Sweet Fern (Comptonia peregrina) 1 GAL
Geist Nursery Pickup Only
Fall Preorder Item
Preorder period ends September 1. Preorder pickup is at Geist Nursery during our Early Access Sale September 17-19 by appointment, or 20-27 during open sale hours. Preorder items and shippable items require separate transactions.
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A cute runnering shrub with fern-like, fragrant leaves! Adaptable to most soils barring hardpan clay, but prefers slightly acidic, sandy soil. Individual plants may have male catkins, female catkins, or both. Colonies can be easily divided and transplanted, so can be propagated without pollination.
Pollination: Male and female sometimes needed.
Light: Full Sun, Part Sun/Shade
Soil Moisture: Wet Mesic, Mesic, Dry Mesic, Dry
Soil Type: Sandy
Height: 1’-4’
Width: 2’-6’
Bloom Color: -
Bloom Time: Apr-May
Fruit: Female catkins produce nutlets.
Fall Color: Red, Bronze, Brown
Root Type: Rhizome
Notable Wildlife Interactions: Hosts a few small insects such as leaf beetles, spittle bugs, and leafhoppers, and more than 15 moths including the gordian sphinx. Large colonies provide cover for wildlife. Commonly browsed by deer.
Notes: Not a fern, the only extant member of their genus and in the same family as bayberries. Leaves were historically added to containers of picked berries, particularly blueberries, to slow moulding.
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