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: Seersucker Sedge

A cold winter has taken its toll on the Seersucker sedges, many of the leaves are brown and it appears more semi-evergreen than evergreen. But, it would take more than a few brown leaves to detract from the over all effect of the rippled and dimpled leaves or the bright spot of color this sedge brings to a landscape.

Also known as Plantained-leaved Sedge

Carex plantaginea has been in my garden for almost a decade, but it wasn't until I saw how beautifully they looked massed along a path (above and below) in Peter and Jasmine Gentling's garden during Asheville Spring Fling that I decided to plant them along the path to the front porch. It's planted with Christmas fern and Camassia bulbs and I think it will make a good show each spring. I don't know about you, but, I am always looking for plants that pop in my woodland shade garden and this sedge does. It looks good year round.

Seersucker Sedge massed in Peter and Jasmin Gentling's garden

Sedges, especially native sedges, have been lumped into the weed category for years! Granted, some are rather weedy and I have a few of those in the wetter parts of my garden, but, I appreciate that they bring more diversity to Clay and Limestone. Native sedges are part of my woodland eco-system, they were here before I started gardening and their seeds and flowers continue to provide food for butterflies, birds, and mammals. 

male and female flowers on a sedge in my garden

Fortunately for us, Seersucker Sedge has been discovered! It's now available at several online nurseries, but  you'll not likely to find it or many other native sedges at your local independent garden center. Once again our natives are overlooked for the showier exotic from the other side of the world. Yes, I will agree, those exotics are lovely variegated beauties, but, I want more than beauty from plants that I add to my garden. I expect plants to feed the critters while they feed my soul. (Gardening For Wildlife)

Male and female flowers on Seersucker Sedge

Sedges are almost always associated with wet, boggy/marshy places, but some do grow in dry, poor soil. Seersucker sedge is not one of those! It's a Goldilocks of a plant and prefers a rich woodland soil that's not too wet or not too dry. Finding the right spot for them in a garden that is often too wet or too dry wasn't nearly the challenge I thought it would be! The soil along the path has been enriched with leaf mold for years and is the perfect medium. The ferns and other natives that are planted with it should make that part of the garden glow this spring. (Not The Climate For Xeric)

I'll clip off the old leaves

It's easy to see why Carex plantaginea is called Seersucker Sedge with those wide, rippled and dimpled, deep-green leaves, it looks just like seersucker material, only green! The first time I saw them at GroWild  I knew it was a keeper! If you're looking to jazz up your shade garden you can't beat the texture that Seersucker Sedge adds to a garden. Just give it good soil, some shade, plant it with ferns, ephemerals, Oakleaf hydrangeas or at the base of a Hamamelis vernalis. You won't be disappointed, I guarantee it.

xoxogail

The particulars:

source

Seersucker Sedge is found growing in meadows and rich woods in the Eastern USA from Minnesota to Maine and south to Alabama and Georgia (Zones 4-8). An evergreen plant with showy foliage, it makes a great texture plant for moist shady places. It will slowly spread to make a nice ground cover; you can speed that process along by dividing your plants every couple of years. Although, the purplish/black flowers aren't  showy, they are interesting when back lit by the setting sun. A very low maintenance plant requires only the removal of the dead leaves in late winter.

Photo by Jacqueline Donnelly (her blog)

Thank you for stopping by and 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. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom or not; and, it doesn't matter if we all share the same plants. It's all about celebrating wildflowers. Please leave a comment when you add your url to Mr Linky.



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.