If you have never seen this fern, you have missed out on a visual feast. Like feathers, a plume of soft sage fans out from petite plum-colored stems on Athyrium niponicum 'Pictum', often referred to as Japanese Painted Fern, Japanese Red Fern or Red Painted Fern. Unlike any other fern, people say she has pewter, metallic hues, making her one of the showiest ferns available for shade or part shade gardens.
Emerging in purple fronds, Japanese Fern's colorful foliage is vibrant from early spring until frost when it goes dormant for the winter. A dwarf, very cold hardy (including southern parts of Zone 3!) fern that naturalizes with ease with short, branching rhizomes, Japanese Red Fern is a low-maintenance, deer resistant, perennial that, when grown in the proper environment, is extremely reliable.
When it comes to environment, Japanese Painted Fern performs best in well-drained, moist (she loves humidity and prefers 2-3 drinks per week but will still look good with less water) soil with 2-3 inches of added organic compost or peat moss. With a moderate growth rate, you will find the mature fronds (9-15 inches tall and 5-10 inches broad) hold their color contrasting strikingly with emerging, purple fronds to form a compact clump.
She performs famously as a border plant due to her dwarf nature. In southern areas, a few hours of morning sun will bring out her highest colors. In northern areas, she can be exposed to more morning sun without sun-burning. Colors are more intense in the spring, in cooler temperatures, or in cooler climates.
Japanese Painted Fern is a deciduous, herbaceous, plant with a whorl of fronds with 6-10 pairs of spore-bearing pinnae (1 to 4 inches long and 1 inch broad) growing from its basal rootstocks. All technical information aside, this is a regal matriarch of the ferns with the vein of vivid purple running through her silvery, sage foliage.
Interesting Facts Athyrium niponicum 'Pictum' was named the 2004 Perennial Plant of the Year.
Some also refer to this as the Japanese Lady Fern, but that is incorrect. Athyrium niponicum is native to East Asia in Japan, northern China, Korea and Taiwan.
Gardener Tips Japanese Painted Fern offers a beautiful contrast to other shade-loving perennials such as Astilbe and Coral Bells.
Japanese Red Fern will not do as well if you allow her soil to dry out, so try for regular watering when you select her location if you ant her to look her best.
If you trim her fronds to the ground in late fall or early spring it will be easier for her to emerge in spring and look her best.
This is a wonderful perennial for dividing as clumps can grow up to two feet wide, making early spring division every 3-4 years a breeze.
General information about Ferns:
When gardeners and landscape designers are looking for a dramatic, vibrant spray of color and foliage, they will often consider ferns for their project.
In addition to sweeping texture and lush greenery, ferns work wonderfully as independent or companion perennials.
Perfect in mass plantings where they create the feeling of a field of grass swaying gently in soft breezes, ferns are also delightful as
borders
where they stand like shapely chartreuse soldiers at the edges of garden beds.
Then again, when used as accents, in single plantings, or clusters amidst a rock garden, you have a moving work of willowy art.
But what to choose?
You’ll be pleased to know that after more than 40 years of experimenting with various ferns, we have compiled a selection of the easiest to grow and hardiest ferns.Essentially, we’ve narrowed the list down for you, so you can select from our varieties with confidence.
A bonus with our ferns is that all, except
Japanese Painted Fern
and
Japanese Shield Fern
are
native to the United States.
Selections like
Christmas Fern
are wonderful
erosion control
options.
With some ferns being
evergreen
and some semi-evergreen, you are sure to find the option that works wonderfully for your garden.
Be sure to check each plant's Description tab for details.
Special note when planting bare root ferns in hot weather: If you plant bare root ferns during hot weather it is common for the foliage to die off. Do not fret, as long as you keep them moist they will grow back foliage. Depending on the severity of the heat it might not be until after summer ends.
Plants are healthy and adapted well once planted.
Yet the baby plants are green when the the mature plants are silver and redish on the website. Customer service confirmed the color will evolve within 4 weeks (or so). Customer service was diligent in checking... Read full review >
These just arrived a few days ago, so i can't speak to how well they'll do in my gardens. But CG provides consistently healthy, good quality plants. These seemed a bit dry and with our awful Houston heat, even watering thoroughly almost every day hasn't... Read full review >
The plants I received the Japanese ferns are in excellent condition they had great root development the packaging was perfect the potting soil is moist there's no indication of any damage whatsoever I'm very happy very satisfied
Performs best in well-drained (but moist) soil with added organic compost or peat moss. Best not to allow soil to dry out. Ferns have delicate foliage that often suffers during shipment and transplanting. Cut off any foliage that is broken, bent, brown or yellow - the plants will quickly recuperate with fresh growth. Bare root ferns are particularly prone to foliage loss, it is not uncommon to have to cut them off at ground level when transplanting. As long as the roots are firm they will recover, often showing new growth within weeks during warm months. If transplanting bare root ferns during warm weather they might not send up foliage until summer ends or the following spring (best to transplant bare root ferns when they are dormant: late fall to early spring).
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