Yeah it's proper overkill. I wonder about the beautiful ones at Beth Chattos and other places like the National Gardens in Wales I've been to and admired. What will happen to their huge specimens. They're just awesome in their full potential.
I believe it's escaped from some gardens in Cornwall and thriller parts of the West Coast. This might help; Gunnera – your questions answered .
If you have one already in your garden then that's fine. You just cannot propagate it, share it, or release into the wild. Risk averse people may want it removed before buying your property.
I had a look, DEFRA have got it wrong I think. I know we struggled to get Gun. M. to mature at the retreat house I used to work at. There was a lovely stream and planted perfectly on the bank it always succumbed to frosts eventually. Maybe DEFRA should take over the home office being so vigilant against alien species
That's what Dovefromabove put up earlier in the thread and what I copied and pasted from. That's putting it up there with Japanese Knotweed. Crazy.
@Banana Man How about Gunnera insignis if you can find one. Plant World Seeds may have seed if you cannot find a plant. I've just come across it on a different web site. Seems to be pretty big, but not necessarily hardy; it is grown in some gardens in Cornwall.
I don't believe Gunnera is banned ( yet ) they hasn't been a date from when it will be banned so legal it can still be bought and still available online plants and seed, unless someone can find some info on it ? . Personally I think its rubbish to ban all the large cultivars especially as its tinctoria is the problem variety .
There is an article in the June issue of The Garden ( the RHS magazine). It has been on the banned list since 2017. It is banned by association. As mentioned above all cultivars share genetic material with an invasive species. Overkill maybe but you can blame the geneticist, as well as keep renaming things, it's they that found the genetic cross that led to the ban.
Probably be selling at high prices on the black market now, that usually happens when you ban something.
I saw Gunners insignis the other week, at a plant sale. An interesting plant, quite decorative. Can be grown in a damper part of the garden rather than pool side. If I'd got such a spot I would've happily given it a home.
Gunnera manicata - ruibarbo gigante - hojas enormes - 20 semillas seeds | eBay Gunnera insignis - 5 pieces of seeds | eBay
Al of us are not able to get to Garden Centers. And not everything you desire is available at them anyway ... especially if you like the out of the ordinary.
