Gunnera manicata (Gunnera x cryptica)

Description

Flowers: April to July.  Plant in part shade and moist soil.  HxS  2.5mx2.5m

Gunnera manicata, the giant of the stream side or bog garden, growing to its full potential if well fed and having access to moisture.  From Chile, it can be grown in sun but must be kept constantly moist.  The huge umbrella leaves can grow up up to 1m across on prickly stems and the flowers can appear anytime between the start of growth in spring and mid-summer.  A must if you have room and superb by water, streams or in bogs.  AGM.  Hardiness rating H4.  Pot size 2 litre.

Care & Maintenance.

Plant with the crown raised above the soil giving it around 4 square metres of space. Protect in winter by cutting the leaves and impaling them (inverted) on the stems (they look like Chinese coolie hats!).

September 2022: RHS Wisley have just published their long awaited paper, authored by Julian Shaw with it’s 20+pages of pretty heavy and detailed botanical description, but the gist is that ALL Gunnera sold in the UK and most of Europe for the last hundred years are not G manicata, or G tinctoria, but hybrids of the two now referred to as Gunnera x cryptica. Some look more like one and some like the other, but that is in the nature of hybrids. We have been advised by APHA that we can continue selling these same plants that we have always sold until the mess has been sorted out and the legal position is clear.

December 2023: We have been informed that this plant has now come under the same banner as Japanese knotweed and is banned in the UK. At present we are allowed to sell our remaining stock but can no longer cultivate.