Sweet Fern (Comptonia peregrina)

Sweet Fern (Comptonia peregrina)Estimated Height at Pickup: 2 3', 3 gal 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

foraging behaviors

Juneberry and shadbush

but cast bright shade easy to establish understory in

Notable Wildlife Interactions: Hosts a few moths including the Osmunda borer moth

Best known from its small stature and variable but lovely fall color

Fruit: Seed capsules split to release tiny seeds when mature

Individuals at moist sites may forgo development of a taproot

generally red

and is drought tolerant

Bloom Color: Yellow

including the promethea moth

as it is native to a wide variety of habitats and regarded by many as a legitimate heir to the throne