Polystichum setiferum Proliferum Wollastonii - Soft Shield Fern

Polystichum setiferum 'Proliferum Wollastonii', also known as Soft Shield Fern, is a dense cultivar with a rather compact habit and particularly visual foliage. This evergreen fern develops beautiful overlapping triangular fronds, intensely geometrically divided and soft to the touch, in a lovely bright green hue that emerges out of the cool shade where it will easily thrive. This plant will be superb in undergrowth or planted on the edges of a water feature, in a humus-rich and well-drained soil.

The Soft Shield Fern, formerly known as Polystichum angulare, is a botanical species native to Western Europe, especially Southern France and Great Britain, as well as temperate Asia and North Africa. Its natural habitat consists of wooded and shady ravines at low altitudes. It is a perennial plant of the Dryopteridaceae family, comprising more than 300 more or less distinct cultivars, including the 'Proliferum Wollastonii' variety.

Polystichum setiferum 'Proliferum Wollastonii' distinguishes itself from the type species by its more compact growth and fronds that overlap, giving it a dense yet lacy appearance. This fern forms a clump with a rather spreading habit, reaching a height of 60 cm (24 in) and a width of 80 cm (32 in). The fronds have a long triangular-shaped lamina, very regularly and finely divided into 30 to 40 pairs of dentate pinnae, covered with bristles. The petiole of each frond is scaly and brown. The laminae have a slightly soft texture and a vibrant light green to medium green colour, sometimes yellow-green when exposed to filtered sunlight. Each frond persists until spring, then dries out as the young shoots appear. The young crooks that emerge in spring are brown and unfurl to a sparkling silvery colour.

The Soft Shield Fern is quite hardy (down to -18 °C (0.4 °F)) and adapts to many cool and shady situations, in well-drained soil as it dislikes stagnant moisture. The 'Proliferum Wollastonii' variety can be grown in most regions, in soil that is always slightly moist. Its large silky fronds emerge from the shade, inviting us to touch them, along a shaded pathway. In undergrowth, it can be associated with simple and undemanding plants such as butcher's-broom or hollies. It also pairs well with corydalis, shrubby fuchsias, Japanese grasses (Hakonechloa), and hostas. Ferns are magnificent at the edge of water features or in large shaded rockeries. They can also be planted in a very large pot filled with fertile soil and placed near a shaded entrance or on a terrace, always sheltered from the sun.