Asplenium scolopendrium

One of the few native plants we grow and very beautiful it is too but like all ferns, it needs the right conditions. In West Sussex, it’s always the bases of the north side of the Sussex Downs that you’ll see them at their very best (Cocking, Edburton, Fulking etc). The ingredients are alkalinity (the chalk of the Downs), deep soil and good drainage (being at the base of the hill where all the organic detritus collects) and shade and shelter (under trees and at the bottom the hills). The result is great vigour sometimes leading to evergreen fronds well over 2 ft in length.