Dryopteris erythrosora (Autumn Fern)

Semi-evergreen (rather depends on how harsh the winter is) fern from Japan. Bronze coloured new growth. Semi-shade to shade, well drained ferny soil (see below). If ferns already enjoy your garden, you'll have no trouble with this one. In ideal conditions (well drained organic soil but plenty of moisture available) - this could grow to 3ft x 3ft after 4 or 5 years.

If you have a new house and a new garden (especially in an area where clay predominates), the chances are that your garden has been 're-profiled' by the developers : clay compacted by heavy machinery, then covered in a few inches of topsoil. The process of turning this into a garden will be gradual and largely accomplished by your addition of organic mulch, the bacteria that breakdown the mulch and the worms that assimilate the broken down mulch into the ground. This is a part of the process of creating soil. If this is the starting point, there are lots of things that will establish and begin the process but unfortunately, ferns are not one of them. Either grow them in a pot or wait for a few years. Ferns are fuss pots and will only grow in good friable, well drained soil with lots of organic content.

Propagated from spores by us.