Ferns - Displayed by Common Name in Ascending Order

Nephrolepis obliterata ‘Emerald Queen’, or the Australian Sword Fern, is a very large sized fern similar in appearance and type to the common Boston Fern. However, this fern is more compact, tidier, and easier to grow than the Boston fern and is considered to be one of the most beautiful species of fern in the world! The Emerald Queen Fern is well known for its ability to help purify the air by reducing indoor toxins like Formaldehyde, Xylene and Toluene.

This selection is rapidly becoming one of the most popular garden ferns. Its name ‘Autumn Fern’ refers to the beautiful copper-pink color of the newly emerging leaves which seem to glow against the backdrop of the shiny, dark green, mature fronds.

This cultivar has been the best selling Nephrolepis in Europe. It owes its huge popularity to its uniformly high quality, its rapid growth and typical of the Boston varieties, its dense and compact shape. The smooth leaflets are intense, fresh green. All these properties contribute to the high ornamental value of this fern, which is smaller than the True Boston fern.

A favorite since Victorian times, with gracefully hanging fronds. Excellent in hanging baskets or in a container on a stand. Boston Ferns are one of the easiest ferns to grow indoors. It's also one of the top rated plants for removing air pollutants from the air and because of its almost insatiable appetite for water it pumps out large amounts of water vapor into the nearby air, thereby increasing humidity.

Nephrolepis exaltata ‘Fluffy Ruffles’ is a variety of Boston fern with light ruffled fronds and a compact growth habit. This cultivar does not produce spores, and reproduced through rhizomes that spread through soil. Like most ferns, ‘Fluffy Ruffles’ will do best with extra humidity and out of direct sunlight.

The relatively new cultivar ‘˜Nevada®‘™ is a serious contender for ‘˜True Boston's‘™ place at the top, especially when planted in larger pots. It scores slightly higher on a number of points. For example, for its extremely rapid growth habit, uniformity and the sturdiness of its erect fronds, as well as for its overall strength and hardiness. Although not fully hardy ‘˜Nevada®‘™ will thrive on the patio. A top product by any standard, its quality underlined by the lovely, dark green color.

Evergreen, dark, shiny green fronds are leathery and lance-shaped and divided with holly-like leaflets. Typically grows in asymmetric fountain like clump. Young fiddleheads in spring have a silver sheen. This plant is given the common name Christmas fern because its evergreen fronds maintain their vibrant green color even at Christmas time, when the weather in its native range gets extremely cold, and can thus be used in decorations.

This fern stands out because of its compact, slightly thickset appearance. With a frond length of 6-8 inch, this Nephrolepis is counted amoung the smaller cultivars.

This fern looks great when used in large pots for display around patio or planted in shaded moist areas in the garden, included in a tropical planting or shown off to great advantage in a courtyard in a decorative pot. It has become popular choices for gardens to add a large, finely textured green presence in their landscape.

Native to Eastern North America, the yellow-green fronds of hay-scented fern arch to create great texture for moist areas such as woodland edges.

A hybrid cross between Japanese Painted fern (A. niponicum ‘Pictum’) and Lady Fern (A. filix-femina), this selection sports stunning frosted apple green fronds that seem to emit a ghostly white light in the shade. Dark purple stems hold the broad fronds rigidly upright. This selection is taller than many other Athyriums and is more tolerant of dry soil.

This big, brawny fern sports bright green fronds with bold, broad leaves and makes its relatives, Boston fern and Kimberly Queen fern, look little by comparison. Macho fern is ideal for large urns or planters where it has room to flex its graceful 3- to 4-foot-long fronds. It's ideal for decorating shaded or partly shaded front porches, patios, and other outdoor living areas. In the fall, you can bring your macho fern indoors and place it a bright spot out of direct sun to grow as a houseplant.

Ferns thrive on humidity, so daily misting in winter months and a gravel and water-filled saucer beneath the pot in warmer months are highly recommended.

Like Athyrium n. ‘Pictum’ on steroids, this giant painted fern was discovered at Plant Delights Nursery in the mid-90s and is thought to be a sporeling of ‘Pictum’ and the Lady Fern.

It forms a massive, arching clump of silvery fronds with green highlights and dark purple stems. Like the Lady Fern, ‘Godzilla’ spreads slowly where it is happiest in moist, loamy soils.

Grow this fern as a low maintenance filler in shady borders combined with large hostas and Aralia ‘Sun King’.

2004 Perennial Plant of the Year! One of the most colorful ferns for the garden, the Japanese Painted Fern has silvery-grey fronds which are dusty purple towards the center. They are set off by the purplish-red veins and stems.

Noted for its shimmering silver fronds with contrasting dark maroon midribs. The deeply divided, arching fronds form clumps of large rosettes and unlike other painted ferns, this one intensifies its silvering as the season progresses. 2012 winner of the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit.

Handsome and ruffled, this high-color selection is our most requested painted fern. The dark interior of the frond is contrasted by bright silver edges making each appear more than they are. The pinnules twist a little giving the frond a ‘puffed-up’ look.

Lady Ferns are one of the most admired groups of ferns for the shady, moist, woodland location in the garden or in a natural woodland setting. Extremely attractive delicate, lacy fronds.

This fern's vibrant burgundy stems coupled with its dark green fronds will compliment everything else in your shade garden. When planted amidst the dark purple leaves of coral bells, its burgundy stems really stand out.

A three foot high clump of dark shiny green with two tufted lines shooting from the crown to converge at the tip of each frond draws comments whether it is used as a specimen or as a massed background planting.

One of the largest and most popular ferns in cultivation today. The dark green, pinnate fronds are shaped like ostrich plumes, being much wider at the top and tapering down to a bare stipe.

The first set of leaves is sterile and has a gracefully arching form. These leaves can reach heights of 6’ in ideal environments. This set of leaves dies back by early to midsummer and is replaced by a set of fertile, dark green leaves which are about half the height of the sterile ones. These leaves turn a shiny bronze-gold in fall, becoming brown in winter.

Lustrous shiny leaf fern adds an elegant look to shaded gardens. Particularly beautiful when new fronds emerge stiffly, then droop backwards to form a tassel. Beautiful in masses for groundcover, especially under flowering shrubs.

Every new frond is a treasure on Jurassic Gold. While they mature into the lush, lively green that made ferns popular, the new growth starts out in an exquisite orangey tone that's totally unique. Plant it in with a mix of ferns, and the random streaks of fiery color will keep the whole mix interesting. With that mix, you could coat a shady woodland garden in verdant beauty. On the other hand, you could add Jurassic Gold to a shade border as an easy, low–maintenance feature. Ferns are popular for container gardening—try this one either as a colorful, graceful filler in a mixed container or centerstage in a container of its own.

Jurassic Gold has already gotten itself a fair bit of critical acclaim. It won Best New Plant at Hort Week Awards in 2019, and second place at the Farwest Trade Show in 2020.