This perennial is leafy and green in the mystifying winter — and drouth tolerant .
Christmas fern(Polystichum acrostichoides ) is a fast - develop native evergreen plant fern that is unripe and profuse throughout the winter season . When other repeated fern have lost their leaves , these cold - hardy wood ferns keep their leathery dark unripe frond during the coldest , grayest months . Our templet outlines Christmas fern care and planting tips .
The benefits bear on in former saltation when the coil , silvern - green fronds unfurl . Christmas ferns grow in clumps that cultivate well in borders alongsideshade - loving perennial flowers .
Credit: Peter Krumhardt
Where to Plant Christmas Fern
Christmas ferns are at home plate near shady pond , stream , andwater gardens , where they can get the spectre and moist dirt they postulate to thrive . humbled - maintenance Christmas ferns are a good pick for woodland or bungalow garden , as well as shaded slope that necessitate erosion control .
How and When to Plant Christmas Fern
Plant Christmas fernin spring after the last frostorearly fall before the first frost . Dig a mess as deep as the root ball and twice as wide to give the ascendent ( rhizomes ) elbow room to grow . Add compostor organic textile to the maw and position the root peak scarcely above soil level .
Mulch the fern to keep their radical cool and the soil moist .
Space your plants 18 in asunder to give them room to make their full sizing . It can take several years for Christmas fern to become established .
Credit:Blaine Moats
Christmas Fern Care Tips
Christmas fern are low - maintenance , long - hold out perennialsthat make them an first-class choice for lead off nurseryman . Give this forest fern the ripe conditions , and it will thrive with little help from you . Christmas fern are more adaptable and drought - large-minded than many other aboriginal fern .
Light
Like other ferns , Christmas ferns do good in conditions that mimic the shadowed timber floor of their native habitat , the temperate timber of North America . They can permit full shade but preferdappled igniter , the kind of Lord’s Day that dribble through a forest canopy . If they get too much sun , their thick immature frond fade , and the plant becomes stunted . In southerly climates , the frond burn if they get too much sunshine . Christmas ferns can bear more Christ Within than most other fern if the soil is kept moist .
Soil and Water
Christmas fern tolerates many soil typesas long as it ’s well - drain . This fern does n’t do well inclay soilbecause it tends to get diadem molder in heavy , blotto grease . Christmas fern is dark-green and healthiest insoil productive in organic affair , but it can tolerate ironical conditions in poor soil . weewee Christmas fern weekly during the growing season to keep its soil systematically moist .
Temperature and Humidity
Christmas fern demand cool , shady conditions . This is n’t a good plant life for hot , dry regions . Frost - kind Christmas fern thrives in temperature of 50 ° F to 70 ° F , with humidity level of at least 50 percent .
Fertilizer
Pruning
Unfussy Christmas ferns do n’t necessitate pruning . Just remove dead , damaged , or yellow leaves throughout the class as they appear . Do n’t trim the leaf in the outflow when new fiddleheads appear , or you ’ll damage the fronds ’ power to fertilize the plant via photosynthesis .
Potting and Repotting
The perennial can grow indoors , but Christmas fern aid require you to bring home the bacon deal of humidity and to keep the flora out of verbatim sunlight . Put a potful of Christmas fern in a turned on bath by a window that gets morning sun for good results , or add a humidifier to the elbow room where the plant is located . This fern does n’t need annual repotting — every two years is ordinarily sufficient .
Pests and Problems
Christmas fern is not prone to any pests or disease , and it is deer - resistant . If you overwater it or plant it in poorly drained soil , it might get crest hogwash , which kills the plant .
How to Propagate Christmas Fern
Christmas fern does n’t naturalize and spread across an area like other ferns , but you could dig up part of the clumps every few years anddivide them to make more plants . The skilful time to dissever Christmas ferns is in the spring when new growth emerges .
Separate and Replant
delve up a clump of Christmas fern and utilize a acute tongue to issue the plant into sections with roots attached . Plant those section anywhere in your garden or yard where there are fern - appropriate develop conditions . Keep the replanted divisions water until they take root .
Harvesting Spores
you’re able to also propagate Christmas fern byharvesting the ripe sporesand sowing them , although the outgrowth is somewhat laborious and success is mixed . The spores are located on the underside of the fronds .
Do n’t glean unripe spores ; they usually ripen in October and strike from the plant to the priming coat .
Put a art object of white cardboard on the ground under the plant to see the spores as they fall , or cut an entire frond from the fern and place it on white paper in a sheltered localisation until the ripe spore release . Broadcast the spore on a layer of potting soil and mist them . Germination can take up to three month .
Credit: Bob Stefko
Christmas Fern Companion Plants
You will feel that the conditions required for optimum Christmas fern guardianship also protract to other shade - loving perennial . For a cohesive and thriving shady garden , pair the fern with plant , like hosta , for added grain and seasonal color . These companions create a low - upkeep , visually invoke garden exhibit .
Hosta
Blaine Moats
Hostais one of the most frequently grown garden plants . Hosta , also sleep with as plantain tree lily , has grownup , heart - shaped leaves that look tropic , but this flora is cold - hardy and easy to grow . The knotty , shade - sleep together perennial lights up shady spots in the landscape painting in summer and saltation and comes in a seemingly endless range of color variant . Hosta thrives in the same growing condition as Christmas fern , so it makes a good neighbour in the garden .
Astilbe
Astilbeis a gorgeous plant thanks to its fern - like bronze and green foliage and colourful overcharge blossoms in pinks , reds , purples , and ovalbumin . This sporty perennial thrives in the same shade and moist soil as Christmas fern , so they are good garden neighbour . Astilbe ’s dramatic , spiky flowers pull pollinator that would otherwise pass by a border of fern .
Bleeding Heart
This old - fashioned perennial is a bungalow garden favorite . Its heart - work pinkish or white blooms are among the first prime to come up up in the natural spring , and they look lovely paired with the feathery fronds of Christmas fern . shed blood heartthrives in the same shade and moist soil as Christmas fern , so they go together well . Try ‘ Gold Heart ’ because its yellowish green foliage and pinkish blooms contrast nicely with the deep green , leathery fronds of Christmas fern .
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes . Christmas ferns keep their frond all winter , and novel leave of absence come along in other spring as silvery green fiddleheads , the name for a infant frond .
With optimal aid , Christmas ferns can live about 15 years .
Christmas fern does n’t naturalise , but its clump of frond grows larger over the age . you’re able to split up mature ferns to increase the number of industrial plant .
Credit: Peter Krumhardt
