Dixie wood fern
Dryopteris x australis · Dryopteridaceae
A tall, narrow, strongly upright fern with glossy, dark fronds that can reach shoulder height. It is a natural hybrid from the Southeast and takes heat well.
- Size
- 4½ ft tall, 2½ ft wide
- Zones
- 5 to 9
- Light
- Part shade to shade
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around Dixie wood fern
The planner designed this bed around Dixie wood fern when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part shade. It chose the other plants from the 513 that suit those conditions, and says below why Dixie wood fern stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Dixie wood fern × 3, dark green leaves
- 2 Lingonberry × 7, pink
- 3 Wherry's foamflower × 8, white
- 4 Turtlehead 'Hot Lips' × 3, pink
- 5 White bleeding heart × 1, white
- 6 Japanese meadowsweet × 3, pink
- 7 Winter cyclamen × 12, pink
- 8 Grecian windflower × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 4½ ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to turtlehead 'Hot Lips' (3 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one clump. A single spire is too slight to hold a place alone, so here the accent is a clump.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, into winter. They cover the 11 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 7 groups (71%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 50% of the visual weight and the right half 50%. Pink, blue and white make a cool, restful scheme.
The planner's own design check: 9 Excellent, 7 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where Dixie wood fern goes in a border
At 4½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is tall (4 to 5 ft).
Its job: accent. An upright plant used singly, like a punctuation mark, and repeated at intervals to give the bed rhythm.
Most ferns arch; this one stands up straight. Use it as a vertical exclamation mark among hostas, or in a row as a seasonal screen.
- A vertical accent in shade
- The back of a shady bed
- Hot, humid climates
What to plant with Dixie wood fern
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Hosta 'Blue Angel': bold leaves against its medium ones; happy in the same moist soil.
- Yellow waxbells: adds the flowers, late August to late September; bold leaves against its medium ones; happy in the same moist soil.
- Toad lily: adds the flowers, mid September to mid October; low enough (2½ ft) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about Dixie wood fern
Does Dixie wood fern need sun or shade?
Dixie wood fern grows in part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning) and shade (less than 2 hours of direct sun, or bright dappled light). It is one of the few that also put up with deep shade.
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does Dixie wood fern grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 9. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should Dixie wood fern be planted?
24 in (60 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 2½ ft (75 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 4½ ft (130 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many Dixie wood fern plants do I need?
At 24 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 3 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 6 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 10 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, repeated along the bed at intervals; a slender one reads better as a clump of three.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is Dixie wood fern poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat Dixie wood fern?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What does Dixie wood fern look like in winter?
Dixie wood fern holds some of its leaves into winter, more in a mild year or a sheltered spot, and they look tired by March. Cut the old ones off as new growth starts.
More Dryopteris
- Autumn fern Dryopteris erythrosora
- Autumn fern 'Brilliance' Dryopteris erythrosora 'Brilliance'
- Champion's wood fern Dryopteris championii
- Evergreen wood fern Dryopteris intermedia
- Golden-scaled male fern Dryopteris affinis
- Goldie's wood fern Dryopteris goldiana
- Log fern Dryopteris celsa
- Male fern Dryopteris filix-mas
- Marginal wood fern Dryopteris marginalis
- Southern wood fern Dryopteris ludoviciana
- Wallich's wood fern Dryopteris wallichiana
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Fern
- Size
- 4½ ft (130 cm) tall, 2½ ft (75 cm) wide
- Plant
- 24 in (60 cm) apart
- Height class
- Tall (4 to 5 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Medium texture, semi-evergreen; dark green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 9
- Light
- Part shade, shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Dryopteridaceae
- Comes from
- SE USA
- Stands up to
- Drought, wet soil, deep shade
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.