Adiantum venustum

Adiantum venustum carries its name of elegant capillary perfectly. This graceful Chinese capillary forms delicate foliage on moist and shaded rocks in the Himalayas. It is a hardy, deciduous fern that is easy to acclimatise in our gardens if the conditions are met. Its young fronds are tinged with pink and then take on a vibrant and clear green colour, with intense freshness. Finely cut along black stems, assembled in a large languid bouquet, they bring a great deal of grace to this plant that eventually forms an exceptional ground cover in shade or partial shade.

This fern is from the Pteridaceae family. It is sometimes called graceful capillary or Venus hair. It is resistant to cold and tolerant to limestone, but it needs constant humidity to thrive. It is native to the temperate zones of China and the Himalayas, and is found in Kashmir, Afghanistan, Nepal, and northern India. It is a trailing perennial fern with rhizomes, forming a tuft with a spreading habit, reaching about 30cm (12in) in height and 40cm (16in) in spread. Its growth is quite fast, after the first two years. Its wide, pyramid-shaped fronds consist of many hanging triangular leaflets, which are fringed at the edges. They are arranged in regular rows along black petioles radiating along the main stem. Their colour is a bright and clear green, darkening slightly in summer, with a bluish-green underside. The reddish croziers unfurl in spring, blooming into young fronds often tinged with light orange-pink. The foliage is semi-evergreen to deciduous, depending on the climate. When it thrives, this fern eventually forms beautiful colonies.

The capillaries are extremely elegant ferns with great ornamental value. Adiantum venustum thrives only in cool or mountainous climates, in a humid and shaded location. It can be planted in a large shady rockery, placed in a pocket of compost that is watered daily in summer if it doesn't rain. This fern will thrive best near a waterfall in a water garden, even if the latter is made of limestone. In this setting, it will pair well with Corsican mint, Mentha requieni, Helxine soleirolii, Hakonechloa, or Alchemilla mollis.