John & Maria's Garden Pages

I like big leaves

In many ways I could be considered a foliage gardener.  Oh, I like flowers, the more brightly exotic the better, but the attraction of leaves is always foremost in my mind when buying or simply admiring plants.  Leaves simply last longer than often ephemeral flowers and a garden full of interesting foliage retains it's form and structure far longer through the year.  And for the tropical look, the bigger the better.

Which is why I like Fatsia and the closely related Tetrapanax.

Most people will be familiar with the big glossy leaves of the evergreen Fatsia japonica, the Japanese aralia, commonly grown as houseplant but hardy enough to grow unprotected through most of the UK.  It can grow pretty big but is amenable to some pruning for shape.  For years it was a feature adjacent to my small pond but I had to remove it to make way for a connecting path to my daughter's house.  I've not replaced it but I do have my eyes on the rather eye-catching white stippled form 'Spider's Web'.

Possibly slightly less hardy is Fatsia polycarpa from Taiwan.  The foliage is not quite as glossy as F.japonica but the leaflets are more divided, particularly in the selected 'Needham's Form'.

This form is growing well at The Garden House, surviving quite harsh frosts and snow in it's site at Buckland Monachorum on the edge of Dartmoor.  When it flowers in late autumn it's then that you see the big difference between the two species.

These are the flower heads of F. polycarpa...

...while these belong to F. japonica.

If you notice any resemblance to ivy (Hedera) flowers it's not surprising.  Both Fatsia and ivy are in the same Schefflerieae tribe of the Araliacea and can even cross to produce x Fatshedera hybrids.

At one time the Japanese rice paper plant, Tetrapanax papyrifer, was also counted as a Fatsia but has since been moved to its own genus.  Well grown, this has massive leaves, largest of all in the 'Rex' form.  

At the moment mine has a single stem and I can accomodate it's bulk but time will tell whether I can keep it.  It's flowering at the moment and may well sucker next year.  The leaves are barely frost hardy and I usually lose them every winter but the stems seem fine.  As for the flowers I think they're more notable for the brown indumentum on the stems.  I'll leave you to judge,