Dryopteris affinis 'Crispa'
Archive entry 31.05.20
12th September 2006
The Golden Scaled Male Fern is a vigorous native, and I am sure there is a reliable way of telling all of the Dryopteris species apart when they occur in the garden,
but for me they seem to fall into a continuous spread of characteristics with no clear dividing lines. Growing a range of slight variations in pots is probably not the best way of
keeping the characters distinct! As with many ferns, when they are good they are fabulous, but most of them have a season when they bring overtones of the emergency
drainage culvert into the garden.
This is a slightly dwarfer form than usual, with denser heads of fronds that are slightly crimped and incised.
20th May 2012
9th May 2015
28th May 2020
Fabulous plant through spring and summer, becoming less conspicuous in autumn.