On a completely different note, Gymnocarpium dryopteris, the oak fern, is a diminutive creeper, happy in moist, woodland, acid duff where it will send up fronds throughout the summer, but not aggressively. I would love this child, but I'm not sure it would love my garden since it is rated hardy from USDA zones 2 to 8 and likes the company of Cornus canadensis - a plant who melts in the heat and humidity of my summers. But all of you in far northern gardens could grow this charmer who only reaches about eight inches (20.32 cm) tall.
Lygodium japonicum, the climbing fern is not one to be considered for gardeners in the far south (Florida, Louisiana and neighboring states). It's become a real pest in Florida, smothering natives right and left.
There has been a recent thread on fernet - "Lygodium, the Kudzu of the fern world" - which gives you some idea of the species' propensities.
However, for those of us who garden at the north end of its range (and it's only rated hardy from USDA zones 7-9) it can be considered, with caution. I've long wanted to try it, simply because it's so pretty and I can visualize it scrambling through a couple of rather blah native shrubs that I permit to grow. This one is native to Japan, not the US, and also makes a grand indoor plant where it's not hardy, climbing to great heights in a greenhouse or solarium.
Polystichum neolobatum, a Foliage Garden introduction, is a member of another fern genus with numerous great plants for gardens, including the ever-faithful Christmas fern, Polystichum acrostichoides, native to my own woods.
This ones sounds exceedingly fine...let me quote the catalog description, Sue says it better than I could..."A crispy spine toothed species that rivals junipers for a thorny texture, this evergreen species thrives from Zone 6-9 with glistening bright green fronds enclosed in papery russet scales. It is one of only a few ferns not flattened by wet snow and is a prime choice to enliven the bleak foliage-free winter weary garden."
Polystichum polyblepharum, tassel fern, is an evergreen Japanese native that I've always wanted. The new fiddleheads are covered with a frothy silvery scale and the two foot long (60.96 cm) bipinnate fronds arch over backwards after emerging. This one doesn't want to dry out, but Sue says it's otherwise easy to grow in USDA zones 6 to 9.
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