Athyrium niponicum (Athyriaceae) Japanese painted fern

A beautiful and easy to grow fern from Japan it is a well known ornamental for the shady garden. It has silver, gray fronds and often a reddish stem, though the colors are quite variable. It spreads slowly and non- aggressively by creeping rhizomes forming wonderful colonies of colorful fronds. Tends to be low growing with the fronds rarely exceeding 2 ft. As with most ferns, it does best in the shady woodland garden, especially since sun tends to wash out the exotic colors. If you are lucky it will spread around slowly by spores. Good winter snow cover and a protected spot will assure winter survival.