Athyrium filix-femina

Athyrium filix-femina

£6.50

Out of stock

Potsize – 1L

This is the plain native form of Lady Fern, a plant that can be found throughout Britain growing in damp shady sites, but avoiding calcareous soils. It is an extremely hardy species and one that is quite variable from bipinnate to tripinnate sometimes. Whichever, it has a finer appearance than the Male fern and to my nose it is one of the ‘ferniest smelling’ of the ferns. It is fairly soon cut down with the onset of the frosts and is fully deciduous. Whilst a moist atmosphere is always an advantage and that coupled with a moist site will allow this fern to show of its best, once established they will actually tolerate quite dry sites, though with a cost on performance and leaf quality in dry spells.

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The Fern Order (Taxonomical List)

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Description

Athyrium filix-femina

This is the plain native form of Lady Fern, a plant that can be found throughout Britain growing in damp shady sites, but avoiding calcareous soils. It is an extremely hardy species and one that is quite variable from bipinnate to tripinnate sometimes. Whichever, it has a finer appearance than the Male fern and to my nose it is one of the ‘ferniest smelling’ of the ferns. It is fairly soon cut down with the onset of the frosts and is fully deciduous. Whilst a moist atmosphere is always an advantage and that coupled with a moist site will allow this fern to show of its best, once established they will actually tolerate quite dry sites, though with a cost on performance and leaf quality in dry spells.

Ferns

The cultivation of ferns is a huge subject, way beyond the scope of the few words I will write here. However I’ll do my best to give some notes on each genus and its peculiarities of cultivation and any other information that strikes me as interesting.

The craze for growing ferns originates in the Victorian age, gaining momentum in the latter half of the 19th Century. Fuelled by and explosion of literature Victorians went forth into the countryside to study and collect native specimens by the armful. Just as there was huge interest, so a multitude of varieties and variations were spotted, collected and names. Many, many are now lost, but some still remain and can frequently be identified by the now outlawed Latinised cultivar names such as Polystichum setiferum ‘Plumosum Densum’.

Whilst most ferns enjoy misture and a soil that never dries out completely, the requirement for water is not as necessary as many might believe. In fact, the list of ferns that enjoy a boggy site is probably much smaller than a list of those that will tolerate a dry site. Athyrium, Osmunda and Matteuccia are amongst the wettest lovers. Try these pages for more information on moisture requirements.

A generalisation would be that ferns like a fertile soil with good drainage. Many grow very well on shady banks. They frequently do best in bright shade, with most ferns being able to take a reasonable amount of sun providing that they do not endure full sun during the middle of the day. Asplenium is perhaps the most notable exception, with its leaves sometimes scorching.

As regards PH, most ferns will grow quite happily in any soil that doesn’t have and extreme of either acidity or alkalinity. If you were to rank them, Dryopteris, Athyrium and Osmunda would prefer a soil on the acid side, with Polystichum and Asplenium preferring in t alkaline. This however should be taken a s a guide not a strict prescription.

So to sum up, provided you can avoid a sunny South facing bank, or dry site on sand, you are likely to have success with ferns in a wide range of positions and soils. You might like to look at the following two pages to help refine your choices.

Athyrium

The female ferns. A large genus of deciduous ferns of generally fine appearance. Much more lady-like than the more brutish male ferns.

They tend to lose their fronds fairly quickly with the first air frosts of Autumn

The female fern has a very wide distribution from Britain down into Africa and across the Northern Hemishere. It is a real damp lover, preferring an acid soil, but still growing well in alkaline conditions. It will take full sun if it has ample moisture at the root. Many cultivars , upwards of 300, have been identified and named.

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British Native

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