Among the oldest known plants, ferns are a marvelous addition to the garden or greenhouse. Interesting, versatile, and beautiful, they thrive in partial shade and in rich organic soil like the forest floors to which they're native. Common ferns include the rugged shield fern with its coarse 18-inch fronds that will survive even northeastern winters, the wood ferns with their soft wispy foliage, the dainty often fragile maidenhair, the silvery Japanese painted fern, and the imposing ostrich and staghorn ferns.

Silver Fern Choices

The Japanese painted fern (Athyrium nipponicum 'Pictum') is a marvelous specimen plant in any garden. When mature, its 20-inch fronds are a muted gray green that appear to shimmer silver thanks in part to contrast with the wine-red stems and pale leaf interior. Deciduous but very cold hardy, these grow well in USDA zones four through nine. They should be planted about two to three feet apart if you're planting more than a single specimen plant.

Rosy Maidenhair (Adiantum hispidulum) grows from eight to 14 inches tall and should be planted about 18 inches apart. Very graceful, its pale fronds are pink to bronze when young, and are especially effective in rock and woodland gardens. Like all ferns, it prefers good drainage and shade. Classified for zones seven through 10, the Rosy Maidenhair does not do well when temperatures run above or even average 90° F.

Silver Lady (Blechnum gibbum), a dwarf tree fern native to the New Hebrides and Fiji, grows to between 12 and 28 inches in moist shady soil. Its trunk is short and thick. Fronds growing from it are light green when young, deepening with maturity, and providing a rich contrast in gardens. The ideal climate is tropical, but Silver Lady does well in temperate regions when grown in containers.