Another small charmer that I'd love to have is Athyrium filix-femina 'Frizelliae', the tatting fern, whose pinnae are reduced to half inch (1.27 cm) beadlike balls. This one is also deciduous, and while rare, Sue says it's easy to grow outdoors in USDA zones 3 to 8.
| Here's a close-up of the pinnae |
Athyrium niponicum 'Pictum' (I am so relieved that the unpronounceable goeringianum appears to have been dropped from the name!) is one of the most beautiful of deciduous ferns. I have several clumps of this, but wanted to show it to those of you who may not have acquired it for your shady beds and borders. This is a cold tolerant fern, hardy from USDA zones 4 to 9. It likes a moist but not soggy soil and will definitely tell you if it gets too dry, but it recovers quickly.
| Here's a close-up of the frond, showing the intricate wine patterns...just lovely, especially with other red tinted foliage. |
Dryopteris lepidopoda, the sunset fern, is another one that incites pure lust in my heart. Coral, orange and gold....yummm. I've got autumn fern (Dryopteris erythrosora) - wouldn't be without it, not only for its marvelous copper new growth, but for its virtual evergreen-ness in my USDA zone 7 garden. D. lepidopoda is also evergreen to about two feet (60.96 cm) and rated hardy from USDA zones 6 to 9.
The Dryopteris clan is full of members that I want. Dryopteris x complexa certainly is on my list. Sue says it's frequently sold as D. filix-mas 'Undulata robusta' and that the name has been quite unstable. But, what presence! Reaching three to four feet (1 - 1.21 m) and evergreen. Not only that, but Sue says that once established, it's remarkably drought tolerant.
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