Japanese Holly Fern, Japanese Netvein Holly Fern

Gardeners who do not want to grow exotic invasives may want to reconsider growing this in the U.S. I have seen it "in the wild" miles fr...Read Moreom any cultivation. It does have the capacity to escape and reproduce outside of cultivation and would not be an especially welcome addition to local woodlands.

There were several of these beautiful ferns growing under large trees when we purchased our house in 2002. I removed other plants that w...Read Moreeren't happy with the shade the trees provided and the Holly Ferns have about doubled their original number. A couple get half day sun - more than I thought they'd like. They get regular moderate summer water, and with intermingled pots of various tropical looking plants (some on drip) I have a tropical looking area without needing lots of water.

The ferns do go through a less attractive period as the older fronds get so covered with spores they get brownish. However, they get so full they need a good trim once a year and away goes the brown and lots of new ones fronds appear.

I think this fern is lovely and a bit hardier than zone 8. I bought mine as an annual accent... but 3 years later it is multiplying and t...Read Morehriving. It's leaves are damaged by extreme cold but new growth quickly erases those blemishes, at least here. I love it.
UPDATE: I have been confused by the hardiness rating of this plant. While here and many other sources state it is zone 8, some zone 7, a few list it as 6. After several years and some very harsh zone 5 type winters (last year was the first time that my ground froze for the entire winter and temps hovered around zero F. for weeks on end) I am completely confident that the zone 6 rating is correct. It is probably only reliably evergreen in z. 8. Last winters extremes was the first time my foliage was completely killed. However, even the small pups that I moved around into exposed unprotected areas survived. I've noticed the plant is less full after colder winters, due to starting from scratch. The only real damage I've done was setting the fibrous crowns ablaze, killing some of the more mature ones. That was stupid, but at least I know that fire is more destructive than ice for this plant.

I have a two year old Holly Fern growing on a dry full shade bank in an urban environment. I do not give it much attention and it grows quite well.

Planted one of these several years back on the northside of my home @ 20 miles east of Atlanta (zone 7). Have never done anything to it ...Read Moreexcept remove dead fronds each spring. It has slowly spread out to encompass a corner area of 4 ft. No special feeding and never watered. However it is located near a faucet so it does get drippage when I water other plants. For me, it is tough as nails.

Very slow growing - sensitive to cold weather. Okay to have as a curiousity, but not as attractive as I'd thought it would be in its third year.

I purchased 25 of what was advertised to be this product from a vendor listed on this site: Santa Rosa Gardens. It turned out to be cyrto...Read Moremium fortunei (Fortune's Cold Hardy Holly Fern). This product is not as attractive and less drought tolerant. Bad experience with this vendor. We'll see about the ferns.

Easy care plant, great structure. Plants do tend to grow slowly, though.

I water this plant once a week and feed with diluted fish-
emulsian every two weeks, It is in the shade except for late afternoon...Read More sun. In a 14 inch pot it seems to be doing quite well.

San Antonio, Tx.
I have had several holly fern for many years. The ones that have done the best are the ones that receive more lig...Read Moreht and less attention. I have only watered them about 4 times this year (although they have had some rain). I killed several by overwatering them which led to disease.

This plant overwintered in zone 7a. It was a mild winter here and it stayed evergreen.

Avoid direct sunlight in summer;as houseplant fertilize every 6 months with standard houseplant fertilizer, diluted to 1/2 recomended str...Read Moreength.
Attractive holly shaped leaves