Deparia petersenii
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Common Name: Japanese lady fern
Type: Fern
Family: Woodsiaceae
Zone: 6 to 9
Native Range: Indochina to Taiwan, Japan to Australia and New Zealand, Polynesia
Garden Location: Enterprise Rent-A-Car Flower Borders
Height: 1 to 2 feet
Spread: 1 to 2 feet
Bloom Time: Non-flowering
Bloom Color: 
Bloom Description: Non-flowering
Sun: Part shade to full shade
Water: Medium to wet
Maintenance: Medium
Tolerates: Rabbits
Uses: Will Naturalize

Culture

Easily grown in average, medium to wet soils in part shade to full shade. Prefers moist, rich, humusy soils. May not be reliably winter hardy throughout USDA Zone 5 where it should be grown in a protected location. Consider leaving dead fronds as a winter mulch.

Noteworthy Characteristics

Japanese lady fern (sometimes also called black lady fern) is a deciduous fern which typically grows to 18" tall (occasionally to 24") and as wide. Features attractive blackish-green, upright arching, triangular fronds. Sori are arranged in a herringbone pattern on the undersides of the pinnae. Fiddleheads begin to unfurl in late spring after most other ferns are already leafed out. Spreads slowly by creeping rhizomes. Synonymous with and sometimes sold as Athyrium japonicum or Lunathyrium japonicum.

Problems

No serious insect or disease problem. Winter hardiness in the St. Louis area is a concern.

Garden Uses

Mass or group in woodland or shade gardens.

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