Sweetfern
Comptonia peregrina · Myricaceae
A low, spreading shrub with narrow, notched leaves like fern fronds that smell sweetly of spice when brushed or warmed by the sun.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 6 ft wide
- Zones
- 2 to 6
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves; flowers late April to early May
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around sweetfern
The planner designed this bed around sweetfern when this page was made: a 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why sweetfern stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Sweetfern × 1, dark green leaves
- 2 Cheddar pinks 'Tiny Rubies' × 43, pink
- 3 Verbena 'Homestead Purple' × 4, purple
- 4 Sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' × 4, yellow
- 5 Wild quinine × 5, white
- 6 False sunflower 'Summer Sun' × 3, yellow
- 7 Autumn sage × 3, pink
- 8 Blue allium × 12, blue
- 9 Turkestan tulip × 12, white
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
- The bed's only structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down, and it is the only one here.
Why here
- In the middle. At 3 ft it is seen over verbena 'Homestead Purple' (10 in) in front of it.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, spring to frost. They cover the 13 weeks between early March and late November when nothing on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 9 of the 9 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Sweet coneflower 'Henry Eilers' and wild quinine anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there. The flowering is at its height in late June, with 6 kinds out together.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 3 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 sweetfern 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: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
A native of sandy barrens that fixes its own nitrogen and covers the poorest, driest soil. It resents transplanting, so buy it in a pot and plant it once.
- Groundcover on poor, sandy soil
- Scented foliage
- Native planting on dry banks
What to plant with sweetfern
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Bearberry: adds the flowers, early May to late May; a low mound at the foot of its spires; low enough (8 in) to stand in front of it.
- Lowbush blueberry: adds the flowers, early May to late May; a low mound at the foot of its spires; low enough (16 in) to stand in front of it.
- Little bluestem: happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about sweetfern
Does sweetfern need sun or shade?
Sweetfern grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does sweetfern grow in?
USDA zones 2 to 6. It is hardy to zone 2, which means it survives winter nights down to about −40 °F (−40 °C).
Above zone 6 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 sweetfern be planted?
4 ft (120 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 6 ft (180 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 sweetfern plants do I need?
Usually one. At 4 ft (120 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 4 ft apart: three plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is sweetfern 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 sweetfern?
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.
Will sweetfern spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Spreads by underground stems into a colony. Suited to banks and wild areas.
What does sweetfern look like in winter?
Sweetfern drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
Is sweetfern good for bees and butterflies?
Sweetfern is visited by butterflies and songbirds.
It is native to the United States and Canada.
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 6 ft (180 cm) wide
- Plant
- 4 ft (120 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late April to early May; upright spires; green, tan
- Leaves
- Fine texture, deciduous; dark green
- Shape
- Mounding, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 2 to 6
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Myricaceae
- Comes from
- Eastern Canada to North Central & Eastern U.S.A
- Attracts
- Butterflies, songbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, drought, wet soil
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.