Japanese painted fern: 2004 perennial plant of the year

The Perennial Plant of the Year winner for 2004 is the lovely Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum 'Pictum').

An attractive low-maintenance shade garden plant, this fern is also very showy. The leaves are a soft shade of metallic silver-gray with hints of red and blue.

Japanese painted fern grows about 18 inches tall and makes a clump more than two feet wide.

How to grow Japanese painted fern

Japanese painted fern

This fern thrives in part- to full shade where moisture and humidity are plentiful and the soil is compost-rich and woodsy.

To keep the soil rich and fertile, mulch planting bed with 2 or 3 inches of compost or leaf mould each spring or fall.

The fronds show their best color in light shade.

This fern will tolerate a small amount of morning sun in southern gardens, and in northern gardens it can take more morning sun without leaf scorch. It is hardy in USDA Zones 3 to 8.

What to plant with Japanese Painted Fern

Japanese painted fern makes for an interesting textural contrast when combined with other shade-tolerant perennials.

Suitable companions for this plant are bleeding heart, columbine, Lamium, Astilbe, Hosta and coral-bells, and it also combines beautifully with:

• White variegated hosta varieties, such as 'Patriot' and 'Ginko Craig'
• Foam flower (Tiarella) species and cultivars
• Shade-tolerant ornamental grasses, such as the variegated sedge Carex morrowii 'Variegata', or Japanese Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola')
• Heart-leafed brunnera cultivars (Brunnera macrophylla 'Langtrees', 'Silver Wings', or 'Jack Frost')
• White flowered Astilbe 'Snowdrift' or pink Astilbe simplicifolia 'Sprite'