Dryopteris
Whether in the leading role or as a supporting act, Dryopteris (wood ferns) are garden stars. Meet the National Collection of them at RHS Harlow Carr, looked after by horticulturist Aimee-Beth Browning
The Dryopteris collection was started at RHS Harlow Carr in the 1980’s. It sits in an unassuming shady corner of the woodland with oak trees that dominate the canopy above. In spring, with the trees yet to fill out and the sunlight still reaching the woodland floor, a selection of new fiddleheads or croziers begin to quietly unfurl. They do so all together, signalling the return of spring, showing a small selection of just 59 taxa of a very large genus of plants.
The collection was started by the Northern Horticultural Society and passionate, volunteer fern enthusiasts. Over the years, tremendous help has been given by the British Pteridological Society in helping to identify particular species as well as donating wonderful specimens. Ferns are notoriously hard to distinguish between each other, so their help has always been invaluable.
Meet the family
They are versatile and offer a range of different characteristics to a garden. There are evergreen and
A popular fern in this collection is Dryopteris affinis AGM, the scaly male fern. It has many cultivars which offer different and wonderful features to their fronds, some being lacey and divided, with others simple and architectural. D. affinis ‘Cristata’ AGM is a handsome, upright fern that has crested tips giving it a regal feel. It also provides another semi-evergreen or evergreen plant for the garden.
Another evergreen selection is D. erythrosora AGM, which keeps its bright, lime green foliage colour through dark winter days. It’s known as the copper shield fern as its new fronds in the summer start as a salmon pink colour, which can be used to echo the colours of spring
Surprisingly perhaps, they’re not all just green. D. lepidopoda (sunset fern), another semi-evergreen, has new fronds that emerge as orange to pink before turning a deep green. The central stem (rachis) of the fronds of D. cycadina AGM (shaggy shield fern) is nearly black in appearance, with thick, dark scales which make its bright green frond colour seem to glow and in turn illuminates a shady spot. In autumn, many ferns change colours too, with D. filix mas turning lovely yellow hues to enrich a woodland display.
Diverse appeal
There are over 200 species of Dryopteris worldwide, therefore the diversity in some of their appearances can offer a bit of an exotic appeal. D.sieboldii AGM is hardy in the UK even though it looks like it should only survive under glass, with leathery larger fronds that live in deep shade. Dryopteris wallichiana AGM is another specimen fern, native to the Himalayas. It has a luxuriant appearance with large, one metre long fronds and deep, brown-black scales, which make the new fiddleheads standout in the springtime.
In areas where you want to mix herbaceous
Tough cookies
Ferns are resilient. They have been around for millions of years. The Dryopteris at RHS Harlow Carr have shown great adaptability, with some growing in deep shade, while others have grown over time to tolerate a good amount of sun, as long as their feet stay on the damp side. Growing in the ground, on logs, in stumps, in between stones and on pathways, they have taught me to be creative and see how they may adapt to a situation, but always with a little help and coaxing through tough dry periods with a watering can close by until they settle in.
I often get asked what my favourite Dryopteris in the collection is, and I honestly can’t pick one, as they all display different qualities. The most wonderful thing about them is the sense of place they create together with their neighbours, they really are special plants.