Favorite Ferns in the Garden

By Andrew Bunting, PHS Vice President of Horticulture

A gardening friend said to me the other day, “I never met a fern I didn’t like.” I thought about that comment and would generally agree. While there are some that are too aggressive for my garden, they almost all can fill a niche in someone’s garden. Many are native and some are not. And most of them are truly deer resistant. 

A true native to Pennsylvania and New Jersey is the Christmas fern, Polystichum acrostichoides. It is called the Christmas fern because it is evergreen and the fronds are still ornamental at Christmas. It has upward-facing 8-12” long fronds. One of its greatest attributes is that it will grow in extreme shade as well as dry shade. Over time the Christmas fern will make large masses which are important ornamentally for the winter landscape. The fronds can be cut back in mid-March and then new fronds will emerge and refresh the appearance of the plant. An Asian counterpart which has stunning evergreen leaves is the Japanese tassel fern, Polystichum polyblepharum. The intricately textured leaves form a rosette about 12” across.  

Another great evergreen fern is the autumn fern, Dryopteris erythrosora (pictured above). It is most likely called the autumn fern because the newly emerging leaves are bronze and have autumnal hues. It has evergreen leaves that form a dense clump that provides excellent winter interest.  

One of my favorites is the Japanese painted fern, Athyrium nipponicum ‘Pictum’ and related hybrids. This spreading fern that can grow in deep shade has delicate silvery-white fronds that often have purple to red tints. This fern can colonize and form a dense mat in the garden. ‘Godzilla’ has large silvery fronds with an attractive purple center. Athyrium ‘Ghost’ will brighten a shady spot with whitish-grey upward-facing leaves. This is a hybrid of the Japanese painted fern with the lady fern, Athyrium filix-femina. ‘Lady in Red’ is a selection of the lady fern with very erect lacy fronds with a red midrib to the leaf. It will tolerate shade and a fair amount of sun.  

The world of ferns is diverse. There are tiny little ferns that grow in the deepest and darkest parts of the forests to the tree ferns of New Zealand that tower almost 100 feet tall. On the East Coast, we are fortunate to have an amazing array of great ferns to choose from for our gardens.