Silvery glade fern
Deparia acrostichoides · Aspleniaceae
Tall, tapering, soft green fronds whose undersides are lined with silver spore cases, which flash when the wind lifts them.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 2½ ft wide
- Zones
- 4 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 silvery glade fern
The planner designed this bed around silvery glade 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 silvery glade fern stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Silvery glade fern × 3, green leaves
- 2 Lingonberry × 13, pink
- 3 English primrose × 8, yellow
- 4 Tall astilbe 'Superba' × 3, purple
- 5 Bleeding heart × 1, white
- 6 Hardy cyclamen × 12, pink
- 7 Snowdrop × 5, white
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 3 ft it is one of the taller plants 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 tall astilbe 'Superba' (4 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, spring to frost. They cover the 12 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 5 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 52% of the visual weight and the right half 48%. The scheme leans cool (pink and purple) and uses yellow for warmth, with white to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 5 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 silvery glade fern goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
A graceful native woodland fern that spreads slowly into a colony in moist soil. It turns straw yellow in autumn.
- Native woodland gardens
- Massing in moist shade
- Autumn colour
What to plant with silvery glade fern
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Wild ginger: bold leaves against its medium ones; low enough (6 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Foamflower: adds the flowers, late April to late May; low enough (10 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Virginia bluebells: adds the flowers, mid April to early May; low enough (20 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about silvery glade fern
Does silvery glade fern need sun or shade?
Silvery glade 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.
What zones does silvery glade fern grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °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 silvery glade 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 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many silvery glade 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 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 silvery glade 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 silvery glade fern?
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 silvery glade fern look like in winter?
Silvery glade fern dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
Is silvery glade fern good for bees and butterflies?
Silvery glade fern is visited by songbirds.
It is native to the United States and Canada.
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Fern
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 2½ ft (75 cm) wide
- Plant
- 24 in (60 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Arching, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Part shade, shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Aspleniaceae
- Comes from
- E. Canada to N. Central & E. U.S.A
- Attracts
- Songbirds
- 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.