shade, especially afternoon, and winter protection in zone 7. they are considered marginally hardy below zone 8.
you might want to plant it near a building wall and mulch heavily for winter.
i think they are beautiful plants. i have a small one in a woodland setting. it has been very slow to establish.

My Fatsia is out in the yard under the canopy of a large Cherry. It can gety a bit of burn in a real cold winter but comes back well each year. They like lots of light and not too much afternoon sun. The late afternoon sun tends to wilt them and brown the leaves a bit.

By the way.... I have your Voodoo Plant potted up. Are you coming to the trade in October?

Thanks for the info.

Vroomp - I am not sure if I am coming to the fall plant trade. But of course, if there is a Voodoo plant waiting....

Uli

I have had one for about 5 years; purchased as a 1-gallon plant. It is on the east side of the house. It gets sun until about 1:30 or 2:00 pm.

It has seen 8º with no trouble. Below 20º they do get a "wilted" look just like Rhododendrons. Currently the plant is 4-ft wide and 5-ft tall.

I have Fatsia planted on the north side of my 2 story house in the house bed about 2 feet out from the house, so it gets almost no sun at all. I have it mulched heavily with pine straw and so far for the last 2 years, it has stayed green during winter and has grown well during summer. But it gets shelter from the house also and the tall pine trees over the yard. When I planted it, I used a lot of compost and am sure to keep it watered when we are having these droughts.