Award-winning Athyrium niponicum var. pictum, Japanese Painted Fern, brings an artful presence to the shade garden with 12–18" fronds blending silvery green leaflets with dramatic wine-red veining. This most colorful of Ferns shows its markings best in partial shade and evenly moist soil. Winner of the RHS Award of Garden Merit and the Perennial Plant Association's Perennial Plant of the Year®.
Athyrium is a cosmopolitan genus with 160-200 species of deciduous terrestrial Ferns in the Athyriaceae family. They are endemic to mostly moist woodlands in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, in both temperate and tropical regions. Their great diversity in size and varied coloration have not gone unnoticed, or unappreciated, for many unique forms have been selected for cultivation, particularly during the heyday of the Victorian Fern craze. Relatively slow-growing and sporting delicate feathery fronds, Athyrium Ferns are dependable, easy-to-grow plants that are ideal for naturalizing, concealing ripening bulb foliage, carpeting the ground beneath Lilies, or edging a woodland path.
For more information on the growing and care of Ferns, click Growing Guide.
