Amazing, Gunnera growing in both Costa Rica and in this photo from Scotland. The leaves do get huge!

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And here's the solution for the children:

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Both beautiful photos. I have longed for that one in my garden for a while now.

And Anna, you have lovely children. Mine give me the "Crazy mom" look when I pose them against pretty plants, too.

Beautiful kids -- and plants. I have a friend after me to go to Costa Rica with them in Jan. They are thinking about moving there!

Anna
had always thought that was what they are. On my visit they were identified as "Poor mans umbrella" in Spanish of course. The higher the altitude the bigger and more impressive.
I wanted to see wild orchids and with a lot of hiking and tree climbing i actually got to see four unidentified species .lol Not too good with 1700 natives Needed binoculars to just get a glimpse of the leaves.
Took my daughter 30 years to appreciate plants the grandchildren are still in the "big deal " stage.
They are into the important things in life like what to wear and who said what about who lol gary

Anna, forget the plant, your children are as beautiful as you are! They must keep you guessing all the time! LOL Actually that is a very impressive plant, of course Ricky went all the way to Scotland to find one-leave it to him!

Oh, wow, Ricky, that bench in the photo really shows off their size, doesn't it? Amazing, beautiful photo. The ones I saw were in the wild. I saw really big ones, but not that big by a long shot, I don't think. They weren't perfect, either. As you can see, the elements wore some holes and spots on them, but they were beautiful, nonetheless. Thanks for posting that.

Thanks for the kid compliments. Like for most parents, they are my pride and joy and wonderful kids. I really tried hard to make gardeners out of them, but somehow, it did not work ... at all.

Katkin, I really loved Costa Rica. Definitely go if you have a chance. If you love plants, the whole country is like eye candy. The plants there were much like what we can grow in south FL, and many that are more California plants, but larger and more vigorous. They have ideal temps and lots more rain than we do. The country is really green and beautiful. I'm going back someday.

Gary, I did see some orchids in the wild. Only one in bloom, and I did not really know what they were. Lots of bromeliads too, and lots of dense vegetation of all kinds in the cloud forest. So pretty.

I wish Gunnera manicata would work here. Don't think it would be possible, tho.

Anna

Do you recall what elevation you were at with the Gunnera? The'd fizzle out here in Florida. Perhaps some success in Panhandle if in a cooler microclimate. Seen them a lot in Northwest and Northeast and inbetween in areas zone 5 or 6 to 7-8 on southern end.

I've noticed, although not as dense, is that you can get a general look of gunnera with the Japanese Paper Plant, which is either Panax or Tetrapanax.

THoughts?

Longwood
I killed several or these lol Did well during winter but when the high night temps set in they croaked. They reall y are an alpine plant.
Costa Rica has 12 climate zones due to the altitude changes and the tropical convergence zone. Everything from permanent frost to permanent torrid zone. The rainfall is dramatic varing from under 10 inches to over 300 only miles apart. Another striking feature is the tremendous runoff from all the rain which creates area much wetter or drier than would be expected. The whole darn country is a greenhouse lol. gary

True, COsta Rican delights are all over.

I recall vividly learning about how the native ranges of North American Oaks and rhododendrons and vacciniums with the native northern-most range of the same genera from SOuth AMerica intersect in Costa Rica around Arenal. I saw that. Plus, then you have the cloud and lowland rainforests as well as darn-near Mediterranean near Guanacaste/LIberia. The roadside fruit stands were the best; although the roadside restrooms the worst. I never knew how important I was until there were at least 2 people waiting for me as I did business; not becuase they had to go, just that they were much more interested in my "products".

Too bad so much is lost to grazing and new clearing.

Hi Longwood!

I think we were at an altitude of over 8,000 feet. We were at the crater's edge. The whole area is misty, wet and in a cloud forest. We wore sweatshirts and were cool. In 60's or high 50's at 9 or 10 am. There were areas of dense vegetation, and these were more in areas of some clearing or on the edges. Don't know if humans had something to do with them initially, but they also seemed to be scattered where no one would think of planting them. There were many. Not so big as Ricky's photo, tho.

Anna

Anna

Anna - I don't believe we were as high up as you, but the temperature and climate were identical. Scotland is at the very end of the Gulf Stream and it does get some fairly good weather for growing plants.

Anna
You didn't make it to Monte Verde or Rara Avis?? They are montane raiforest .Temps are always below 70 and humidity is consistantly above 80 percent but too high up to rain .
I was so surprised i needed a jacket to go into the forest lol.Coats and jungles just don't seem to go together lol I'm going back sometime this year or two Think I'll spend most of the time up there .Parque Armistad would be great but think my mountain climbing days are over lol.
Think I'll take my youngest grandson and see if he can climb trees lol gary

Hi Gary!

Yes, we did go to Monteverde. Took a cloudforest tour up there and did the ziplines. Just breathtaking. Also went to the Arenal area. Someday would love to go to the Osa peninsula.

I wish we could do better with the Gunnera here. I've seen beautiful hypertufa birdbaths and stepping stones made using the leaves as patterns/molds.