We have long been enamored with all plants in the aralia family, in particular those which are winter hardy in our climate. We’re trying to collect as many forms of Fatsia japonica as possible, and here are a few from the garden this fall. None of these are available yet, but propagation will be starting soon.
Fatsia japonica ‘Moseri’ – this clone is very popular in Europe, but is rarely seen in US gardens. Reportedly, it’s much more winter hardy than the typical seed-grown material that is produced in Florida. Our plant sailed through last years’ bitter winter.
This is a fascinating, still un-named clone from the US National Arboretum, where it has endured winter temperatures well below zero. In addition to its winter hardiness, we love the ruffled foliage. Now, we just need a good name.
This is a form shared by plantsman Dan Hinkley, when we visited him a few years ago. The thick glossy leaves are very different from anything we’ve seen.
Fatsia polycarpa is a species that we collected in Taiwan several years ago. We have several clones that have survived our winter tests, although with a bit of foliar burn. We’ve started taking cuttings of the best of these.
I vote for the thick- glossy- leaved version shared by Dan Hinkley, but they would all be great additions to lend a tropical feel to my garden. Thank you for the photos to compare and contrast them.
I really enjoy your FB posts and informational posts about new discoveries. Thank you for keeping us up to date and offering great advice to perpetual novice gardeners…robin
I especially like the Fatsia japonicas. How about ‘Washington ‘ as a possible name ?
Great suggestion
How about Fats Doomino
Another great idea
Fats Domino!
Well, about 20 years ago I had the luck to discover & get hold of a particularly large- & thick-leaved ‘Moseri-Fatsia” of ‘Old Danish Greenhouse Stock’, over here in Fyn, Denmark & at a local Odense town-market. And a ‘Moseri-Fatsia’ which…”Has Now Actually Decided To Attempt to Become a SMALL TREE”, and with a single trunk & forked into three main-stems, about half-way up.
And then this ‘Moseri’ – albeit planted in a ‘Sheltered Woodland Condition’ – has now managed to withstand our unstable, Danish winter-conditions without a scratch for some 20 years,- and then of course one starts to get more and more curious about the exact origin of this particular, hardy ‘Moseri-Fatsia’ – !!
And then – with the particularly thick leaves & stems of this ‘Moseri’culttivar in mind – one start getting reminded about the ‘Classical Serpentinophyttic Plant-adaptions’… and then start to wonder whether this Fatsia might in fact once have been discovered in one of the many serpentine-locality found around the mountains of S. Japan, perhaps ?!
We now know that this outstanding clone was selected and named by the late French nurseryman, Marcel Moser, who introduced in 1889 at the Paris Expo. I doubt we’ll ever be able to track down where the genetics originated unless we can find a DNA lab willing to tackle the project.