Description
Adiantum pedatum, known as the Northern Maidenhair Fern (and sometimes as the Five-Fingered Fern) is a native of the more northerly parts of eastern North America. It is a splendid fern for open ground cover and a companion plant for many of the woodland subjects, such as Asarum, Podophyllum, Trillium, etc. that we sell.
It is a fully deciduous fern but it loses its leaves very late in the autumn. It re-appears afresh each year in Spring, the new growth emerging initially as slender pink crosiers. These soon unroll to yield dainty looking, very bright green, frilly fronds held on thin, wiry, violet-black stems. It’s a very ornamental and attractive fern capable of tolerating a lot of cold.
In perfect conditions it can be 60cm tall but in practice it rarely exceeds 45cm here. It thrives in a soil which is humus-rich, moist and well-drained. It likes some shade, filtered shade is perfect but it is capable of tolerating very heavy shade. It will take both acidic and limey soils as long as it gets the humus that it loves. Growing it too dry or in too sunny a spot will keep it shorter but it tolerates most conditions with good grace. It increases gently by means of shallow, creeping, branching rhizomes which are capable of forming large, tight colonies over time if left undisturbed.
The specific name “pedatum” by the way, refers to the divisions of the fronds into the shape of a bird’s foot.
