Marginal wood fern
Dryopteris marginalis · Polypodiaceae
Leathery, blue-green, evergreen fronds in a tidy vase. It stays in a single crown and never spreads, and tolerates drier soil than most ferns.
- Size
- 24 in tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Part shade to shade
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around marginal wood fern
The planner designed this bed around marginal 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 marginal wood fern stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Marginal wood fern × 3, blue-green leaves
- 2 Moor grass 'Greenlee' × 8, tan
- 3 White barrenwort 'Niveum' × 8, white
- 4 Northern sea oats × 3, tan
- 5 Foxglove × 3, purple
- 6 White bleeding heart × 1, white
- 7 Yellow trout lily × 12, yellow
- 8 Hardy cyclamen × 7, pink
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
Why here
- At the back. At 24 in it is seen over white barrenwort 'Niveum' (8 in) in front of it, and has nothing behind it to hide.
- A step in the back row. Next to northern sea oats (3½ ft) and white bleeding heart (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
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: 5 of the 6 groups (83%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 47% of the visual weight and the right half 53%. The scheme leans cool (purple and pink) and uses yellow for warmth, with tan and white to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 14 Excellent, 2 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Foxglove is highly poisonous to people, dogs, cats and horses. Northern sea oats spreads aggressively.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where marginal wood fern goes in a border
At 24 in it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium short (18 to 24 in).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
The blue-grey cast is distinctive among ferns. Because it stays in one clump, it is a good choice for a small bed or among rocks.
- Evergreen ferns for dry shade
- Rocky slopes
- A tidy, non-spreading fern
What to plant with marginal wood fern
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Christmas fern.
- Wild ginger: bold leaves against its medium ones; low enough (6 in) to stand in front of it.
- Solomon's seal: adds the flowers, early May to late May.
Questions about marginal wood fern
Does marginal wood fern need sun or shade?
Marginal 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 wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells. It copes with soil that stays wet.
What zones does marginal wood fern 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 marginal wood fern be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 24 in (60 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many marginal wood fern plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is marginal 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 marginal wood fern?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What does marginal wood fern look like in winter?
Marginal wood fern keeps its blue-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.
Is marginal wood fern good for bees and butterflies?
Marginal wood fern is visited by songbirds.
It is native to the United States and Canada.
More Dryopteris
- Autumn fern Dryopteris erythrosora
- Autumn fern 'Brilliance' Dryopteris erythrosora 'Brilliance'
- Champion's wood fern Dryopteris championii
- Dixie wood fern Dryopteris x australis
- 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
- Southern wood fern Dryopteris ludoviciana
- Wallich's wood fern Dryopteris wallichiana
In these guides
- Plants for wet soil and rain gardens
- Deer-resistant plants for shade
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Native plants for shade
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants that feed garden birds
- 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
- 24 in (60 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium short (18 to 24 in)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Medium texture, evergreen; blue-green
- Shape
- Vase-shaped, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Part shade, shade
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Polypodiaceae
- Comes from
- Greenland, Canada to U.S.A
- Attracts
- Songbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits, wet soil
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.