Aralia blooming

Click on the pictures to enlarge them

Aralia (Fatsia japonica) is one of my favorite plants.

I have three of them. They are planted in different parts of my garden. Which one grows the best?The first one grows in a shady place near the house.

It gets some sheltered morning sun and is protected from the wind by tall firs and the row of arborvitae.
Here it is, on the pictures above and below.

The second plant grows in front of the house and gets a lot of morning sun. Although it's standing not far from the wall, it is open to the winds.

The third plant is located on the border close to the fir trees. It also gets some morning sun. The worst is that its roots have to compete with conifers' roots for space, nutrients and water.
Did you guess which plant is the happiest? If you think the first one, you are right. It's the biggest and the most bushy of all of them. Its leathery leaves are huge and glossy.

It blooms every year profusily in late summer and fall.

The plant in front of the house has plenty of space, moisture and nutrients. Last year, it was the same size as the aralia under the conifers.

Notice the roof above the plant #2!

Wind never caused any damage to it.
Nevertheless, it suffered the most during the last winter' snow storms. Suffered from what? The danger came from above. It got blasted by heavy snow that accumulated on the roof and slid down when the days got warmer.

This is how it looked last spring:

Ouch! Poor plant! But wait! Although being badly damaged, it proved to be a survivor.
It fully recovered and looked good last summer.

Aralia blooms are beautiful.

Small creamy white flowers create compound umbels 12 inches (30 sm) or more across. They remind me of snowflakes:

I love Aralia for its tropical look, architectural habit and late display of flowers. They say it's susceptible to fungal and bacterial leaf spots, mealybugs, scale insects, spider mites and whiteflies. Luckily, my plants have been healthy and free from these problems so far.
It's recommended to grow Aralia in fertile, well-drained soil in full sun or light, dappled shade and to shelter it from cold, drying winds.
I wouldn't say that my plants grow in very fertile soil, but the best performer, plant #1, has dappled shade and is better protected from winds than two other plants.
Originated in Eastern Asia, Aralia does well in the Pacific Northwest. I can not grow many tropicals here. That is why I value Aralia for giving me a tropical look and being hardy.

Aralia can be grown as a house plant. I used to have an attractive Variegated Aralia "Spider Web" - a rare form with variable speckled and splashed variegation on large glossy leaves.

We bought it during one of the NW flower and garden shows. I made a mistake and set it outside in a shade while we went on a trip. I thought it would be safer since a teenage girl was supposed to look after my plants. Well, she did. But, she badly overwatered it, and it died.

To end this post on a positive note, this is one more picture of Aralia's bloom:

***Copyright 2009 TatyanaS

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