Athyrium

More Information About Athyrium

Athyrium (Lady fern) has long been prized (especially during the Victorian fern craze) for being an easy-to-grow and spectacular group of deer-resistant, hardy, deciduous, garden fern. Although Athyrium niponicum (Japanese painted fern) came into the picture much later, it's popularity has now surpassed that of the lady fern.

The sheer number of named selections of the Athyrium filix-femina lady ferns, boggles the mind. The two most popular of the Victorian lady fern selections that have stood the test of time include Athyrium 'Frizelliae' (Tatting fern), and Athyrium 'Victoriae' (cross fern). The most popular of the new lady fern plants is the wonderful Athyrium 'Lady in Red'. Despite the popularity of the genus Athyrium, most gardeners have never grown more than a fraction of the 80-plus species and many do not realize that some species are North Carolina native plants.

The Asian species Athyrium niponicum (Japanese Painted Fern) is also extremely popular and was selected as the 2004 Perennial Plant of the Year. The diversity of Japanese painted fern foliage color has led to wonderful cultivars such as 'Burgundy Lace'. In recent years, several fern hybrids have entered the market, most between the Lady fern and the Japanese Painted fern. The most popular continues to be Athyrium 'Ghost', with its lovely silver upright foliage.

As you can imagine by their popularity, most members of the genus Athyrium are quite easy to grow in a wide variety of garden conditions. As a rule, moist, well-drained soils produce the best results.

Plant Delights Nursery has a huge collection of over 1,000 hardy ferns in our garden. If you are looking to buy a fern plant, especially a hard-to-find, cold hardy, garden fern, check out our list of ferns for sale.

Check out our blog posts about Japanese Painted Ferns and about other Athyrium.