I bought this giant chain fern (Woodwardia fimbrata) last year at the HPSO Hortlandia sale. I wasn't sure how it would like the rain garden. I knew it would like the winter wet but I didn't know if it would be able to take the dryness in summer, not to mention the midday sun.
Well, this guy has behaved like a champ. It gets the carwash treatment in summer instead of a proper slow soak and yet it never showed signs of wilting or browning. I suspect I got lucky but I'll take it.
Better yet, it reproduced.
I hope it will continue to reproduce because I would love for this area to be covered in giant ferns. In the wild these ferns can get to 10' tall. Whoa.
The stats (source: Encyclopedia of Northwest Native Plants for Gardens and Landscapes):
- Zones 6a-9b
- Prefers moist to wet soil
- Full to part shade
- 5x5' in a garden setting, much larger in the wild
- Evergreen
My favorite plant in the garden this week is hosted by Loree at Danger Garden. Be sure to check out what she's liking this week!
So very beautiful…I'd love to see one that's 10 feet tall!
ReplyDeleteThat's so pretty! I love ferns and added one this year. I have a small one that came up around the base of a rose...I'd rather have the fern than the rose. Gotta figure out what to do there!
ReplyDeleteI hear you on that one! There must be something hospitable in roses, my neighbor has a bunch sprouting wild from the base of hers. I always try to steal them before her landscapers tear them out.
ReplyDeleteI love ferns too, and that one is beautiful. I have a couple that get big, but none that get 10 or even 5 feet tall.
ReplyDeleteI have some ferns that volunteer too, but I don't know what they are. A 10' tall fern would be impressive.
ReplyDeleteTen feet tall? Good lord. Looks like if it's possible yours will do it!
ReplyDeleteAren't fern babies the best?
Like I always say, the best ferns are giant ferns! But why can't it be hardy in zone 5? I feel discriminated against.
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