Woodwardia virginica (Virginia Chain Fern)

Woodwardia virginica (Virginia Chain Fern) is a deciduous fern adorned with tall, erect to gracefully arching, leathery, pinnate-pinnatifid fronds, up to 3 ft. long (90cm). The fertile fronds appear in summer with spores that are chainlike, linear and arranged parallel to the frond’s mid-vein. They have a shiny dark brown stipe. Emerging coppery red, the fronds change to lustrous dark green as the season progresses before turning bronze in the fall. Arising in rows from a long-creeping rhizome, Virginia Chain Fern can spread aggressively and take over a small garden. It is best planted in large, wet areas where little else will grow, such as near bogs, streams, ponds, or water gardens.

• Grows up to 2-3 ft. tall (60-90 cm) and 3-4 ft. wide (90-120 cm).
• Performs best in part shade to full shade in acidic, organically rich, moist to wet, well-drained soils. 
• Perfect for shade gardens, native plant gardens, woodland gardens, bog gardens, rain gardens, water gardens or along ponds and streams.
• Generally pest and disease free. Deer resistant.
• Cut down old fronds when they deteriorate.
• Propagate by spores or rhizome division.
• Native to eastern North America.