Types of Lady Fern – Green, Painted, or Ghost

Choose lady fern by habit: a green shuttlecock, a silver painted mound, or an upright Ghost.

Choose a lady fern, a Japanese painted fern, or Ghost

Read the tag for the habit that changes the job, then pick that kind: a green lady shuttlecock, a silver painted mound, or Ghost. [1] Painted fern is the silver and burgundy class, about 18 inches in light shade. [2] Lady fern is the lacy green clump, 2 to 3 feet. [3] Painted fern stays much shorter than a lady fern. [4] Site and watering are on How to Grow Lady Fern.

Browse by kind

Lady ferns

Lady fern is the green shuttlecock, about 2 to 3 feet, lacy and light green. Lady in Red is the same species with red stipes. Frizelliae is the dwarf, about 1 foot, with bead-like pinnae. Eared lady fern is the yellow-green Japanese lady fern, not a silver painted mound.

Japanese painted ferns

Japanese painted fern is the silver and burgundy mound, about 18 inches. Burgundy Lace and Pewter Lace are darker or brighter painted selections. Silver Falls is the arching silver-gray class.

Ghost and other hybrids

Ghost takes the lady-fern vase and the painted-fern silver overlay. It stands about 30 inches, upright, not a low painted patch.

Ghost is the tall silver vase — painted fern stays low

Ghost stands about 30 inches, a vase of silver fronds. Japanese painted fern stays about 18 inches and spreads into a low patch. Godzilla is the giant of the painted class — still painted fern, not Ghost. Eared lady fern is a yellow-green lady fern from Japan, not a silver mound. Red Beauty and Regal Red are painted-fern names that are not in this catalog.

If you wanted a 3-foot green shuttlecock, buy a lady fern — painted fern stays low and silver.