Japanese Painted Fern

If you've ever tried to plant in the shady part of your garden or dedicated a certain area for shade loving plants, you've probably run across ferns. There are literally hundreds of them to choose from with a wide range of plant form, size and always with a beautiful delicate texture. One of my all time favorites is the Japanese Painted Fern. If you'll take a little closer look at the leaf or frond, you can see how this plant got its name. This plant looks as though it has been meticulously hand painted with its burgundy veining and the lighter colors give it almost a metallic look. This subtle variegation helps the plant to stand out, making a stronger statement in shady areas. And it also provides a nice contrast to other shade loving perennials like hostas, astilbe and coralbells. Last year, when I planted these, they were really quite small; they were just in four inch pots. And as you can see, over the past season, they've really flourished. Whenever I plant Japanese Painted Ferns or any other fern for that matter, I always like to incorporate a lot of rich humus in the soil, and if I can, in the form of compost like this. Since these have done so well, I'm adding a few more to the base of this tree. Now when I fertilize them, I mix a solution that's half the recommended strength. You see, ferns are more delicate than many other plants that you might plant in your garden. Now if you're looking for a plant that has beautiful foliage as pretty as a bloom, you might give one of these hardy little perennials a try. From the garden, I'm Allen Smith. P. Allen Smith Gardens® Copyright 1999 - Hortus, Ltd.