Wildflower Wednesday: Polystichum acrostichoides

The flowers are gone from the garden, except for a few of the last to bloom ex-asters and two tiny fleabanes that are protected by fallen leaves. There is still color in the trees and shrubs and stalwart blooms on the native witch-hazel, but, we're quickly moving toward the season of gray and brown in my part of the gardening world.

The graceful arching fronds of evergreen Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) are especially appreciated this time of year.  It's wonderful to have a fern presence in the midst of a hot and humid Nashville summer, but, this fern shines in winter when the dark, leathery fronds pop against the decaying leaves or poke up through a light snow. 

The Christmas Fern is an accommodating fern for those looking for an easy care native in their woodland garden. It will grow in a variety of situations: shady, rich, poor, rocky, etc. Although, all information about this fern recommends we plant it in moist soil, it tolerates my dry, shady soil and can go for weeks without watering. It does occasionally suffer a dried frond but, once established, it seems immune to dryer soils.

Heuchera and Christmas fern both need good winter drainage

The fountain-like clump of leathery, lance-shaped evergreen fronds is a good companion plant for spring ephemerals and woodland wildflowers. It looks good with Phacelia bipinnatifida, Spigelia marilandica, Scutellaria incana, Heucheras and woodland phlox. Young fiddleheads (or crosiers) are silvery and scaled, and emerge in the spring from the loose old foliage. Btw, don't eat the fiddleheads! They aren't edible.

The older foliage collapses into the leaf litter

 The older foliage collapses into the leaf litter as the year progresses toward winter. This accumulated detritus of decaying fronds helps to stabilize the soil and prevent or lessen erosion. The built up mass is also a protective habitat for ground feeding and ground nesting birds.

Ferns are ancient plants (350 million years on this planet) and scientific research almost always focuses on tropical ferns, but, that doesn't mean our Christmas fern has no ecological value. It's not a host plant for any insects and mammals don't browse it, but, as stated above the decaying plant provides habitat for birds, while also stabilizing the soil.

But, we gardeners know that their value is beyond measure. We want plants that are easy to care for, lovely to look at, require very little fuss, can survive our hot humid summers and our long cold winters and are not eaten by pests, like deer and rodents.  I think you'll find that Christmas fern more than meets those qualifications.

Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Vol. 1: 16. Provided by Kentucky Native Plant Society.

Plant Particulars

Polystichum acrostichoides
Common name: Christmas fern
Family: Wood Fern Family (Dryopteridaceae)

Native range: Christmas fern is found in the north-eastern and north-central portions of North America from New Brunswick south to North Carolina. West to Minnesota and south to Florida and eastern Texas

Habitat: Garden and woodland conditions: The preference is light shade, mesic to slightly dry conditions, and soil that is loamy or rocky with abundant leaf litter. Found along stream beds and on rocky slopes.

Hardiness: USDA Zones 3-9.

Height 1 ft. to 3 ft. Spread 1 ft. to 3 ft. Moderate grower.

Light: Part Shade to Full Shade

Moisture: Moist to dry. Poor drainage in winter can lead to crown rot.

Ecological Significance: The accumulated detritus of decaying fronds helps to stabilize the soil and prevent or lessen erosion. The built up mass is a protective habitat for ground feeding and ground nesting birds.

Comments: This is a great accent plant or groundcover in a woodland garden. Good winter interest in an other wise brown winter garden. Erosion control on slopes. Is a valuable deer resistant plant for woodlands that deer browse. Useful in perennial, rock, water wise gardens and wildlife gardens. The fiddleheads are not edible.

spores on upper leaflets

People are of two minds regarding the  origin of our Wildflower Wednesday star's common name.  Some state emphatically that Christmas fern is so named because the leathery fronds are green throughout the winter and have been used as holiday decorations. Others say just as emphatically that the pinnae/leaflets, especially the larger ones, are shaped like a Christmas stocking or like Santa’s sleigh or boot.

I'll let you decide which you prefer.

xoxogail

Welcome to the November Wildflower Wednesday celebration. Today's star is a perfect plant to usher in winter with its evergreen foliage that's been used for winter decorations for generations.


Wildflower Wednesday is about sharing wildflowers from your part of the world. Don't worry if you have nothing in bloom, you can still showcase one of your favorites. It doesn't matter if we sometimes show the same plants; how they grow and thrive in your garden is what matters most. I hope you join the celebration...It's always the fourth Wednesday of the month!




Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Wildflower Wednesday: Dogwood, not just a pretty flower face

It's Wildflower Wednesday and that's when I showcase my favorite wildflowers, but, today, I want to talk about my favorite flowering dogwood, Cornus florida. It plays a major supportive role in my wildflower garden all year long, as well as being a lovely Spring showoff!

Flowering dogwood is the most popular understory tree in my part of the gardening world! I have several in my front garden and my favorite grows in the shade of a Bur oak and Shagbark hickories. It has the most appealing and graceful tiered and horizontal branching and the lower limbs tickle the Golden ragwort and Mayapples growing beneath it.

I love how the lower branches brush the woodland floor

It's that graceful look that most of us want from our dogwood trees and can only get it if we leave those lower branches alone. Too often they're sited in the middle of the lawn and all the lower branches are removed for easy mowing. Leave those branches alone and let them drape across the lawn.

No scratch that! The tree would be happier to not be in the middle of a lawn. Instead, plant them in the shade of a taller canopy tree to give them the dappled light they prefer; let those lower limbs alone; smother the lawn with newspapers covered with decomposing leaves (or pinestraw). Then plant spring ephemerals and other shade loving wildflowers.

 Voila, you have a woodland wildflower garden. All from one understory tree!

Understory trees like Cornus florida  have excellent ecological value.

• they provide for pollinators (bees, flies, butterflies and beetles)
• the fall drupes feed birds (Tufted Titmouse, cardinals, robins, Eastern bluebird, Mockingbird and woodpeckers) and mammals (raccoons, white-footed mouse, chipmunks, squirrels)
• they shade and protect spring ephemerals
• they provide shelter/cover for birds year round
• they provide structure to the garden
• they help create a healthy and diverse ecosystem
• they're pleasing to humans

A flowering tree that provides shade for wildflowers, and cover and food for critters is certainly way more than a pretty flower face.

xoxogail

Particulars:

Commonly known as a flowering dogwood

Cornaceae family

Eastern North America from Massachusetts to Ontario and Michigan, south to eastern Texas and Mexico, and east to central Florida. 

Zone: 5 to 9

Understory tree 15.00 to 30.00 feet by 15.00 to 30.00 feet

April to May bloom

It does best with partial shade in the south and full sun in the north. 

Moist well drained soil

Showy spring flowering bracts that attract insects and butterflies

Good Fall leaf color with showy red fruits/drupes that attract birds
Winter interest~tiered branches and attractive bark
Year round shelter for birds

Can tolerate clay soil and deer do not browse mine

Disease Issues: Might be subject to anthracnose disease if grown with high humidity, poor air circulation, and heavy shade. Middle and West Tennessee tend to be warmer and drier and are less affected by dogwood anthracnose than the Eastern half of the state.

Welcome to Clay and Limestone's Wildflower Wednesday celebration. WW is about sharing and celebrating wildflowers from all over this great big, beautiful world. Join us on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Please add your url to Mr Linky and leave a comment.

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.