Best Ferns for Your Garden

If you have lots of shade but too many deer for hostas, rely on ferns for color and texture, especially blended with flowers. Many are natives, with a startling variety of colors, shapes, sizes.

Ferns are part of an ancient group (mosses, liverworts) dating back ~300 million years—before dinosaurs! They're easy to grow; a fern suits almost any location. Hardiness varies by species.

How to Grow Fern Plants in Your Garden—Plant in part to full shade, rich well-drained soil. All climates need protection from afternoon sun to prevent drying and leaf scorch.

Ferns reach 12 inches to 6 feet tall depending on type/conditions. Prefer rich, humus-filled soil. Mix compost into planting holes; cover annually with 2 inches composted oak leaves or organic mulch to keep fed and moist.

Like other perennials, divide in spring or fall. Keep divisions well-watered until established.

Some spread by underground runners—helpful for groundcover, unwelcome in formal plantings. Research characteristics before planting.

Ferns are ideal woodland garden companions, offering texture change with other perennials. Other deer-resistant companions: astilbe, hellebore, barrenwort, heart-leaf brunnera. Learn more about dividing perennials.

Holly Fern (Polystichum spp.), native to eastern US, get name from tough green leaves persisting through winter for Christmas decorations. Clip last year's leaves in early spring before new growth. Learn more about holly fern.

Western Sword Fern (P. munitum) thrive in coastal settings, glossy deep green fronds 3-4 feet tall/wide. Zones 5-10.

Japanese Tassel Fern (P. polyblepharum) shorter, 18-24 inches tall, 10 inches wide. Good in containers. Zones 6-10.

Hay-Scented Fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula), native to eastern US, arching yellow-green fronds smell like freshly mown hay when bruised. 3 feet tall/wide, quickly spreads as groundcover. Zones 3-8. Learn more about hay-scented fern.

Lady Fern (Athyrium spp.) beautiful and dainty. Vary greatly in size/structure; some upright, some spreading. Relatively tolerant of sun and dry soil; drop leaves in fall.

Three showy cultivars: Japanese painted fern (A. niponicum pictum), 2004 Perennial Plant of the Year; Athyrium 'Ghost'; 'Lady in Red' (A. filix-femina 'Lady in Red').

Japanese painted ferns: silver fronds brushed with red/blue on burgundy stems. 12-18 inches tall, 24 inches wide. Best color with a few hours morning sun. Zones 4-9.

'Ghost' more upright than Japanese painted but same silvery foliage. 1-3 feet tall/wide. Zones 3-8.

'Lady in Red' cross between Japanese painted and Southern lady fern. Strongly vertical, brilliant red-violet stems, lacy light green foliage. 20-24 inches tall, 3 feet wide. Zones 3-8.

Many other lady ferns make fine garden plants, e.g., crested lady fern (A. filix-femina 'Cristatum') with frilly double leaf edges. Learn more about Japanese painted ferns.

Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum spp.) delicate airy look belies toughness. Wiry stems hold broad leaflets at tip, umbrella-like. Noninvasive; good planted in groups.

Northern maidenhair (A. pedatum aleuticum): 24-inch black-purple stems with arching branchlets like fingers. Straight species and variations ('Miss Sharples' light yellow-green new growth; 'Japonicum' pinkish-bronze new growth). Zones 5-8.

Southern maidenhair (A. capillus-venerus): native southerner, thrives in heat/humidity, needs consistently moist soil. Bright green fronds on blackish stems 18-24 inches. Zones 7-10. Learn more about maidenhair ferns.

Osmunda Ferns—among largest ferns for home gardens. Native east of Mississippi and a few western spots; thrive in very moist soil.

Cinnamon fern (O. cinnamomea): erect 36-inch reddish-brown spore-bearing fronds in center of light green fronds reaching 5 feet tall in 24-inch-wide clump. Grow at pond edges or informal woodlands. Zones 4-9.

Interrupted fern (O. claytoniana): brown fertile leaflets interrupt green sterile leaflets on larger fronds. 3 feet tall, 6 feet wide, deciduous fall. Zones 3-6. Learn more about cinnamon fern.

Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris)—for taking over wet woodland space. Large vase-shape ferns unfurl fronds to 5 feet (3 feet typical). Green fronds resemble ostrich plumes. Don't plant with well-behaved perennials; it bullies them. With space and average to moist soil, quickly makes junglelike groundcover. Tolerates sun if soil never dries; in shade, fronds burn if soil dries. Zones 3-8. Learn more about ostrich fern.

Wood Fern (Dryopteris spp.)—tough, beautiful, drought-tolerant once established. Some evergreen, some drop leaves in fall. Divide clumps every 3 years for symmetrical forms; undivided become large and unattractive.

Autumn fern (D. erythrosora): coppery fronds in spring (18 inches), shift to green summer, rust-color fall. 'Brilliance' for brighter red new growth.

Marginal wood fern (D. marginalis): native rocky woodland slopes, vase-shape clump 18 inches tall, 2 feet wide. Zones 3-8. Learn more about wood fern.