Japanese aralia with big hand-shaped leaves frosted in white. Unusually for a “houseplant,” it is hardy into the 20s and happy in deep shade — which makes it a north-side courtyard plant in the East Valley as much as an indoor one.
Fatsia japonica is a shrub in its native Japan and a shade-garden staple in milder climates, and ‘Spider Web’ is the form with leaves speckled and frosted white, as if dusted with flour. In Queen Creek it does two jobs: a bold foliage plant for a bright, cool room indoors, and a shrub for the one place most plants fail here — a north-facing entry, a walled courtyard or the shaded side of a house where the sun never reaches. It takes frost that would kill a philodendron.
What it will not take is direct desert sun; even a couple of hours in summer burns the leaves. The rest of the bench is on our Houseplants page.
This is the Fatsia ‘Spider Web’ we commonly carry. Availability changes week to week and season to season, so call (480) 987-3308 or stop in to see what’s on the bench today.
Large, glossy, palmately lobed leaves heavily speckled and frosted with white, most strongly on new growth. Grows to three or four feet in a pot, larger in the ground in deep shade. Hardy to the low 20s.
Looking for one that isn’t listed? Ask — we can usually suggest a close match or tell you when it tends to come around.
The care tag was written somewhere else. This is the Queen Creek version.
Indoors, fatsia wants bright indirect light in a cool room; it tolerates a north window better than most. Outdoors in Queen Creek it needs full shade — a north wall, a covered entry, a courtyard — with no direct sun at any time of year. Reflected heat off a west-facing block wall will scorch it even in the shade of an overhang.
Fatsia is hardy to the low 20s, so a Queen Creek winter is no problem outdoors. It actually prefers cool conditions: indoors it does best in a room that isn’t kept warm all winter, and it can sulk in a hot, dry, heated living room. If you keep it inside, a bright entry or a cool bedroom suits it.
Rich, well-drained soil: potting mix with compost for pots, or a bed amended generously with compost in the ground, since our native soil is alkaline and poor. Feed a balanced fertilizer in spring and again in early summer. Repot every two years; it can go into a large container permanently.
Keep the soil evenly moist from April through October; water when the top inch is dry, which is every two or three days for a pot outdoors in summer and every five to seven days indoors. Let it dry a little more in winter. Big leaves lose a lot of water in our dry air; a wilted fatsia recovers quickly once watered but drops leaves if it happens often.
Summer is the hard season. Dry wind and 110°F afternoons stress it even in shade; keep pots against a north wall, water in the morning, and mulch the surface. A plant in the ground with established roots handles summer better than one in a pot. Indoors with the AC it is comfortable, away from the vent.
Scale insects hide along the stems and leaf undersides; check monthly and treat with horticultural oil. Spider mites in dry air. Mildly toxic if eaten. Prune in spring to shape, cutting back to a leaf joint; it resprouts from old wood.
Yellowing, spots, no new growth — snap a photo of the plant and its window and we’ll diagnose it at the bench. Advice is free.
We stock indoor potting mix, orchid bark and perlite for the chunky blends aroids and epiphytes want, balanced houseplant fertilizers, insecticidal soap and neem for the usual mealybug and mite visits, and moss poles, hoops and saucers. The pottery yard has terracotta, glazed and lightweight pots from 4-inch up, plus hanging baskets and cache pots.
Yes, in full shade — a north-facing entry, a covered courtyard or the shaded side of a house. It is hardy to the low 20s, so winter is no concern. Direct sun and reflected heat are what kill it here.
Sun. Even an hour or two of direct summer sun, or heat reflected from a west wall, scorches the leaves. Move it to deeper shade. Brown edges without scorch marks are dry air or underwatering.
In summer, when the top inch is dry: every two or three days for an outdoor pot, every five to seven days indoors. Less in winter. It likes even moisture in a well-drained mix.
It is considered mildly toxic if eaten, though rarely a problem. Keep it out of reach of pets that chew.
Three to four feet in a pot, five or more in the ground in deep shade over several years. Prune in spring to keep it in bounds.
Both. It does well indoors in a bright, cool room, and outdoors in full shade year-round. It is one of the few foliage plants we sell that can make that move.
Fatsia ‘Spider Web’ live on the houseplant bench; any staff member can point you to them. Locally owned, and a short drive from San Tan Valley, Gilbert, Chandler and Mesa.