Prickly Rhubarb

Prickly Rhubarb (Gunnera) - S. American plants remarkable for large and handsome foliage. They are hardy if slightly protected during the winter by a layer of dry leaves placed among the stems. Given any diversity of surface it will be easy to select a spot well open to the sun and yet sheltered by shrubs. A large hole, about 6 by 4 feet deep, should be dug out, a good layer of drainage material put at the bottom, and the hole filled with a rich compost of loam and manure. In summer the plants ought to have plenty of water, and a ridge of turf should be placed round them, to compel the water to sink down about their roots. They should also have a mulching of well-rotted manure early in every spring. They thrive on the margins of ponds where their roots can penetrate the moist soil, and if judiciously placed in such a position, they have a fine effect. Though the two kinds G. scabra and G. manicata greatly resemble each other, the leaves of G. manicata are more kidney-shaped and attain a much larger size, often measuring 4 to 6 feet across. The spikes of fruit are also much longer, and the secondary spikes are long and flexuose, where in G. scabra they are short and stiff. Propagated by seed or division of established plants.

Related Flowers

Gunnera Manicata

Gunnera Manicata - Writing from Trelissick, Truro, Mr W. Sangwin says: "It never attains the extraordinary dimensions it is capable of, unless planted in deep, rich soil, with its roots in the water by the side of a pond or stream. Our plant covers a space fully 30 feet across, and consists of from twenty-five to thirty leaves, some of them over 9 feet in diameter, upon clear stems 8 feet high. The crowns are as large as a mans body, of a delicate pink color. Flower spikes are produced freely, and should be cut as soon as seen, or they will check the growth of the leaves. When they die down in autumn, the leaves should be placed loosely over the crowns, with their stems on top to prevent them being blown away by the wind." These plants had attraction, and I never planted them, as they did not seem to be quite at home in an English garden.