
In the landscape
Border · Pond · Rock wall · Woodland · Shade
Data sources
Japanese Painted Fern
Athyrium niponicum · Perennial
Japanese Painted Fern is a perennial, hardy in USDA zones 3-8, that matures to about 1.8–2 ft × 2–2.5 ft. It does best in part shade and full shade with medium water needs in well-drained soil. It stands up well to deer and rabbits.
- USDA zones
- 3-8
- Sun
- Part shade, Full shade
- Water
- Medium
- Mature size
- 1.8–2 ft × 2–2.5 ft
- Maintenance
- Low
- Soil
- Well-drained
- Tough against
- Deer, Rabbits
- Native to
- Eastern Asia
Will it survive your winters?
We score Japanese Painted Fern’s freeze-trouble range against the real coldest nights your area has recorded.
Powered by ~35 years of daily lows from the nearest NOAA weather station. A risk read, not a guarantee — a sheltered spot or mature plant beats the odds.
More plants for your zone: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
See the Japanese Painted Fern in your own yard
Upload a photo and our AI designs with real plants like this one — matched to your USDA zone.
More foliage
Grapevine
Vitis vinifera
Zones 6–9Full sun
Chives
Allium schoenoprasum
Zones 4–8Full sun
Christmas Fern
Polystichum acrostichoides
Zones 3–9Part shade
Maidenhair Fern
Adiantum pedatum
Zones 3–8Part shade
Homestead Verbena
Verbena canadensis
Zones 6–10Full sun
Goldsturm Black-Eyed Susan
Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’
Zones 3–9Full sun