Fatsia polycarpa Green Fingers (Japanese Fig Leaf Palm) 🌱

Maybe because my fingers are short, stubby, nobbly & crooked with arthritis….& I’ve always wanted elegant feminine fingers, I’m not sure, but whatever it is this plant spoke to me first time I saw it.

How elegant, how feminine, how delicate those deeply lobed, fine fingers of these palmate leaves were. I love a Fatsia whether it’s a Spider’s Web or a basic Fatsia japonica as they’re so useful being evergreen & good in shade. I like their habit. I like the leathery texture of their palmate leaves. I like that they cope well in a coastal environment. I like the interest through autumn & into winter of the spherical clusters of small creamy-white flowers. But this one, oh gosh, wow! It really is the best of them all, isn’t it?

I cannot believe how huge, yet how delicate the leaves are. I get so much joy looking at both the new young leaves & the older leaves, often it is one or the other for reasons of colour or shape, but all of the leaves on this plant are spectacular. Young branches and leaves are initially covered in delicate brown hairs becoming smooth as they mature.

I bought this Fatsia polycarpa Green Fingers from Sunk Island Garden Centre ;they’re based in East Yorkshire but also do online with Sunk Island Exotics. I bought this back in May & like many of my plants I initially planted it into a large pot. I do this for several reasons. I can move it if easily if I feel the need or I have the compulsion to. I feel I am able to nurture new plants more easily in a pot & give them the best start for any conditions for food & water. I can also check on their root growth when I settle them in to their more permanent home a couple of months down the line.

Yesterday, this Fatsia was the first plant to be planted in pride of place in my new green/white & black raised bed I’m doing. It will be shaded. There are some more trees that are going in the gravel behind it to join the holly, lime & eucalyptus: ginkgo, fig, silver birch. They should also give it some protection. It is hardy down to about -5°C. I’ve under planted it with some

Ophiopogon 'Black Dragon Grass' as it should complement the black berries on the Fatsia I’m looking forward to seeing in the spring.

@just.me.in.my.garden