Johnnie, I have ricepaper plant taking over my own garden, it is a dieback even in 8b. Last winter DH decided he didn't want it to die back so he made a cover for the area it's in and strung Christmas lights all through it. It worked. We won't do that again, lol, it looks horrible now, lots of long naked sticks, but it is showing signs of blooming early! I guess that will be nice, the bloom is unusual and spectacular. I don't have any advice as to how to overwinter it in your area, but if it doesn't make it just LMK next spring, I'll have tons of them.

I have a ricepaper plant that was given to me as a sucker off of a friends plant here in zone 7 east Tennessee. It has been hardy here. My plant got up to about three feet tall this year but the parent plant gets several feet tall and wide every year. If you have it planted in rich loose soil it will send up suckers after a few years. I mulch mine with pine needles but my friend just leaves the dead top during the winter and cuts it back to the ground before it starts to grow in the spring.

I had one that I got on a trade two years ago. Last year it did wonderfully but I had to transplant it in fall and this spring it got knocked back by a late frost while starting to re-grow and never did well all summer. Whether it doesn't like it's new spot or whether it was that late frost or something else, I just don't know. I'm going to mulch it well and give it one more chance in it's current spot and if it still does badly next summer I will move it again. This time I am going to protect it if frost threatens after it starts coming back up in spring. I was definitely disappointed as it never got bigger than a foot tall and no real growth...it definitely acted stunted. B.

Hi,

Tony Avent of Plant Delight's Nursery has them growing at his nursery down in Raleigh, NC. I just received one from him this week at was about 15" high. I have planted mine in a boggy shady area. His catalog rates them as being hardy in Zone 7. Mine cost $10.00 so they're not that expensive and could be used as an annual.

www.plantdelights.com

Bill

My plant came from Plant Delights this spring. I think some of their zone ratings may be overly optimistic. At best it should be a die-back shrub in my area.

Wave Hills Gardens in New York City ( the Bronx ) has one that had been there for years ,,,, it is growing in an area that has small stone walls, and it freezes back to the ground each winter and regows each spring from suckers ,,

I have one that is about 5' tall that i am going to plant inthe ground here in Stamford Ct. next spring and see what happens ....

It survived last winter and is suckering.

The leaves of my Tetrapanax survived several light frosts this fall (more so than other subtropicals, like elephant ears, cannas, and castor beans) but it looks like temperatures in the mid-20's last week have finally killed the leaves. Our overnight low last night was 20 and I'm afraid to look at my garden--I planted several marginally hardy plants this year, hoping for a mild winter to let them get established. Guess I'd better get out and mulch before the really cold weather hits!

I agree that Tony's ratings are overly optimistic. A wise gardener would deduct 1/2 to 1 zone from most of Plant Delights ratings. After all you are talking about a man who openly claims any plant potentially hardy unless he has killed it himself 3 times! His stuff is great and I applaud his experiments but you have to take into account his zeal. RJ

What a surprise to see this thread pop up again! As an update, my Tetrapanax did indeed survive last winter, which up until THIS winter was our coldest in several years. As I expected it died completely back to the ground, despite a heavy mulch, but in the spring it sent up several new shoots around the old stem. In fact I moved the main plant to a new spot in my garden in early spring, and it continued to send up shoots from the severed roots in the first spot.

I have no idea yet whether it made it through this winter, but I'll post back later in the spring.

I just got one from PND, and am VERY excited about it! What I'm wondering is, you guys who've had good luck with it, where's it planted? More sun, shade, water? I've not heard that it could be boggy. Even more intrigued!

Danny-

As an update, the plants from last year (which I had to move this spring) died to the ground again but are all sending up new shoots from below ground, and in addition I see some shoots popping up some distance from where they were growing previously.

This plant seems to be quite adaptable, and can take full sun to fairly dense shade. I like the look of the foliage better in shade. I'm not sure about water requirements, but it seems to be fairly drought tolerant.

I think PDN's hardiness ratings are reliable IF you grow the plants the same way Tony does. That often means bearms with excellent drainage, watering systems within the berms (if needed) and special soil structures within the berms.
However, the average customer wouldn't know this unless they visited the nursery and saw how he grows the plants!

GGG

So Johnnie B,

Have any of your tetrapanax plants ever flowered? I would love to see the crosses it could make. Araliacae seem to hybridize so well. I have a small dendropanax just waiting to be hybridized someday. And then there is fatsia and kalopanax.

I've had the Steriodal Giant version for several years. I never cut them back or mulch them. In fact, if you want the tropical tree look, do not cut them back as they bloom right on top of last year's growth. Nothing more tropical looking than this canopy.

On the down side, this tetrapanax seems to be as rampant as running bamboo. My husband is scared of it! Has anyone tried to contain this like a bamboo?

Since all of last season, nobody would answer my plea on the exchange forum, I am surprised to find this thread that I somehow missed. I am trying to turn my back yard tropical and cannot find tetrapanax. Would anyone be willing to share or trade or something???

I am also trying to find this plant. Any nurseries in the PNW or anywhere? Thanks.

Hello everyone! I have many pups of what I believe to be the steriodal giant. Mine gets about 15' tall with leaf span of 4-5' wide. I've decided to leave about 15 of them in a large garden & enjoy the canopy they will produce. Everything planted below their canopy enjoys shade to partial sun conditions.

I have plenty of pups to share, of all sizes. If anyone is interested, please email me at vboehme@accentsforwindows.com.

DirtyFingernails

You've got mail! I saw this towering giant at PDN this spring and it looked awesome with just a few leaves sprouting from the top of the stems. I bet it looks even better now. I have been kicking myself for not picking that one up. Maybe I can give my rear end a rest now. haha

Here is Portland, OR we had one of the coldest winters in a long time. Temps stayed at 18f for a week and a half. Several Tetrapanax's here lost their leaves but resprouted from the trunks and look great. There is one inperticular I know of that looks incredible. It is 15' tall and looks like it suffered no winter damage.

Travis

Any mail order nurseries sell Steriodal Giant other than Plant Delights?

And this thread has resurfaced yet again! I'm still growing my Tetrapanax, and it has been completely root-hardy through all these winters although it does die to the ground every year, even with a good mulch. Here's how it looked last year--you can see it in the upper left of this photo:

My main problem with it is that, while it does spread, it comes up late and does take a while to get re-established each spring and doesn't look its best until late summer and early fall.

I've heard that the 'Steroidal Giant' selection is a bit hardier; here's one I photographed in a friend's garden two years ago:

Here's how the same plant looked last weekend:

With no stem dieback in 2 years, I think it's safe to say that 'Steroidal Giant' is a bit hardier than the typical Tetrapanax! This garden is outside the city just to the north of me in Maryland--the plant is growing in a very sheltered location between two houses but probably not much warmer than my own yard in the city.