During the late summer one of the most striking types of plant in the garden can be described under the all-encompassing term ‘large-leaved perennial’. They bring many desirable qualities to the border, structure, texture, scale, & that much maligned ‘designer’ word, dynamic. The sudden appearance of giant leaves means that there is a change to the border almost daily, with shoots bursting through to the leaves unravelling into lush green plates & although some can be too dominant in a smaller garden, informed species selection will enable you to find something for your garden.
The king of the large leaved perennial is the statuesque Gunnera manicata. This giant spiky rhubarb can grow to enormous proportions in a south facing, damp & sheltered spot. In Cornwall & Brittany I have walked under the stately leaves as they grow to 10ft in height & to a similar breadth. Usually grown as a waterside plant this is only desirable in the larger garden & as it has tender tendencies it needs to be protected in the winter. Rheum palmatum ‘Atropurpureum’ is a decorative form of rhubarb that flowers well & is less dominant than Gunnera. It is a large plant but can be grown in rich humus in a medium sized plot. Again it favours damp soil but it can survive in a dryer situation. Smaller still is the excellent Darmera peltata (sometimes still labelled Petiphyllum in less progressive nurseries). This looks like a miniature Gunnera, which still makes it a large plant with leaves to 2ft wide in damp conditions, but is an autumnal stunner in its’ own right. Rich burgundy to brilliant orange appear as the leaves change from green to brown, but I have found that the colours are better in full sunshine so avoid a shady spot. For really small gardens the lush leaved motif can be provided by Lilium italicum ‘Pictum’ a perennial bulb that throws a fine marbled leaf.
All the above are all very fine if you don’t want anything stunning in the flower department. For large leaves & flowers your choice is narrowed but some older favourites come to the rescue. Peonies come in a wide range of colours & have luscious leaves that give excellent structure to the border. The only thing to be careful of is to put your Peonies in the right place (good soil & semi shade to full sun), as they are difficult to move later. Rodgersias are wonderful plants that resemble chestnut leaves that appear out of the ground. The flowers are tall & long lasting & the plants are quite amenable to most soil types. In damp soils the Arum Lily (Zantedaschia aethiopica) produces stunning white flowers with tropical leaves. It is, though, susceptible to hard frosts when young so be careful in exposed locations. In woodland the shade loving Trillium grandiflorum produces leaves that come straight out of science fiction from a simple bulb.
Tall plants with large leaves are few & far between but one reliable producer is Macleyea cordata. Height to between 7 to 10ft with long coral coloured umbels (flowers to you & me) with cracking glaucus leaves this is a must at the back of a deep border. One method of producing big leaves from trees or large shrubs is a process called stooling. This involves cutting a trunk down to between 1½ & 3 ft when a tree is about 4ins across & then removing all but three or four buds that appear in the spring. This is vitally important, as left unchecked the tree will produce as many shoots as possible to replace its’ lost canopy & the concentrated growth that will produce large leaves is lost. All this shortens the life of a tree by about half but you should still get 30 to 40 years out of one. Species to pick include Paulownia tomentosa (Foxglove tree), Catalpa bignonioides ‘Aurea’ (Indian Bean tree), Cotinus coggygria (Smoke bush) & Liriodendron tulipfera (Tulip tree). You will lose any flowering season the tree has but you will be rewarded with some stunning leaves. |
