Athyrium niponicum Metallicum - Japanese Painted Fern - Plant in 2 L Pot

Please Note: Athyrium niponicum Metallicum are a deciduous fern and while these are well established plants with a good size crown relative to pot size, from November they will not have any foliage until the following spring. Ferns are a delight for any garden that can provide their basic requirements. They fill that space that few other plants will thrive in and at the same time bring colour and form to please. A rich always moist but free draining neutral or acid soil with plenty of organic matter in a shady location is ideal. A small amount of sun early or late in the day will not harm but may darken the colour of the foliage. Athyrium niponicum Var. Metallicum (also known as Athyrium n. Pictum) is one of the most beautiful, easiest and most rewarding hardy ferns. This delightful variety is an RHS Award of Garden Merit Winner and performs well in any rich evenly moist soil. It forms a compact clump of fronds dark green in colour overlaid in olive and silvery-pewter with contrasting burgundy stems. Easy to grow in full to semi shade in most acid to neutral moist soils. Terrific for edging the shady border in the rock garden in mixed containers. Leaves die off in winter and may be trimmed to the ground in late autumn or early spring. Plants are easily divided in spring every 3 to 5 years. Ferns can be grown very successfully in pots and containers as long as you can reproduce the basic requirements and especially the need for constant moisture. Use a good quality neutral or acid (ericaceous) peat or peat substitute compost. Ferns generally require a constant feed of nutrients so please ensure you feed regularly as a hungry plant is a poor performer. We recommend Osmoscote pro 8 - 9 month applied in the early spring as growth begins. One application gives all the nutrients the plant requires.