Monday, November 4, 2019

My, what big leaves you have

Walking down to the patio one afternoon I was surprised to see a fallen Paulownia tomentosa leaf laying across a paver. They usually stay in the far corner of the garden and dry-up there, so I never see their real size. I was shocked to see it almost filled an entire 2-ft square paver. That sent me out gathering other large leaves from around the garden to see how they compared.

Here's the Paulownia tomentosa leaf, pretty much 2-ft by 2-ft.

Magnolia macrophylla, a good 2-ft long

Schefflera delavayi, to be fair to the plant I must say this is a rare three-part, rather than five-part, "leaf." It was the only one I could find on the shrub that was yellowed, and I wasn't about to cut a healthy green one, so, poor schefflera gets represented by an undersized specimen.

Trachycarpus fortunei, much larger than 2-ft square

Tetrapanax papyrifer, also much larger.

Podophyllum pleianthum

And finally, Hosta 'Sum and Substance',

I'll have to do something similar with my small leaved plants someday, although that will be a bit more challenging to photograph.

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Weather Diary, Nov 3: Hi 59, Low 37/ Precip 0

All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

21 comments:

  1. How convenient to have the 2x2 pavers. Fun variety of specimens, the Tetrapanax in particular brings a sense of warm tropical places...

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  2. Great post! Not just for plant ID, but also to see the size and the beauty of these leaves.

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  3. The diversity in leaf shape is so cool. Your display really highlights all their qualities. Poor little hosta looks stunted next to all it's giant comrades.

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  4. This was a fun roundup! If you have a photo scanner, perhaps you could use it to scan your small-leafed plants, instead of using a photo. I did that one year with several Hamamelis leaves because I wanted to preserve their great fall colors.

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  5. Great idea. Using 'Sum and Substance' was a real help as it is a Hosta that we all think of as having large leaves. Guess not that big after all.

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  6. That was a fun art project/horticultural exercise! How I wish we had more of the big-leaved plants you grow so successfully in the PNW. Unfortunately, a steady diet of hot, dry weather doesn't support big leaved plants.

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    1. Wind is unkind to big leaves that's for sure, and so is hail.

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  7. In the footsteps of giants! :)

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  8. So I have some envy. On the other hand,I am inspired to look at the leaves in my garden and appreciate their attributes - though I have nothing that can compare with Clifford , and Tetrapanax i've never seen in my area.

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    1. There isn't any reason why you couldn't grow tetrapanax is there? You should get one! They really don't need that much water. I don't water mine much at all.

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  9. The Hosta looks so tiny! Cool post.

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    1. And yet it's really so big! Well, for a hosta...

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  10. Cool foliage. As Kris said the climate down here is tough on big leaves--especially the Santa Ana winds that shred them into ratty brown fringe. Palm would be an exception.

    Enjoyed your photos. Also, weirdly, that the pavers look cool and moist. It is still painfully dry here.

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    1. I remember seeing shredded banana leaves in LA and realizing there was a benefit to our bananas going dormant for the winter, we get to lose the old shredded leaves and start new each year.

      And yes, the pavers have taken on their cool season coloring. Although we're having a freaky dry Oct/Nov after a rainy September.

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  11. Fun! As Ms Garbo might say, "I want to be leafed alone."

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