Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Great Gunnera!

Welcome to Alphabe Thursday and the Letter G!
Holy cow, Great Gunnera! No... this is not something your High School Health teacher was embarrassed to discuss! 

Great Gunnera is a very unique and uncommon plant. 
 (Honeysome Aquatic Nursery)
Often called Giant Rhubarb and sometimes called The Dinosaur Plant, it is a native of the tropical forests of Costa Rica, Columbia and Brazil. The plant itself can grow to be ten feet high and just as wide, with single leaves reaching 4 to 6 feet across! 
 (photo found on Flickr)
Gunnera prefers wet, boggy soil and so it is a perfect plant to use beside a pond. It also prefers some shade, especially in hotter climates. I'm told it does not like cold weather nor does it like hot humid weather. I've also read that is very finicky and difficult to grow. Despite all this, I decided the unmatched drama of the foliage was worth a try! I located a nursery in Oregon, Forest Farm, that carries tuber plants at a very reasonable price. I ordered three and was very pleased with my purchase. Not only was the service fast, but the tubers were a really nice size with a great root structure and at least 3 new leaves on each plant. When the tubers arrived, I removed them from the small pots they arrived in and transplanted them into large pots for a few weeks so they could become acclimated to our climate. This past weekend I decided to plant them in the ground. I planted one at the edge of the pond near the waterfall, one towards the back of our yard in a very "natural" area and the third I planted in the shade garden off the side screen porch. 
 This is a shot of the one I planted near the pond. The other plant in the picture, the one in the far right,  is Alocasia Portora, another giant, tropical plant!
I can't wait to see how these guys perform and I'm hoping I'll have some spectacular pictures to share with you over the summer!
Please visit Jenny at Jenny Matlocks for more inspiring Big G posts!

25 comments:

  1. Can't get over the size of those leaves!

    wowsa!!!

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  2. That is a massive plant. I would have to get a bigger yard...lol....

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  3. OOOOOONan I love that plant...I bet it would grow great in my back wooded field...actually it's a wildflower natural garden area...the birds and animals love it....hhhhmmmm

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  4. Goodness! It's HUGE! The leaves are gorgeous.

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  5. This plant is huge. It is truly amazing!

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  6. Good gosh that one plant there was so huge I've never seen anything like that.

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  7. What a cool plant! I hope it takes and flourishes in your backyard!

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  8. Oh my! That plant is HUGE! When I saw the first photo, I didn't think it was really that big until I saw the next one with the girl standing next to the plant. Wow!

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  9. Holy Vegetation Nan!
    I have never seen a plant so big. Please be carefulk as it grows that you don't get swallowed up!
    I just read your Memorial Day post...it was a great read and brought many of the same childhood memories as yours. My Dad served in the Phillipines and he never spoke about it either.
    Hope you are having a sunny, happy day!
    xoxo
    Joyce

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  10. Yikes! Great Gunnera for sure. For the first time ever I traveled to South Carolina to attend our Son-in-laws graduation at Parris Island. We stayed in Beaufort. Beautiful area...
    Have a great rest of the week!

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  11. I think those might take over your yard and eat you! I wish I liked to garden!
    have agreat day!
    vivian

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  12. Wow! You'd need a very large garden to grow that successfully!

    A really impressive plant,lovely pics & lovely blog!

    XOXO Lola:)

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  13. Great Gunnera is a Grandiose plant! WoW!

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  14. Good luck with those plants. I hope they do well.

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  15. How about keeping us posted on the plant's growth! Interesting post!

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  16. I liked your funny intro to this!

    I know that plant! It is absolutely grand and glorious. The scale of those leaves is incredible. You can actually cast cement into them to make bird baths!

    Thanks for a fascinating stop this week!

    A+

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  17. WOW! WOW! WOW! I've never seen this before! As a biology teacher and gardener, I really appreciate your sharing this!
    Barb

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  18. We have a Gunnera in our garden - the Great Dane planted it six years ago and it seems to be very happy here. I love the 'flower' that pops up in late summer - like a strange little tree.

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  19. Get out of town! That is amazing! I hope yours do well, because they sure look like a fun plant to grow!

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  20. I think I just saw one of these as McMenamin's Edgefield outside of Portland... It was amazing! Good luck with yours.

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  21. I found your site when trying to find a picture of this plant by looking up 'giant plant' in google, lol. We had passed it (here in Oregon) while on a family bike ride and my 6yr old stood by it for a picture. Thanks for sharing :)

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  22. I just bought a house with one of these plants in the front yard. I hope its not hard to grow or I will end up killing this huge plant!

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I appreciate each and every one of your comments! Thank you for taking the time to leave such nice words!