What’s wrong with my Japonica?

Victoria.greenough

Hi all!
Bought this lovely plant in the summer and it looked like it was doing ok but now seems to be having some problems. I’ve no idea what’s wrong with it. I have a second in a pot that I’ve moved into a shaded area as I thought it might be getting too much sun, but that hasn’t changed either! Is it too late? What can I do to rescue it?

Fairygirl

They look like Fatsias. They aren't great in pots, but they do best in shade, so it's definitely better if you have them in that kind of location.
They also need a lot of moisture, which is why the don't do well in containers. 
You can cut them back, but it would be best to find the root cause of them wilting. Drought and too much sun are the most likely causes 

Victoria.greenough

Thanks for responding! I’m going to move them to somewhere more shaded. If I cut them back how much/far should I cut? Just the leaves off or right down to the ground?

Borderline

Other than watering, young Fatsia Japonicas are very sensitive to cold weather, so if you have had quite cool nights, it might be reacting to that. Good idea to keep them somewhere shaded if in doubt, but I would wait a bit to see if the leaves pick up over time.

The growth will be slowing down so leaves may take time to adjust to different temperatures. Hopefully, they may recover.

Liriodendron

I wouldn't cut them back now, personally - I'd do what @Borderline and @Fairygirl suggest, ie move them to the shade, make sure they don't dry out and protect them from severe frost.  You might not know until spring if they'll recover - fingers crossed.

Fairygirl

They do get quite droopy in cold weather, but if you're in the UK, it's unlikely to be that just now. Light frosts [ minus 1 or 2] do little damage, and they would bounce back quite quickly if they're healthy, so unless you're somewhere much colder than that, it's likely to be something else.
Mine get plenty of frosts over winter and they can look pretty dire, but they recover once it warms up. It has to be pretty severe for them to succumb completely to cold.
It would be at that point [ late spring] that I'd remove damaged leaves, and do any cutting back.