Dainty bright green fronds are held aloft on shiny black stems creating a light, airy texture in the woodland garden. In rich soil and bright shade it will spread by shallow rhizomes to form a dense groundcover. Found in the humus-rich woodlands and moist woods of Eastern North America. Easy to grow as long as the soil is loose and rich.

Handsome crowns of feathery fronds are typical of this genus. Delicate and lacy with arching fronds and dark red stems at maturity. Strong-growing and dependable, the Lady Ferns are great garden plants. Tough and easy to grow, this beauty is the right choice for perennial borders and woodlands alike. A breathtaking flush of new fronds appears in the spring, with new leaves appearing throughout the season for a continuously fresh look. Found in swamps, thickets and damp woods east of the Rockies.

Strong-growing and dependable, the Lady Ferns are great garden plants. This selection from the New England Wildflower Society features red stems, making it a great choice to combine with purple-leaved plants. Tough and easy to grow, this sultry beauty is the right choice for perennial borders and woodlands alike. A breathtaking flush of new fronds appears in the spring, with new leaves appearing throughout the season for a continuously fresh look.

"This is the most spectacular of all cultivars in its magnificent frond architecture. It is really the Queen of Green", according to Dr. John Mickel former curator of ferns at the New York Botanical Garden and author of "Ferns for American Gardens". As with other forms of lady ferns there is so much variability with spore production that it is necessary to produce this form in tissue culture, so its clones are identical to the parent. This superb selection has fronds whose pinnae (leaflets) crisscross to form x's and has crested pinnae tips. Another superior cultivar in the Mickel Collection ™.

The most colorful fern around with subtle shades of green, purple and red on a grey-blue background. The color is more intense with some direct sun, preferably morning or late afternoon. Strong-growing and dependable, the Lady Ferns are great garden plants. Native to China, Korea and Japan.

Handsome and ruffled, this high-color selection has been a much requested Japanese Painted Fern. The dark violet red interior of each 'Regal Red' frond is contrasted by bright silver edges making each leaflet distinct and creating an overall tapestry effect. The pinnules also twist a little giving the frond a "fluffed" up look. 'Regal Red' combines beautifully with red-purple Heucheras such as 'Plum Pudding' and blue sedges like Carex platyphylla or C. 'Blue Zinger'. The fronds work well in cut flower arrangements, providing lasting color and soft texture. Unique and beautiful!

This is a good, frisky new fern from John Mickel of Bradford, CT. It has been billed as a running painted fern, but we have found it to be mostly green with red tones along the stem. Even so, it is a lovely and vigorous plant with delicate bright green fronds; a lively groundcover that is very easy to grow and not at all fussy; a deciduous, noninvasive creeper that fills in quickly, but doesn't take over. Hybridized by the legendary Nick Nicou, of Branford, CT.

From the garden of Virginia's Nancy Swell comes this stunning Lady Fern with silver-white fronds and a decidedly upright habit. Leaves age to light green with new fronds appearing throughout the season. Upright with a beautiful formal appearance that really stands out in the shady garden. This fern really prefers shade and will stand up with all fronds perpendicular to the ground in full sun.

Cheilanthes lanosa is a soft-textured fern with fuzzy green leaflets along a chestnut brown stipe. It is a great choice for rock walls and shady trough gardens, but performs beautifully in average well-drained garden soil and in containers with regular potting mix. Even though it is short in stature, it fills a gallon well. Hairy Lip Fern can also be grown as a "nook and cranny" plant in quarts.

This common North American native has beautiful hairy fronds, oval-oblong in outline, yellow-green in color, thin textured and smells like new mown hay when crushed. It is found on open sandy meadows and thinly wooded slopes and is the first fern to colonize after a fire denudes a slope. It tends to spread too rapidly for use in a small garden, but is attractive and carefree in larger gardens where there is plenty of room for it to spread as a groundcover. It will thrive in light to medium shade and even open sun if the soil is moist and has good drainage.

Autumn Fern is a colorful groundcover with pink fiddleheads that turn coppery orange as they unfurl. Fronds age to a lustrous dark green and remain well into winter. New growth continues through the season, giving a colorful tapestry effect of copper and green from Spring to late Fall.

This is the largest of the native wood ferns, reaching 4' in ideal conditions. It is a stately and slowly spreading groundcover, forming large clusters of graceful arching fronds. Named for Scottish botanist John Goldie, its fronds are green without a hint of gold. Dryopteris goldiana is native to seepage slopes and moist woods from Newfoundland to Georgia, west to Minnesota and Arkansas.

The leathery leaves of Dryopteris marginalis are a beautiful addition to the woodland garden and can form a lovely an easy to maintain groundcover. A sturdy east coast native, it forms a tidy clump that will not spread and is very tolerant of dry shade conditions once it has established. Marginal wood fern is often found in shaded crevices of rocky ledges and bluffs from Newfoundland to Georgia, west to Oklahoma and Minnesota.

A graceful and bold fern, this unique beauty is a sturdy garden plant with a distinctly upright vase-shaped habit. Even though found in tropical Mexico near Oaxaca, it has proven quite cold hardy in zone 5. It forms a large crown, which can become four or five feet across, and unlike many other wood ferns, it continues to produce new fronds throughout the growing season until frost. Evergreen in warmer zones. An outstanding garden plant!

Dryopteris x australis is a natural hybrid (D. celsa x ludoviciana) found in wild populations from Louisiana to Virginia, but is a superb garden plant as far north as Zone 5. It is taller than either parent and a formidable addition to the garden.

Large, lustrous, dark green fronds arch gracefully and give the tropical feel of a palm. Happiest in a cool moist site, it will tolerate more sun at the side of a stream or pond. Emerging fiddleheads are delectable sautéed in a bit of oil.

A freely running, deciduous fern with broad, deeply pinnatifid, smooth leaves. It spreads in moist soil and stays low to the ground, usually not more than 12-18", though heights of up to 3' are possible in ideal conditions. Very effective as a moist shade groundcover.

Brilliant green lacy fronds gracefully arch outward in stately vase-shaped clumps. In early summer narrow fronds emerge as vertical spikes of cinnamon red brown in the center. Especially striking when planted in groups. Prefers a moist shady site, but tolerates more sun in cooler zones.

Royal fern is truly one of the most distinctive and spectacular bold-textured deciduous native ferns with its light green, leathery leaves and graceful architectural stature. With adequate moisture, royal fern can reach 6' tall and create a lush, tropical feel along a stream or beside a pond.

While not as showy as some others, this fern makes up for it with its neat habit, easy culture, and its lustrous, nearly evergreen leaves. Often used in Christmas floral arrangements because it is still attractive in December. It is a wonderful companion for spring blooming bulbs. Found in acid to neutral soils on shaded slopes and well drained flats.

Meaning "many eyelashes" polyblepherum describes the fuzzy stems of this glossy deep green garden fern. Dependable and hardy, it lends elegance to the shade border and combines well with Carex, Heuchera and other ferns. Evergreen in warmer zones.

Japanese Beech Fern is one of the best landscape ferns we've tried over the years. It also behaves very well in pot culture and it travels well with minimal breakage. It has been in the trade for some time, but is still underutilized since it hasn't been readily available. No more! Thelypteris decursive-pinnata is a vigorous spreader and an excellent choice for a groundcover. Beautiful, with graceful fronds, it produces large colonies in moist or average shade. Its vigorous growth is produced on short runners so it is easily controlled if necessary. Arching fronds are a lustrous dark green and have a lighter green underside for a unique display. Like the other Thelypteris, Japanese Beech Fern appreciates a little extra moisture in the soil to perform best, although it is not necessary for plant health and appearance. It may be evergreen in warmer zones and is fully perennial to zone 4. Synonym: Phegopteris decursive-pinnata

Virginia Chain Fern is a great native landscaping fern for those tough areas with moist or saturated soils. Spreading quickly, it provides a dense, weed-resistant groundcover in damp sites or sunny pond edges. It also is beautiful, and less assertive, in average garden conditions.