largest fern for zone 7?

Iris GW

16 years ago

I think Thelypteris kunthii is a better large fern for zone 7 than ostrich. T. kunthii is a good spreader too - in a year or two you can divide it and have more.

tsmith2579

16 years ago

Osmunda regalis - regal fern. I am supposing you mean one grown in the ground, right?

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Tallest ferns for zone 6?

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Royal fern will grow to 6 feet or more if in sun and planted in a wet ditch. Interupted fern will grow in sun or shade to 3 to 4 feet depending on moisture. Cinnamon fern likes shade and good moisture and will grow to 3 or 4 feet. These three are all Osmundas. Then there are Goldies ferns, Spinulose wood ferns, Marginal wood ferns, Silvery spleenworts, Lady ferns, all of which grow large if in their favorite habitats, less tall under less favorable conditions. These and many others are native to the Northeast, hardy, love shade, moist woodsy soil, rocks and slopes. Marianne (Gnomlet)

recommended plants for heavy, heavy shade in Zone 7

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Thanks for the generous suggestions, everybody. bubba62, I'm concerned that you're right about bletillas and hellebores (especially the caulescent ones) not getting enough sun to flower in areas like what I'm working with, and neither genus has a lot of ornamental value without flowers. Iris japonica is an excellent recommendation and a good example of exactly the kind of tip I was looking for. It's a plant that I've never grown in my yard, but that I've always admired elsewhere. I think it will provide nice semi-evergreen foliage, occasional flashy flowers, and kind of a spreading groundcover effect, even in dark shade. Cool. I also agree with your assessment of Illicium henryi as a choice selection, but unfortunately, I don't know of any nurseries around here that offer them in anything larger than 3-gallon pots, so I'll probably have to stick mainly with my old standby, I. floridanum 'Halley's Comet.' Tricyrtis, Saruma, Asarum, Disporum, Disporopsis, Speirantha (my favorite), Trillium, etc., etc., etc. are all worthy suggestions, but for now I think I'm going to focus just on larger, more substantial plants as I lay out the structure of the new beds, and then go back later and fill in the gaps with smaller little perennials like those. jeff_al, I agree completely about Pachysandra procumbens, although I find its slow spread almost as frustrating as the aggressively rapidity of P. terminalis. Still, a better all-around choice, and I've put it on my list. ncdirtdigger, leatherleaf viburnum is another great example of exactly what I was looking for with this post. It's another plant that I have never grown and had sort of forgotten about, but I have seen it prospering even in very heavy shade. And I think it's really pretty, too, although I've known some people to be repulsed by the droopy, wrinkly texture of the foliage. Aucubas were already on my list, but definitely worth another mention as indispensable elements of the deep shade landscape in this part of the country. I'm not sure if winter daphne will get enough sunlight to flower in any of the areas I'm working on, but I love it so much that I think it I'll give it a try. If nothing else, I know that it's one of the few shrubs that won't be bothered at all by the extreme root competition that it will face from the maples and sweetgums in the wooded portion of the new beds. birdannelady, aren't fatsias terrific plants? I can't imagine having a dark, shady garden around here without it. I've already bought and planted two in my new beds, and may get more as the layout continues to evolve. Which variegated osmanthus do you have? My usual go-to favorite one is 'Goshiki,' which is gorgeous in light to moderate shade, but loses a lot of its color in heavy shade. Maybe other variegated varieties are better-suited to these conditions. What kind of acanthus are you growing? I like acanthus, but I don't really think of them as plants for dense shade. But I don't have a lot of experience with them, and I haven't really experimented with them very much. You're also exactly right about competition from tree roots being as big a problem as the shade itself. And I too have faced the catch-22 of the situation where each and every thing that we as gardeners do to provide good conditions for the roots of the plants we plant (soil amendments, fertilizer, supplemental watering, etc.) also end up promoting the roots of nearby trees to invade the hole and compete with your new plant. Some trees seem to be particularly bad (magnolias, river birches, and the worst: red maples), but most trees pose this problem more or less. It's a conundrum that I've never solved if you have any tips about how to cope with that paradox, I'd love to hear it. Nonetheless, I'm a big fan of edgeworthias, too, and in fact I bought one the other day for the new bed. Hopefully I can find a spot for it where it'll hold its own. Anyway, thanks again for all the help. I've begun acquiring some plants, but I continue to add to my list of others to consider for inclusion. In a lot of cases, I think the thing to do is just to find which plants will work there through some trial and error. But if anybody has any more suggestions or tips, please keep 'em coming. I really appreciate it.

Winter Sowing in the MIDDLE zones: 5, 6, and 7 (native seed list)

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What fern am I in zone 6 Indiana

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Looks like sensitive fern. https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tTP1TcwSzEvSzFg9OIrTs0rzizJLEtVSEstygMAciAI6A&q=sensitive+fern&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS932US932&oq=sensitive&aqs=chrome.1.35i39i355i650j46i39i650j69i57j46i67i131i340i433i650l2j0i67i650l3j0i433i512j0i512.4403j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

loveofmylife680
Original Author

16 years ago

Yes in the ground, I want to have a bunch growing at the edge of my woods, some part of the woods will get about 4 to 5 hours of sun from 9am till 2pm that is slightly filtered.Got to find who has the best prices. Seen regal fern need to research it some more.
Jill

loveofmylife680
Original Author

16 years ago

Had some of the Regal fern but it did not do good for me even in the shade. I am guessing because it is so dry at the edge of the woods competing with the trees for water.

Iris GW

16 years ago

O. regalis, also known as "Royal Fern". can be intolerant of conditions that are too dry. For dry shade to part shade, Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) is also good. Doesn't get as tall as the first one I mentioned.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thelypteris kunthii

razorback33

16 years ago

Other Native Ferns you might consider, are:
Dryopteris ludoviciana (Florida or Southern Wood Fern)
I have them in 2 locations, one fairly damp, the other is adjacent to the trunk of a large White Oak tree and somewhat dry. Both do well and are evergreen, except during very cold winters. Also near the White Oak is:
Osmunda cinnamomea (Cinnamon Fern), a native of wetlands and upland locations. The fertile stalks of this one adds to it's appeal. In an upland location, they will go into early dormancy during a very dry late summer and/or early fall period.
Another Florida native fern that survives during droughts and is hardy in Z7, is:
Hypolepis repens (Bramble Fern), often misidentified and sold as Thelypteris or Macrothelypteris torresiana (Mariannas Maiden Fern). Under ideal conditions, it can spread rapidly over a wide area, by underground stolons. The large fronds are held horizontally atop tall (3-4')hairy stems. Mine remained green during this past year, with only about 7" of rainfall in 9 months. 5" of that rainfall occurred in 3 widely spaced showers and we had one period of 7 continuous weeks(April-May), without any rain.
Here's a website that lists many Hardy Ferns, some are Native. Click on the thumbnails for larger photo and description.
I probably would plant several species of Fern in a given area, to determine which one's would perform the best. Guess that's why I have more than 100 different species & cultivars!
Rb

Here is a link that might be useful: Hardy Ferns

tedevore

16 years ago

I'd like to try Osmunda regalis or or something like dryopteris goldiana, which
I have seen get pretty big in other gardens. I have had some osmunda cinnamomea for a long time, but for the first few years they didn't seem to grow much, compared to really big ones I saw in the wild near swampy areas. So I tried to mimick the swampy conditions by putting them in a container within another containr without much drainage, and keeping them with "wet feet." That seemes to make a huge difference, and they really started growing in constantly wet conditions, over 3 feet tall.

So razorback, what do you grow that gets nice and big, but doesn't stay constantly wet?

todd

razorback33

16 years ago

Todd...
In addition to the above mentioned species
I have 2 var. of Royal Fern, Osmunda regalis (Native & European),
Varigated Holly Fern, Arachniodes simplicior 'Variegata', Woodwardia virginica, W. orientalis, W. japonica, Dryopteris dilatata, D. championii,
Dryopteris erythrosora, D. purpurella, D. tokyoensis, Dryopteris celsa, D. x australis, D. hondoensis
Thelypteris kunthii.

Dryopteris goldiana prefers slightly alkaline, rocky soil.
Rocks, I have, but my soil is very acidic. I grew them for a period of time, but decided they were too much trouble and let them go. Same with Osmunda claytoniana (Interrupted Fern), which likes constantly moist, not soggy, circumneutral soil.

Many of these are available at local nurseries, but some are only found online.
Rb

loveofmylife680
Original Author

16 years ago

I think the fern I had was called sensitive fern, was looking at some pics and it looks more like them.They cant handle the dry edges of my yard.
Jill B.

largest fern for zone 7?

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Iris GW

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largest fern for zone 7?

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Iris GW

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