Dryopteris commixta

Since we first planted Dryopteris pycnopteroides in 2000, this easy-to-grow, evergreen Asian clumper has become one of our all-time favorite ferns. The show starts in spring with amazing alien-antennae-like, black-stemmed croziers that unfurl in a grab your camera moment. Weeks later, the shiny, erect, dark green fronds reach 2' in length, highlighted at the base by black "fur". Our 10-year-old clumps are 18" tall x 2' wide. Unfortunately, Dryopteris pycnopteroides is now in the midst of a taxonomic tug-of-war, since some fern experts think the material in the US is actually Dryopteris kuratae and we think they are probably correct. We are waiting on final confirmation before changing the tags.