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The Regal or Royal Fern gets quite large. This one in my garden was about 40 inches tall this year, but can get bigger. Shown with smaller Ostrich ferns to the left and coleus 'Haines Heirloom' (which gets huge for a coleus)on the right.
Thanks. The coleus is one of the few colorful plants for shade that can keep up with the large fern. I may try a potted shrimp plant or two with it next year, since the coleus is a difficult shade to mix with other flower colors and this is part of a very large bed.
That's a really neat fern. I like the way you have it arranged in your bed. The coleus is a nice contrast. And I see that it's hardy too! Does it really flower? I must watch for this one! Thanks for the picture.
This message was edited Wednesday, Nov 26th 9:40 AM
Thanks for the comments. Not sure what you mean, Roshana, about the coleus being hardy...it is vigorous...but it won't take frost or freeze. It does not bloom too much, which is a plus for me. I grow coleus for the leaves, not the flowers, and I really get tired of constantly pinching back the flower spikes on some varieties. The regal fern is hardy, though, and it really looked nice this fall. It had time to turn a golden yellow since we did not get a killing freeze until last week.
Well, I guess I didn't phrase that quite right! I was refering to the fern rather than the coleus. Sorry. Does the fern really flower? Or is that just a misnomer?
That's funny...a misnomer definitely; the fern makes spores at the ends of some of the fronds, but no flowers. I did not even notice that is one of the common names (I did not originally log this plant). Now you have me wondering about how it got that name...
