Maidenhair spleenwort
Asplenium trichomanes · Aspleniaceae
A tiny evergreen fern: narrow fronds of small, round leaflets, like green beads on a black wire.
- Size
- 6 in tall, 8 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Part shade to shade
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Edging
A bed built around maidenhair spleenwort
The planner designed this bed around maidenhair spleenwort 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 maidenhair spleenwort stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Maidenhair spleenwort × 13, dark green leaves
- 2 Leadwort × 15, blue
- 3 Solomon's seal × 5, white
- 4 Japanese meadowsweet × 3, pink
- 5 White bleeding heart × 1, white
- 6 Indian pink × 3, red
- 7 Double snowdrop × 12, white
- 8 Snowdrop × 7, white
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
- The only fine leaves here. The rest are medium and bold. A change of leaf keeps plants distinct when nothing is in flower.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 6 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 42% of the edge.
- 13 plants in 3 runs (5, 5 and 3). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
- Fine leaf against bold. Japanese meadowsweet is beside it: the strongest contrast of leaf there is.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, all year. They cover the 12 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
- The only leaves in winter. From November to March it is what there is to look at.
Planned as an English border: 7 of the 7 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The scheme leans cool (blue and pink) and uses red for warmth, with white to calm things between them. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 53% of the visual weight and the right half 47%.
The planner's own design check: 14 Excellent, 2 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 maidenhair spleenwort goes in a border
At 6 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is ground-hugging (up to 6 in).
Its job: edging. A low, neat plant used in short runs of three or five along the front to finish the edge (or, in a formal bed, in one even row).
A fern for the cracks of a shady wall or the crevices of a rock garden, where it grows in almost no soil. It likes lime and must have drainage.
- Wall crevices in shade
- Rock gardens and troughs
- Small-scale detail
What to plant with maidenhair spleenwort
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Foamflower: adds the flowers, late April to late May; tall enough (10 in) to stand behind it.
- Wild ginger: bold leaves against its fine ones.
- Rock polypody.
Questions about maidenhair spleenwort
Does maidenhair spleenwort need sun or shade?
Maidenhair spleenwort 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 ordinary well-drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled.
What zones does maidenhair spleenwort grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should maidenhair spleenwort be planted?
6 in (15 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 8 in (20 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 6 in (15 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many maidenhair spleenwort plants do I need?
At 6 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 48 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 21 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 153 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as runs of three or five along the front (or one even row, in a formal bed).
In the bed above, the planner used 13 in three groups.
Is maidenhair spleenwort 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 maidenhair spleenwort?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What does maidenhair spleenwort look like in winter?
Maidenhair spleenwort keeps its dark green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
More Asplenium
- Hart's tongue fern Asplenium scolopendrium
In these guides
- Plants for deep shade
- Deer-resistant plants for shade
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Native plants for shade
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Evergreen perennials, ferns and grasses
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Fern
- Size
- 6 in (15 cm) tall, 8 in (20 cm) wide
- Plant
- 6 in (15 cm) apart
- Height class
- Ground-hugging (up to 6 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; dark green
- Shape
- Arching, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Part shade, shade
- Soil
- Lean, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Aspleniaceae
- Comes from
- Cosmopolitan
- Stands up to
- Deer, deep shade
Checked against NC State Extension and VASCAN (plants of Canada). 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.