I'm fascinated that you lost so much from the top growth Dave. I planted 2 Fatsia japonica and 2 Fatsia japonica 'Variegata' in the ground in Sep 2010, up here in merry old Yorkshire. These were only from 3L pots and other than the expected droop with the frost, they cruised through that shocking spell that hit us all. The Variegata's were quite slow producing new growth last summer, but the plain green ones have shot up. I'm really regretting not having any temperature equipment outside, but I did take some snaps over a period of a few days. It was quite disturbing how much the ground moved over a few days.Dave Brown wrote:I lost the top 2 feet off my 8ft tall, 10ft wide Fatsia, at -10C in Dec 2010, and growth was very weak last year.
If you're curious, a 10L Phormium tenax was planted right besides them and was almost completely trashed. There's barely been any new growth since, but it's still clinging on.
My hardiness vote is -15C