previous
  • Lilacs: Time for a Fresh Look
    Lilacs: Time for a Fresh Look
  • Enchanting Japanese Maples
    Enchanting Japanese Maples
  • Big Flowers from Bigleaf Hydrangeas
    Big Flowers from Bigleaf Hydrangeas
  • How to Grow Raspberries
    How to Grow Raspberries
  • Bold and Beautiful Zinnias
    Bold and Beautiful Zinnias
  • Garden Catalog Collector
    Garden Catalog Collector
  • Perfect Edges for Your Beds and Borders
    Perfect Edges for Your Beds and Borders
  • A gardener's checklist for early summer
    A gardener's checklist for early summer
  • Backyard Makeover Game
    Backyard Makeover Game
  • Variegated Plants Create Drama
    Variegated Plants Create Drama
  • All About Starting Seeds
    All About Starting Seeds
  • Off With Their Heads: Deadheading Perennials
    Off With Their Heads: Deadheading Perennials
  • Building a Compost Bin
    Building a Compost Bin
  • The Only Shrubs You Need to Grow
    The Only Shrubs You Need to Grow
  • How to Start a Vegetable Garden
    How to Start a Vegetable Garden
  • 10 Perennials Easily Grown from Seed
    10 Perennials Easily Grown from Seed
  • Video: Make a Straw-Bale Garden
    Video: Make a Straw-Bale Garden
  • Find the Perfect Tomato
    Find the Perfect Tomato
  • Free Download: Rose Pruning and Bed Prep
    Free Download: Rose Pruning and Bed Prep
  • Friendly Ways to Battle Garden Pests
    Friendly Ways to Battle Garden Pests
  • Soil Testing is Worth the Effort
    Soil Testing is Worth the Effort
  • 25 Robust Summer Bloomers
    25 Robust Summer Bloomers
  • 15 Deer-Resistant Plants
    15 Deer-Resistant Plants
  • Viburnums are Versatile Shrubs
    Viburnums are Versatile Shrubs
  • Make Your Own Hypertufa Container
    Make Your Own Hypertufa Container
next

Osmunda cinnamomea (Cinnamon fern)

Osmunda cinnamomea Photo/Illustration: Michelle Gervais

(Based on 1 user review)

Rate this plant

Plant Showcase - from our advertisers


Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Botanical Name: Osmunda cinnamomea oz-MUN-dah sin-ah-MOE-mee-ah Common Name: Cinnamon fern Genus: Osmunda
This deciduous fern bears shuttlecocks of lance-shaped, feathery pale green fronds. Separate, erect, narrow fertile fronds are cinnamon-brown in spring. Cinnamon fern is native to eastern North America.
Noteworthy characteristics: Young fiddleheads are edible. Effective for filling bare spaces or adding depth in the shade of tall trees. Can grow in low, wet areas.
Care: Grow in moist, fertile, rich soil that is preferably acidic. Prefers light, dappled shade.
Propagation: Divide clumps from established colonies in autumn or early spring.
Problems: Prone to rust.
Height 1 ft. to 3 ft.
Spread 1 ft. to 3 ft.
Growth Pace Moderate Grower
Light Part Shade Only
Moisture Medium Moisture
Maintenance Moderate
Characteristics Native; Showy Foliage
Uses Beds and Borders, Waterside
Style Woodland Garden
Seasonal Interest Spring Interest, Summer Interest
Type Fern

Plants you might also like

Athyrium 'Ghost' Athyrium 'Ghost'
(Ghost fern)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Here's a fern with an upright habit and silvery fronds that give it a ghostly look, hence the name. Emerging new fronds have a shimmering whitish color that darkens slowly to a silvery green with burgundy accents. 'Ghost' spreads slowly by shallow rhizomes, eventuallly becoming an excellent ground cover

Polystichum acrostichoides Polystichum acrostichoides
(Christmas fern)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

The Christmas fern is a particularly accommodating garden plant. It is adapted to a wide range of conditions, from very dry to moist, and is hardy to Zone 3. The plant’s 1- to 2-foot fronds are dependably evergreen—hence the common name—but they lie flat on the ground through the winter. Few hardy ferns have more beautiful deep, glossy green foliage.

Adiantum pedatum ssp. aleuticum Adiantum pedatum ssp. aleuticum
(Northern maidenhair fern)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This is an elegant, deciduous fern with medium green fronds on dark brown or black stalks with thick creeping rhizomes. It provides a distinct form in a woodland setting or shaded border.

Pteridium aquilinum Pteridium aquilinum
(Bracken)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

A native fern with triangular-shaped, stiff, upright fronds that can tolerate dry soil and full sun. Bracken can make very large colonies and are found in a variety of habitats ranging from dry and wet forests to meadows and bogs. They grow up to 4.5 feet tall.

Polystichum makinoi Polystichum makinoi
(Makinoi's holly fern)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This evergreen terrestial fern has a somewhat formal look due to its satiny olive-green fronds and neat, arching habit.