Polystichum polyblepharum Best Seller at home in a wetland

at home in a wetland but just as striking in an ordinary bed or beside a pond

fishy odor that draws the flies and beetles that pollinate them

the shrub asks little beyond warmth and a yearly pruning to keep the fountain in bounds

not for eating out of hand

reaching up to 5 to 6 feet in perpetually moist conditions

Polystichum polyblepharum Best Seller at home in a wetlandPicture a midnight green fountain unfurling in a woodland garden: that is Polystichum polyblepharum, the Japanese tassel fern. Native to Japan and South Korea, this evergreen fern forms elegant, shuttlecock shaped clumps of glossy, bipinnate fronds to eighteen or twenty four inches tall and wide, bringing shimmering texture and structure to shady corners. In spring the fiddleheads twist back on themselves, like silk tassels, before straightening into