{"product_id":"king-fern-angiopteris-evecta","title":"King Fern - Angiopteris evecta","description":"\u003cp\u003eKing Fern carries some of the largest fronds of any fern, and in a garden it fills the space of a large shrub rather than reading as a fern. It has no tall trunk. Instead it sits on a massive, rounded rootstock at ground level and sends up huge, glossy, twice divided fronds on thick, fleshy stalks, so the whole plant spreads wider than it stands tall. Look closely and each stalk is swollen where it joins the rootstock, with smaller swellings where the leaflets attach, a feature of the ancient fern family it belongs to.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is an Australian native of tropical Queensland rainforest, growing in wet gullies and along creeks under heavy canopy, with small, isolated stands further south. That habitat is the full brief for growing it: shade, shelter, humidity and constant moisture. Give it all four and it is a long lived, dramatic feature for a shaded tropical garden. Take any one away and it goes backwards.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eRoom to spread and air that stays still\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlan the space first. A settled plant throws its fronds out in every direction and needs a clear circle several metres across, so keep it well away from paths, doors and driveways, where the fronds get knocked and the stalks split. Give it full to part shade, because direct sun yellows and scorches the fronds within days. Wind is just as damaging: the fronds are heavy and the stalks crack under load, so the right position is inside existing trees, in a gully, or in the lee of a building.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDig plenty of compost through deep soil before planting and keep a thick layer of leaf litter on top, so the ground stays cool and damp. Climate decides the rest. Coastal Queensland suits it well, Brisbane gardens manage it with shade and irrigation, and warm, sheltered gullies in northern New South Wales are workable. Further south it needs a protected microclimate and still sulks through a cold winter, and any frost blackens the fronds. A large tub in a shaded courtyard or atrium will hold a young plant for years, though it never develops its full spread there.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKing Fern belongs in the middle of a rainforest planting rather than at the edge of a lawn. Red Back Ginger, from the same north Queensland forests, suits the shady ground beside it, and where the canopy opens at the edge of the bed and morning sun gets in, \u003ca href=\"\/products\/alpinia-henryi-pink-perfection-alpinia-henryi-pink-perfection\"\u003eAlpinia henryi Pink Perfection\u003c\/a\u003e adds the pink flower heads that a fern never gives. \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/tropical-plants\"\u003eTropical Plants\u003c\/a\u003e has palms and more gingers for the layer above and around it, and \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/plants-for-shade-australian-gardens\"\u003eplants for shade\u003c\/a\u003e lists understorey plants that will sit under its fronds.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eHow king ferns fail\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrying out is the usual killer. One hot, dry week in summer with the irrigation off can collapse a season of fronds, and the plant is slow to replace them, so the damage stays on display for a long time. Dry air does the same thing more slowly, browning the frond edges. Frost, sun and wind follow in that order. It also resents being moved once its roots have spread, so choose the spot carefully the first time rather than planning to shift it later.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWater first, fertiliser second\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWater deeply and often enough that the soil never dries below the surface, more in summer heat, and run irrigation through any dry spell. Feed with a gentle organic fertiliser as growth starts in spring, or give seaweed and fish emulsion at half strength once a month through the warm months, because strong chemical fertiliser burns fern roots. When an old frond yellows, cut it off near its base but leave the fleshy, ear shaped stipules on the rootstock. They protect the crown, and they are also how the plant is propagated, since a detached stipule kept moist can slowly produce a new plant. Unfurling fronds are soft and a snail can ruin one in a night, so check the crown after spring rain; scale on the stalks is the only other regular problem.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is available in 3 sizes, from 400mm up to 700mm, priced from $549.00 to $1139.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Every size here is established stock rather than a starter plant, so this line is intended for immediate effect rather than for growing on. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/australian-native-trees-for-shade\"\u003eAustralian native trees\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"400mm","offer_id":67671127032177,"sku":null,"price":549.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false},{"title":"500mm","offer_id":67671127064945,"sku":null,"price":889.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false},{"title":"700mm","offer_id":67671127097713,"sku":null,"price":1139.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/king-fern-angiopteris-evecta.jpg?v=1791518986","url":"https:\/\/plantdrop.com.au\/products\/king-fern-angiopteris-evecta","provider":"Plant Drop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}