Japanese Ghost - Athyrium naponicum

If Michael Jackson had been a horticulturalist rather than a world-wide pop star, and had Thriller been a Garden Manscape rather than an epic short music-film thing, and had that garden been located in part to mostly shade, and had there been a discussion about which fern to add into the shady section of the Thriller Garden Manscape, I think Michael would have agreed the only obvious hypothetical choice would have been Athyrium naponicum 'pictum' - The Japanese Ghost Fern.



Most ferns are a very reliable source of green-ness for the areas of shade-itude in the garden. They spread easily, require little care, and provide a sort of tropical-ized backdrop for the Garden Manscape. The most obvious features of Athyrium naponicum 'pictum' are the brilliant silver colorings which turn this fern from being 'just another fern' into the flippin' best fern in the garden. (Of course the name helps too...) An exotic looking plant like this seems like it'd be at home only in the most diverse regions of the sub-tropics, but is in fact hardy from zones 3-8. The horticultural world has even recognized Japanese Ghost fern's absolute extraordinary excellence, as it was named the 2004 Perennial Plant of the Year. Everyone everywhere knows that this is the creme de la creme of garden ferns. Everyone.



Ferns are an interesting group of plants, in that they produce spores to reproduce and spread and therefore don't have flowers or seeds. As such, they are not subject to the care requirements of many other flowering perennials, and 'pictum' will slowly spread into neat two foot clumps with no mess. Athyriums grow from an underground creeping rhizome, which is a plant structure primarily comprised of a sort of horizontal root mass. This allows them to be vegetatively reproduced. In not-so-fancy words, if you were to hack up the rhizome of a Ghost Fern, a new plant could come up from each new piece of rhizome. They do prefer a bit moister soils, but if planting other ferns, make sure to double check. Not all ferns are created equally and some prefer drier sites, some prefer much wetter sites. Ghost fern is sort of in the 'baby bear' range, and likes soil dampness somewhere right in the middle. During very dry summers these ferns can look rather sad and frail, and may not even emerge for an entire year. (They are ghosts after all... spoooooky... ) And again, ferns should rarely be placed out in full sun unless you find some bent appeal in watching them whither and die. Find shady spots under trees or shrubs, or against the house to feature these ferny specters, and you'll be well rewarded.



Finding incredible shade plants for the landscape doesn't have to be hard. Make life easier. Make the garden more Thrilling. Plant Japanese Ghost Fern and let the funk of forty thousand years invade your Garden Manscape. Let's not forget that hypothetically, this was and/or would have been the fern choice of Micheal Jackson. You think you're better than Michael Jackson?


photo credit:
1] http://imagehost.vendio.com/preview/a/35066030/aview/thriller.jpg?t=1248773375
2] http://gardenblog.projo.com/2009/06/fern-fern-fern.html#.TrS6hkMg_UA
3] http://www.pkflandscape.com/plant%20gallery.htm
4] http://www.tlrlandscapes.com/materials/perennials.php