If you have a shady garden, do you have a fern living in there? If not, why? It is the PERFECT shady plant! With a wide variety of colors, sizes, textures and looks, I promise that there is the right match to blend and compliment your garden.
It only takes a short hike through the woods to find a fern. In this photo, you will see a plethora of fern growing in moss on top of a rock. This is a great way to show it’s natural habitat as well as the hardy resilience of this plant.
Ferns have been in existence for more than 300 million years and range in size from 1/16” to 12’ span. The Frond is the “leaf” or flowering part of the plant and vary greatly through species.
It is important to select the right kind of fern for your garden. HERE is an article that will help you in the process. Most important to remember, ferns are perennial plants so while the mature Ostrich Fern will fill a garden in the summer, it will be bare all winter long so they are not advised for foundation plantings. Cinnamon Fern has a lovely reddish color, smells of cinnamon, and makes a nice accent in a shady garden. Another nice fern is the Japanese beech fern, which you can read about by clicking here.
Graphically organic, I find this plant to be the source of inspiration and wonder. In it’s gentle beauty comes strength.
If you want to learn more about ferns, check out the American Fern Society website at http://amerfernsoc.org/index.html.