Autumn Fern
DRYOPTERIDACEAE, The Wood Fern family
Also know as Japanese Shield Fern

I find most ferns lovable, but this one is my favorite right now. It’s so useful in landscaping because of its neat habit and seasonal interest. It has strong stems, kind of like a bracken fern, and a bronze cast to the new leaves, turns green in summer then a rusty red-orange in fall. I even like its botanical name, which has an earthy, crunching through leaves in the woods sound. It grows in full or partial shade, and needs average water for a fern (which is to say, regular supplemental moisture during dry spells). It grow to about 2 feet tall and wide. It is native to China and Japan, and is hardy in zones 5 to 8.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 25th, 2006 at 8:26 pmand is filed under Plant Of The Day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.