Dryopteris Golden Mist™

Lighten up your shade border with this handsome Asian Wood Fern, which boasts bright spring fiddleheads of yellow and gold, unfurling to perfect triangular bipinnate fronds of shimmering sunny color! Though the fronds mature to dark green, the contrast of new and mature fronds is spectacular on this evergreen, and the golden shades add exceptional sparkle to the shade.

Dazzling in the spring, Golden Mist™ is often compared to Autumn Fern. At 20 to 24 inches high and wide, it's also a slightly larger and more spreading plant, with fronds that arch up and out in a neat symmetrical, many-layered habit. Beautifully ornamental, it makes a breathtaking large planting for the open or woodland garden. And because deer, rabbits, and other animals tend to leave it alone, you can plant it without a fence as protection.

Golden Mist™ fares best in soils that are loose, well-drained, and enriched with organics, but once established it is quite tolerant of less-than-ideal conditions. Give it neutral to acidic soil, open shade, and consistently moist soil the first year, and it will establish beautifully, its lovely fronds keeping their good looks right through winter in all but the snowiest climates.

Although native to Asia, the Wood Fern makes itself at home in America, and is one of the most dependable hardy ferns for the partly to fully shaded garden. Don't miss out on its splendid spring color show and year-round appeal. Zones 5-8.