Property News · September 3, 2016

Plant of the week: Alpine wood fern


A hardy type that unfurls a fresh set of fronds every spingWhat is it? Few plants do well in full shade, but almost every garden has some that do: beside a shed, in a gloomy side return, on a north-facing balcony. The alpine wood fern (Dryopteris wallichiana) is one of those hardy types. Every spring, a fresh set of dark-ribbed fronds (“hairy as a monkey’s arm”, says writer Anna Pavord) unfurls, creating an explosion of yellow-green for summer and beyond. Now is a great time to order specimens to plant this autumn.Plant it with? At up to 90cm tall, it has an imposing presence when planted en masse. Snowdrops will provide a pretty distraction while the fronds have downtime in winter: cut away the old ones without damaging the cluster of tightly wound stems that will form the next generation. If you insist on more partners, they look good with lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis) and epimediums. Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
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