Clearing Woods - Ferns and Other Forbs - Part 1


make sure you're getting it from someone who grew it from spore or division from a known dwarf form because the form is its chief distinction.
  • Athyrium filix-femina 'Victoriae' - 30-42" European, narrow, crested pinnae forming crosses. Found near Drymen in central Scotland in 1861. Rickard says the original clone of this fern is very rare and very expensive, when it can be found. Over the years many sporelings have been selected and named, which differ from the original plant.

    Sensitive Fern


    Onoclea sensibilis is found growing with other ferns in my woodland. The clump pictured arrived one day, many years ago, at the foundation of the house. Although found mostly in wet woods and by streamsides, it couldn't have picked a drier spot than this. It's also appeared at the front of this border, growing under some junipers and up through their foliage - also not a terrifically moist location, although it does get watered in summer. In the woods, I find it in slight depressions where the soil must stay more moist than most of my woodland.

    This is a very handsome fern, with it's wide, flat pinnae, with shallowly scalloped edges. Its most common 'common' name, "sensitive fern" stems from the fact that the fronds die back quickly with the first frosts. It has another common name, bead fern, which comes from the fertile fronds, which stand separate from the non-fertile ones and about a foot long (30 cm). As you can see from the image in this link, the fruiting stalk has bead-like sori that ripen in midwinter. If you bring them into a heated room, they will shed their spore quickly. Spore need to be sown as soon as possible after they shed, as they have a short viability.

    Sensitive fern belongs to the family Dryopteridaceae and is related to royal fern (Osmunda regalis) and ostrich fern (Matteuccia spp). It's native to eastern North America and eastern Asia and naturalized in western Europe; found generally in wet areas in USDA zones 3 to 8.

    It can be invasive in a small garden, but if you have a bit of damp ground and some room, it is well worth growing. It prefers shade to semi-shade, but will tolerate sun if the ground is sufficiently wet. Where happy, it can reach about two feet (60 cm) in height, spreading from long, creeping rhizomes - faster in wet ground than

    The copyright of the article Clearing Woods - Ferns and Other Forbs - Part 1 in Shade Gardening is owned by Marge Talt. Permission to republish Clearing Woods - Ferns and Other Forbs - Part 1 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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