timing is just not very good. I think cut flowers work better in that situation. They are inherently temporary. But if you do want to give a potted plant, you usually can find one at a garden center for a lot less than those in a florist shop and undoubtedly one that has a developed root system in place.
