Painted Fern (Athyrium niponicum)
At a glance
- Exposure
- Full shade
- Frost limit
- −34.4 °C
Cultivation
An easily grown plant, it is calcifuge and prefers an acid soil with a pH from 4.5 to 6.5, but it tolerates alkaline soils if plenty of leaf mould is added. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer.
Propagation
Spores - surface sow in a pot of sterile compost in a shady part of the greenhouse and keep moist, this is most easily done by putting the pot in a plastic bag. Pot up small clumps of the plants when they are large enough to handle and keep them moist until they are established. Plant out in late spring of the following year. Division in spring as plants come into growth. Larger divisions can be planted straight into their permanent positions whilst smaller clumps are best potted up and kept in a cold frame until they are growing away well.
Edible uses
Very young fronds (croziers) - boiled. Some caution is advised. See the notes above on toxicity.
Habitat
Shaded places in lowland all over Japan.
Native range
E. Asia - China, Japan, Korea.