Getting up close to my Fatsia

Seeing how the frost affected my Fatsia last week reminded me I hadn't shared any of the pictures I took early December when it was in flower. So as there's nothing much happening garden-wise right now I'm sharing them this week. 

Our Fatsia is easily six foot tall, its waxy green leaves are a striking feature mid-way up the garden. It's a well established plant that responds well to pruning, so much so that it always comes back stronger even though I often think I've cut too much...

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The flowers are a real treat, the spheres look almost fluffy. The birds are keen on them too... 

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Each of these green stems holds a leaf - that's a lot of leaves.  

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Some of the flowers are clearly more attractive to the wildlife than others.  

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And if you've ever wondered what it's like inside a Fatsia plant, then here you go: 

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Often getting inside it is the best way to prune it (not that I'm pruning it now) or to retrieve leaves that didn't make it. The leaves take an age to decompose in the leaf bin though, so often they go straight into the council green waste bin instead. 

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And just for fun, I reversed the colours of this photo during editing and I quite like the effect of my x-rayed Fatsia! 

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Next week I'm hoping to share a garden from my Dorset travels - well at least one, and hopefully some snippets from the gardens of the village we're staying in.