PlantFiles: Hard Fern, Deer Fern, Ladder Fern, Herring Bone Fern, Snake Fern, Deer Tongue Fern
Blechnum spicant

Native to Alaska, California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington states in the US.

Commonly available in nurseries locally. This fern grows well here in zone 9b.

This fern definitely likes acid soil and shade. It propagates itself well in my yard, which is constantly trying to revert to the woods from which it was made. This plant does not require any pampering. In fact, it does better if left alone, except to remove any invasive weeds.

Ours were doing OK here but not really flourishing.
I contacted a Hort friend of mine in England and he suggested raising the Acidity.

We augmented our clay native soil first w/ Miracid, then Oak Leaf compost.
They have responded quite well, doubling in size in the next year.

It's a very nice plant that really does give a 4 season show.
The changes in the plant structure, as it goes thru it's yearly cycle, are pretty spectacular.

very attractive and commonly grown fern in the northwest. Here in southern California growing this is a bit tougher as it doesn't like dry, hot weather, but it survives here. Has two completely different leaf shapes as it grows- the vegetative leaves which are shorter and wider, and then during parts of the year, long, thin, tall leaves shoot up far above the others covered with spores on their undersides. AT first I thought one species of fern was growing out of another until I saw that many of these plants looked like that.