Dryopteris erythrosora

The autumn fern, Dryopteris erythrosora, earns the common name backward: the new fronds arrive in spring the color of turning leaves, a warm copper-orange that seems borrowed from October. As those fronds age they deepen through pink and bronze and finally settle into glossy dark green, so the plant carries a hint of autumn even at the height of the growing season.

A member of the wood-fern family, Dryopteridaceae, the species grows wild in the woodlands of China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, where the fronds rise from humus-rich, evenly moist forest floors. The botanical name tells a second story hidden on the undersides of mature fronds: erythrosora means "red sori," for the bright red spore cases that stud the leaf backs in late summer and fall, an ornamental detail most gardeners discover by accident and then hunt for every year.

Long a favorite of shade gardeners, the autumn fern carries the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit, recognition of steady, dependable performance rather than fussy brilliance. The arching, triangular fronds are semi-evergreen, holding through mild winters to give the shade garden structure at the leanest time of year, then refreshing with a new copper flush as the weather warms.

In the garden, plant Dryopteris erythrosora in dappled to full shade with steady moisture: a woodland border, the north side of the house, a shaded path edge, or the front of a bed beneath trees. Set the ferns in drifts so the spring copper reads as a mass, and pair with hellebores, hostas, hydrangeas, and other shade companions. Photo courtesy of Hardy Fern Foundation.