This stunning , braggy - leafed plant may be the Next Big Thing in garden conception .
Leonardo Marino / Getty Images
It took me about a tenner of garden to learn simpleness at the nursery whenshopping for plants . But these 24-hour interval , I ’m passably nonindulgent about what makes it into my tiny backyard garden : plant call for to process a real aesthetic or practical aim and have interesting foliage for most , if not all , of the yr .
Credit:Leonardo Marino / Getty Images
That ’s why the gargantuan leopard plant ( Farfugium japonicumvar.giganteum ) , with its unusual , oversized round leaves , late catch my optic . of late , I ’ve been spotting it in some of my favorite garden designers ’ projects , including many in affectionate , dry regions like the one I live in . Maybe it was the plant to finally fill an empty patch of ashady bedin my backyard ? Before making the jump , though , I require to do my homework .
Lee Gray
What are Giant Leopard Plants?
jumbo leopard plant ( sometimes called tractor butt plant ) is an herbaceous perennial with glossy round entrust up to 18 in across on plants reaching 3 to 4 metrical foot marvellous . It come from Japan , where it grows in shady spots along current banking company and in coastal areas . In late summer and drop , it sport small , yellow , daisy - like flowers .
Matthew Benson
Travis Hallmark , Courtesy of Word + Carr
The plant’s dark green glossy leaves contrast well with lighter foliage tones, creating depth in planting palettes, says landscape designer Lee Gray, who used the plant in a green-on-green Australian courtyard.Credit:Lee Gray
Why Garden Designers Love Giant Leopard Plant
Garden architect are drawn to the giant leopard plant for the same reason it invoke to me : Those leaves . “Its rounded foliage mannequin and glossy green colour reminds us of a lily pool ’s bound , “ say Jessie Booth , collaborator ( with Clementine Jang ) at California landscape painting design firmSoft Studio . Flora Grubb mark that the flora is hugely popular ather eponymous style - advancing nurseriesin San Francisco and Los Angeles : " The adorable leaves remind me of thePilea peperomioides , which hoi polloi also went loopy for a few year ago . " Yep , I was one of those people .
Megan McConnell , plant information director atMonrovianurseries , hold that the popularity of giant leopard plantis emphatically on the upswing . “It fits a current garden drift ofcreating a relaxing retreat , ” she says . “ Big leaf creates tranquillize spaces . ”
In designers ’ landscapes , I ’ve seen elephantine leopard plants used in all form of ways : Mixed into shade bed , as a dividing line towispy ferns ; lined up in masses , where they create more of a graphic look ; and asaccents in containersor alongside steps , where the flora is with child enough to be impactful but not overwhelming .
In a container, giant leopard plants' rounded leaves balance the sword-like foliage of New Zealand flax.
But rarely do those yellow flowers seem to show up in the landscape I ’ve seen . “ Personally , I dispatch the flower stalk as it emerge , ” says Grubb . “ The industrial plant definitely does not take the silly sensationalistic flower . ”
Caitlin Atkinson , Courtesy of Flora Grubb Gardens
Soft Studio
“Farfugium japonicum is a gorgeous statement plant that adds legible form and texture to a garden,” says landscape designer Rosemary Harris of Word + Carr, who used the plant in this verdant Austin, Texas, garden.
Giant Leopard Plant Care Considerations
Here ’s the catch , for my California garden at least : This is a plant that loves water . ” It likes organically rich stain that stays moist , is partial to full ghost , and is happy with humidness , ” says McConnell . But designersin warmer , desiccant climatestold me that once it ’s establish , the flora is more forgiving than you ’d have a bun in the oven .
" Whilst it takes a time of year to adjust to its new surroundings , it has examine to be tougher in its ontogenesis habit as the plant life matures , " says Australian garden designer Lee Gray , who care tomist the plant ’s leavesat the end of specially spicy days . What giant Panthera pardus plants wo n’t forgive is direct good afternoon sun , which make them to combust and tumble .
Of naturally , no plant is right for every garden , and for hoi polloi in insensate winter climates , giant leopard plants are off the table ( they ’re best forHardiness Zones 7 - 10 ) . For a audacious choice , McConnell suggestsa large hostalike ' Blue Angel ' or ' Sum and Substance ' ; as a abject - water option , she recommends oak tree leafacanthus . And for a sun - get laid works that also make a ocular splash , Grubb likeselephant ’s pinna .
The plants do well under the shade of an awning, as in this design by Daniel Nolan for Flora Grubb Gardens.
Secret Gardens
But none of those plants quite delight and surprise me like elephantine Panthera pardus plantdoes . So while its potential hunger gives me suspension , I ’m read a chance on it — a little one , at least . I ’m trialing just one plant instead of the several that I ’d eventually wish to apply in my shady molding . I ’m decease toplant it in the fall(ahead of our mild and hopefully showery wintertime ) and in the drier month , assess how much subsidiary irrigation it needs . If it make it without being too much of a weewee hog , next year may be the twelvemonth of the jumbo leopard plant for my garden .
The designers at Soft Studio used the plant to bring “a sense of lushness and whimsy” to the entrance of this California backyard sauna.
The rounded forms of giant leopard plant and topiary conifers make for a bold border in this garden by landscape design firm Secret Gardens.Credit:Secret Gardens
