Buy Athyrium niponicum 'Godzilla'

'Godzilla' towers above other painted ferns growing to three feet tall by six feet wide! It has dark violet-red stems with lacy, silver-grey fronds that turn frosty silver towards the tips. The pinnules also twist a little giving the frond a "fluffed" up look. The fronds work well in cut flower arrangements. Thought to be a hybrid between Athyrium niponicum 'Pictum' and the lady fern, A. filix-femina.

(GIANT JAPANESE PAINTED FERN) Massive, arching clump of 3' silver, deciduous fronds with purple stems and green highlights in expanding clumps 4-6' wide. Part to full shade, consistent moisture for best growth; critter and deer resistant.  Nice larger sca

Athyrium niponicum ‘Godzilla’ is a colorful and impressive fern that slowly spreads by rhizomes rather than forming a crown. This enormous Japanese Painted Fern displays gray, green and silver fronds with plum-purple stems. Ferns thrive in neutral to acidic, loose, richly organic soil. Excellent for mass plantings, rock gardens, containers, in woodlands and naturalized landscapes.

A large growing painted fern, which can get to 18” and has lovely purple and silver fronds. This pretty plant will make a small thicket of leaves.

Lovely Painted Fern is a classic shade garden plant, and this variation discovered in Tony Avent's garden is twice the size of the typical species, (and he suspects it is a hybrid with another species). 'Godzilla' is reported to grow to 3' tall and up to 6' across, but most likely will take several years to accomplish these proportions. Lovely fronds have a silvery overlay with wine red mid ribs. Grow in a soil with even moisture in part or full shade.

Spreading mound has a spectacular show of tri-color fronds with zones of burgundy, grey & dark green. Excellent performer. Plant in light shade for best affect otherwise partial sun to nearly full shade. Size: 3’ x 6’. Zones 5 to 9; Deciduous.

Especially tall for a painted fern at 18" or more - a veritable Godzilla - well, maybe someone is exaggerating a tiny bit. Silver-green with a slight bit of purple and soft in tone, we do need subtlety in the garden. Maybe it's compensating for its gargantuan size. Clumping.

Leave it to Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery to discover the biggest, baddest Japanese Painted Fern of 'em all. According to Tony, "This sporeling showed up in our garden in the mid-1990's and it wasn't long before we realized we had something special. There was something about its 3' tall x 6.5' wide proportions that were a bit out of the ordinary for a typical Japanese painted fern, despite its typical painted fern leaf appearance. Although the leaf backs were covered in patches of felty brown spores there was no viability, indicating some horticultural hanky panky with a nearby lady fern (Athyrium filix-femina) had conceived this "mule." We have divided our clump so we can finally share 'Godzilla' with our gardening friends. As with all athyriums, deer-resistance is excellent." If you aren't familiar with Japanese Painted Fern, you should be! Fronds vary in shades of green blended with burgundy and gray, arranged in a unique and decorative way to give the appearance of motion. Best displayed in filtered shade, as direct sun will burn the foliage. Plant it as a focal point where it will gradually spread to form an elegant ground cover. Deciduous.