Adiantum capillus-veneris (Southern Maidenhair Fern) SKU-ADICAP

Description

Southern Maidenhair Ferns give a light airy texture to shady gardens. In Coastal SC and  Coastal GA, they are usually evergreen.  They look delicate. Some of them are. The ones we grow aren’t.   The species is native to North America, the Caribbean,  Eurasia, the Middle East, and Australasia.   The key is finding a strain  that is adapted to your area.  That is where we lucked out.  In the early ’90s, I planted out a small pot of Southern Maidenhair Ferns that a friend had given one of my clients.  There was no irrigation in the garden.. and the client had never allowed pesticides or chemical fertilizers in her garden.   I weeded them, mulched them with leaves and occasionally fed them with fish emulsion and a  little lime.. otherwise they were on their own.  Each year the patch grew bigger and bigger.  The last time I visited the garden, the ferns were over 1 foot all and the patch covered over 400 square feet. No one weeds them anymore. They are so thick that the weeds don’t stand a chance. Besides being pretty, they make good hiding places for ground-feeding birds and have been used medicinally in many parts of the world. Plant them in part to full shade in average to moist soil. They love calcium, it makes their leaves a beautiful blue-green. They grow well in shelly areas or near masonry work.  If you eat eggs, sprinkle the shells around them.  If you want to keep them in a pot, give them good drainage and repot them once  a year.