An ornamental grass that does well in moderately shady locations.  Airy masses of finely branched, light green inflorescences rise above the neatly rounded tufts of narrow, dark green foliage in early summer, and remain intact long enough to provide some early winter interest.

Selected for deep, dark-green foliage, late blooming period, clump-forming habit and airy, golden-yellow flowers that emerge in June and last through to September. Attractive seed heads persist through winter. An eye catching cool season, semi-evergreen ornamental grass perfectly suited for part sun to shade.

A delightful and elegant native, this diminutive grass thrives in dry shade. Fine-textured and delicate in appearance, it is tough and drought tolerant, ideal for planting in any well-drained shady location as a groundcover. In spring it is topped with graceful feathery flowers that are lovely as they move quietly in the breeze.

Autumn fern is a colorful groundcover with pink fiddleheads that turn coppery orange as they unfurl. Fronds age to a lustrous dark green and remain well into winter. New growth continues through the season, giving a colorful tapestry effect of copper and green from spring to late fall.

This is the largest of the native wood ferns, reaching 4' in ideal conditions. It is a stately and slowly spreading groundcover, forming large clusters of graceful arching fronds. Named for Scottish botanist John Goldie, its fronds are green without a hint of gold. Dryopteris goldiana is native to seepage slopes and moist woods from Newfoundland to Georgia, west to Minnesota and Arkansas.

The leathery leaves of Dryopteris marginalis are a beautiful addition to the woodland garden and can form a lovely and easy to maintain groundcover. A sturdy east coast native, it forms a tidy clump that will not spread and is very tolerant of dry shade conditions once it has established. Marginal wood fern is often found in shaded crevices of rocky ledges and bluffs from Newfoundland to Georgia, west to Oklahoma and Minnesota.

Dryopteris x australis is a natural hybrid (D. celsa x ludoviciana) found in wild populations from Louisiana to Virginia, but is a superb garden plant as far north as Zone 5. It is taller than either parent and a formidable addition to the garden.