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April 2008 Plant of the Month by Leann Barron
‘Rita’s Gold’™ Fern (Nephrolepsis exaltata)
Call me jaundiced, but when I see a chartreuse-y yellow plant, I fall head over heels in love. And I fell hard when I first cast my eyes on ‘Rita’s Gold’™ fern.
Okay, okay, I can hear you kvetching now: “A Boston fern is not perennial, it’s annual in our climate.” Indeed, it is a tender perennial that needs to be brought inside before frost. But ‘Rita’s Gold’™ is THE hot new fern that quickly will become a perennial favorite in your garden, and one you’ll want to use year after year. Honestly, it’s destined to become a classic in the garden industry. It’s that wonderful.
This introduction, brought to us by one of our favorite Perennial Plant Society speakers, Rita Randolph of Randolph’s Greenhouses in Jackson, TN, is the only true gold fern--the fabulous fronds unfurl to a chartreuse green that hold their color and don’t revert. It’s more compact than ordinary Boston ferns, with fronds reaching 18-24,” making it a versatile workhorse in many garden applications. ‘Rita’s Gold,’™ like other Boston ferns, is happiest in shade to partial shade, handling morning sunshine beautifully. The golden fronds can brighten the darkest corner; it is every bit as healthy, dense and lush as its old green cousin, and prettier, too. Last summer in my garden, ‘Rita’s Gold’ didn’t seem to require as much water as the Boston fern, but I nestled it in a high quality container soil mix, adding a generous helping of mushroom compost and fertilizing it regularly. It grew quickly and showed considerable vigor throughout the summer.
Personally, I like it best in mixed containers, but it’s also a fantastic stand-alone plant. The design possibilities are virtually endless in the ground as well as in containers. It was THE most talked about container plant I had last year, giving a delightfully colorful, textural focal point on our partially shaded back deck. ‘Rita’s Gold’ fern and other annuals grouped in the green ceramic container sparkled in early June, but as the plants grew, the somewhat monochromatic effect just got better and better. All the long, hot, dry summer, the light and airy fern added a cool quality to the containers. I’m already thinking about different ways to use it this year. It makes a great accent plant when grown in the shade or partial shade with other annuals, such as purple supertunias, orange lantanas, strappy, bold cannas, colocasias, hot pink caladiums, coleus, or euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost.’ The combination possibilities are limited only by your imagination.
'Rita's Gold' Fern won the prestigious University of Georgia’s Classic City Award as a plant that outshines other similar plants in the garden.
For further information about ‘Rita’s Gold’ fern, along with other exciting and unusual plants, contact Randolph’s Greenhouses:
ph: 731-422-2768
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