(Japanese Astilbe, Japanese False Spirea)

Feathery flowerheads and mounds of lush foliage make Astilbe japonica great in woodland and shade gardens throughout the temperate regions of the world. It is native to the cool, humid montain forests of Japan and is a vigorous perennial and spreads slowly to form dense clumps. Japanese spirea is rarely grown in its wild form, taking a back seat to the more available and wider array of flower colors known in the various hybrids of Astilbe.

Graceful mounds of dark green, twice...

(Rose Astilbe, Rose False Spirea)

Feathery pastel pink flowerheads and mounds of lush foliage make rose false spirea great in woodland and shade gardens throughout the temperate regions of the world. This species is the result of crossing the taller, white-flowering Astilbe japonica with the bronze-green leaved, red or pink flowering Astilbe chinensis. Both parents are native to the cool, humid forests of east Asia and are vigorous perennials that spread slowly to form dense clumps.

Graceful mounds of dark...

(Peach Blossom False Spirea, Rose Astilbe, Rose False Spirea)

Middle-sized and free-flowering, the hybrid astilbe ‘Peach Blossom’ is an herbaceous perennial grown for its tolerance of shade, dependable bloom, plush spikes of flowers, and toothy, uniform leaves. It blooms in summer at the top of slender upright stems with spikes that have a branching habit a bit like a Christmas tree. Tiny, closely packed, peach pink flowers clothe the spikes, transforming them into plush, billowing plumes. One plant may produce several stems, making an airy cloud of bloom above...

(Astilboides, Shieldleaf Rodgersia)

Bring drama to a cool, shady woodland garden by planting the shieldleaf rodgersia, which captures attention with its large, jagged leaves and upright flower stems. A clump-forming herbaceous perennial, its native range is northeastern China and North Korea. Slow-growing, creeping rhizome roots eventually create a broad plant in the landscape.

Light green leaves emerge in spring, with softly hairy surfaces. Each blade rises on a long petiole stem that attaches in the blade center. The leaf is...

(Hadspen Blood Masterwort, Masterwort)

Masterwort 'Hadspen Blood' is a clump-forming perennial that has palmately lobed leaves and airy, dark red, small flowers held on thin dark red stems. It blooms in late spring throughout late summer and slowly darkens to a maroon.

Masterwort requires well-drained, consistently moist soil in full or partial sun.

(Ganges Primrose, Variegated Primrose)

Successful in many warm soils, the spreading green and yellow foliage of variegated Ganges primrose is a lovely backdrop for the white or yellow blossoms that flush purple with maturity. An exact nativity is uncertain, but believed to hail from eastern Africa, and India eastward into Malaysia. This is a tender perennial or subshrub that sprawls out and is reminiscent of a large petunia plant. It is usually regarded as a pretty weed in the tropics (in lawns), often invasive along the beaches.

The...

(Branford Beauty Ladyfern)

Beautiful and lacy best describes the light gray-green foliage with silvery hues on the Branford Beauty ladyfern. A hybrid of Japanese painted fern and ladyfern, it was developed in Branford, Connecticut by Nick Nicou.

The pointed, triangular fronds have a reddish stem and is ornately lined with small, feathery leaflets (pinnae). Each pinna is light green but heavily masked in gray and silver tones, or green with noticeable flecks of gray-silver. It becomes a clumping plant, with the fronds held...

(Japanese Painted Fern)

This natural variety of Japanese Painted Fern is a deciduous ground fern native to moist forest floors of Japan, Korea and Taiwan with very beautiful leaves. It produces dense clumps of delicately divided fronds in varying shades of gray-green and metallic silver often flushed with red. The leaf's midrib is usually red to purple. These ferns appear to splay horizontally as if arching towards the ground. As they mature, they spread by forming multiple crowns.

Japanese painted fern requires part...

(Japanese Painted Fern, Pewter Lace Painted Fern)

Pewter Lace Painted Fern, or Japanese Painted Fern, is a deciduous ground fern grown for its dense clumps of delicately divided metallic pewter fronds with a deep burgundy stem. The fronds are bluish-green closest to the stem and silver at the outer edges. It is native to the forest floors of Japan, where it grows in moist, fertile soil. It spreads slowly by forming multiple crowns.

The Japanese Painted Fern requires consistently moist acidic to neutral soil; enrich it with leaf mold or compost....

(Japanese Painted Fern, Silver Falls Japanese Painted Fern)

This selection of Japanese Painted Fern is a hardy, deciduous ground fern grown for its dense clumps of delicately divided silver fronds with a prominent dark-burgundy stem. The leaflets are grayish-blue closest to the stem and become more silver toward the outer edges. This fern is slower to emerge in spring than other painted ferns, and its silver color becomes more pronounced as the season progresses. It is descended from a native of forest floors in Japan, where it grows in moist, fertile soil....