The grandest foliage plant for damp or boggy soil, giving a tropical air to temperate gardens. You may shelter beneath huge parasol-like leaves, held aloft on wrist-thick, bristly stalks. Curious flower spikes hide beneath, differing from G. tinctoria as they are finger-like rather than club-like. Apply farmyard manure lavishly. Protect coconut-sized resting buds in winter with own foliage bent over, plus bracken or herbaceous remains.
We are no longer selling Gunnera manicata, as testing has shown it to be a hybrid of G. manicata and G. tinctoria (named G. x cryptica) thus classed as an invasive alien species (under EU legislation, which is still applicable in the UK), meaning it is banned for sale here. We will also take measures to control them in our garden, by removing the flowerheads before they set seed.
We are leaving this page up for educational purposes.
