Dryopteris x australis – Dixie Wood Fern – 3-Quart

One of the largest of the wood ferns – it makes a formidable addition to the woodland or shady garden. The growth habit is dramatically upright with large, coarse, dark green, semi-evergreen fronds. Dixie Wood Fern is a naturally occurring hybrid between Log Fern (Dryopteris celsa) and Southern Wood Fern (D. ludoviciana). It’s cold hardy through zone 5, so it’s an excellent choice for valley locations but if you live at higher elevations of the Catskills and want a large wood fern, try Goldie’s Fern (D. goldiana) instead. There is an extensive planting of this fern at the New York Botanic Garden’s Native Plant Garden – a magnificent display, even at the height of summer in August when many ferns are in decline.