Japanese Painted Fern

Make your landscape sing this season! It's easy when you choose the right plants to breathe life and color into even the dimly lit corners of your yard.

Put the beautiful foliage of Japanese Painted Fern (Athyrium niponicum 'Pictum') to work under mature trees, and along the north side of your home. All eyes will turn towards this shade-loving attention-getter!

Japanese Painted Fern has a 'weeping' shape. It develops into a grand garden fountain...but remains miniature sized.

These gorgeous ferns feature an incredible display of "painted" grayish-green leaves. You'll be fascinated by their purplish veining and accents and entranced by their overlay of silvery hues.

Grant the shady spots in your garden some well-deserved attention. This award-winning choice brightens up the lowest layers of your design with its intricate, finely cut, silvery leaflets and dark maroon midribs and stems.

Perhaps you've tried other plants in your toughest shaded spaces...but nothing seems to take hold and thrive? Never fear, rugged Japanese Painted Fern has won top accolades for good reason.

This exquisite selection is a garden standout and every leaf is a masterpiece! You might think it would be finicky; but luckily, this plant is also very durable and low maintenance.

Japanese Painted Fern performs beautifully in those mossy, low places in your yard that always stay a little wet. It thrives even in deep shade.

This is a great addition to your landscape. Even beginning gardeners will be able to enjoy watching this fern grow and spread to cover ground.

Place your order for our expertly grown Japanese Painted Fern today. This beloved perennial is a popular favorite for many...please order enough plants to complete your entire project without delay.

How to Use Japanese Painted Fern in the Landscape

You'll never overlook the silvery, gray-green and maroon hues of each feather frond. Turn a high-profile eyesore into a true design feature.

While a single specimen can look extraordinary in small space gardens...this plant truly shines in a massed planting. Space them 12 inches apart and they'll grow together in a magnificent groundcover.

Run them all along the eastern edge of your Hydrangea beds. They'll bridge the gap to ground your mixed shrub borders with an elegant ribbon of color.

Pair Japanese Painted Fern with Hostas and Heucheras for a spectacular shade garden. Don't forget the hammock stand and outdoor table to while away many an afternoon in style!

They'll thrive in low-lying spots beside stream beds. More prosaically, why not elevate the look of that despised hollow by the gutter with some Rushes and a mix of our flowering Astilbe?

Try them as a hard-working underplanting for your favorite Japanese Maple tree. If you have the room, plan an organic, free-form grouping of three or five...and run Japanese Painted Fern under all of them in a well-mulched bed.

This treatment would be amazing at the edge of a pond or water feature. You'll want to site a dock with a glider to take in the beauty of this thoughtful arrangement each morning with your cup of coffee.

No Zen Garden would be complete without this powerful visual element at ground level. Soften the north side of placed boulders with several Japanese Painted Ferns, then add fine gravel mulch and rake regularly in a mindful meditation.

#ProPlantTips for Care

This is not the right choice for a full sun location. Give Japanese Painted Fern full shade, or a bit of morning sun to bring out the colors even more.

It loves moist soil, and needs well-drained soil. The roots don't like to stay sopping wet.

This plant will grow in a slowly spreading fashion, unless planted in rich soil to boost its performance. Add a few handfuls of compost during planting to enrich your soil...and top-dress with compost every other year or so.

Mulch over the root systems to keep them cool and moist. Never allow mulch to rest directly against the burgundy stems...pull it back for proper air circulation.

This 2004 perennial plant of the year certainly deserves Nature Hills Root Booster during planting. The symbiotic ingredients work non-stop over the life of the plant to support each of the tiny feeder roots in their quest for nutrients and moisture.

Consistent schedule of moderate water delivers the best results. However, once the roots are well-established in the landscape, these fantastic workhorses will tolerate short periods of dryness.

Prune in early spring to trim off any winter damage. We recommend you plant several, so you can always have a few fronds to include in cunning cut flower arrangements.

Use these perennials throughout your shaded areas, or give as a very thoughtful gift plant to someone you love. Japanese Painted Fern have earned their place in people's hearts the world over...order yours today!