Matteuccia struthiopteris

Matteuccia struthiopteris: Feathery Fronds with Fiddlehead Fame

Ostrich Fern is a native that grows into a giant green shuttlecock and hands you dinner every spring. Yes, those are the fiddleheads. YOUR SHADE GARDEN IS NOW A FARMERS' MARKET.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Matteuccia struthiopteris
• Common Name: Ostrich Fern
• Height: 90–150 cm (3–5 ft), taller in moist, rich soil
• Spread: 90–120 cm (3–4 ft) per clump, forming colonies over time
• Flowers: None. It's a fern. In late summer it sends up short, stiff, brown fertile fronds that hold spores and stand through winter.
• Foliage: Bright green, finely divided fronds in an upright, shuttlecock-shaped clump. Edible fiddleheads in early spring.
• Features: Rabbit resistant, handles wet soil, edible fiddleheads

Where to Plant: Use it to fill large, shady, moist areas: woodland gardens, the north side of a house, along streams and ponds, or in a rain garden. It tolerates black walnut and takes more sun if the soil stays moist, and if you harvest fiddleheads, take only a few from each well-established clump.

Companion Plants: Mertensia virginica opens blue bells in April and May, and the fern's fronds unfurl just in time to cover its fading leaves. Tricyrtis hirta brings spotted white flowers at 60 to 90 cm in August and September, adding late interest among the green. Helleborus HGC® Ice N' Roses® Dark Picotee flowers from March to May at 30 to 45 cm, so the bed has colour before the ferns wake up. Together they make a classic woodland planting for shade or part sun.

Plant Care: Plant it in rich, moist, humus-rich soil in part to full shade. It loves damp ground and even tolerates occasional flooding. In drier soil or more sun, the fronds can brown by midsummer, so water well during hot spells. A leaf mulch helps hold moisture. It spreads by underground runners that send up new crowns nearby. Dig out extra crowns in spring to control its spread or to share. Leave the brown fertile fronds standing for winter interest, and tidy the old foliage in fall or early spring.

History: Ostrich fern grows naturally across northern North America, Europe and Asia, and in Canada it's found in every province and territory. It's the source of the fiddleheads sold in spring markets, and its species name struthiopteris combines the Greek words for ostrich and fern, after the feather-like fronds.

Final Thoughts: Moist soil and some shade, and it fills a corner fast while deer and rabbits pass. UNLIKE THE BIRD, IT NEVER HIDES ITS HEAD.