🌿 Foxtail Fern Fast Facts
- Light: Full Sun to Full Shade
- Water: Low (more in sun)
- Growth: 2-3 ft Clumping habit
- Winter: Protect below 30°F
- Deer Resistant: Yes
*Note: Resistant is not Proof; deer do what they want, as any gardener can tell you.*
Foxtail Fern Care and Tips for Austin Gardens
The Foxtail Fern, Asparagus densiflorus ‘Meyersii’, is a top favorite at our Austin nursery for a good reason. This versatile perennial thrives in everything from full sun to deep shade, making it a ‘go-to’ solution for tricky spots in your landscape. Whether you are planting it directly in the ground or using it to add texture to a container, it’s lush, lime-green plumes offer year-round visual interest. Another option is to grow en mass to fill landscape beds or spill beautifully over the edges of hanging baskets.
Sun and Shade: Where to Plant your Foxtail Fern
We have a Foxtail Fern planted in a container in our shade area here at the nursery. It is planted alongside the Crinum Lily, Variegated Hearts and Flowers and Mexican Heather.
In this container, the Foxtail Fern serves as a filler, but could easily be a thriller as well. This is just one example of how to mix colors with the bright green stalks of the Foxtail Fern.
This pot is an excellent example of companion planting. All have similar water and sun requirements making it easy to care for.
Note- If planted in the full sun you will want to give it additional water.
In this shade pot, we mixed:
- the colorful broad leaves of the Crinum
- with the fuzzy textured stalks of the Foxtail Fern.
- The Variegated Hearts and Flowers softens the overall look as well as brightens up the pot. It cascades down and is an excellent spiller.
- The Mexican Heather is a nice contrast with the dark green leaves and colorful purple blooms.
Foxtail Fern Landscape Ideas & Companion Plants
Below you see the Foxtail Fern planted alongside the Variegated Ginger and the Variegated Dianella. All three of these are roughly the same height. You can still plant these together, just plant them on a slope as shown here and staggered. The planting has a path running through the center, creating a nice, lush walkway. The three of these together give off a delightful tropical feel.
It is a good idea when planning the design for your landscape to contrast the colors for visual interest.
The green and yellow of the Ginger pair nicely with the bright green Foxtail Fern as well as compliment the white and green of the Dianella. This particular bed is an example of a shade bed, but it could also be planted in the sun. This mix would do well here in the Austin area, with proper irrigation.
In the Austin and Dripping Springs areas, we recommend to protect it during our cold winters to err on the safe side. If it does die back it is pretty slow to come back around, so best to throw a cover on it or bring it inside.
Pro-Tip: Keep some frost cloth handy—a little protection goes a long way in preventing that slow spring recovery!
Is it a Fern or an Asparagus?
The Foxtail Fern is actually not a fern, it is an Asparagus. There are several Asparagus that offer the flexibility of going from sun to shade. The Asparagus plumosa, also known as Asparagus setaceus, is another favorite. The Asparagus setaceus can live indoors as an indoor plant or be planted in the landscape directly into the ground or in a container. It has very delicate looking foliage, but is actually really tough!
One unique feature about this plant is its vining/ crawling habit . We have one planted here at the nursery in our shade bed. It comes back year after year and grows into the panels of the gate and up on the column.
Beyond the Foxtail: Ming and Sprengeri Ferns
There are various types of Asparagus, and we only talked about a few here. Not to be overlooked is the Ming Fern which is a more drought tolerant Asparagus and likes the sun. And we can’t talk about Asparagus without mentioning the “old school” Asparagus sprengeri, which is a nice shrubby form that can go from shade to sun.
All in all, the Asparagus are an excellent choice to soften up spots in your landscape design, home or container. The green, wispy foliage is sure to brighten up your area. Plant Foxtail Fern as well as any of the Asparagus for low maintenance, easy choice in your home and garden.
Ready to add some texture to your garden? Come and see our current selection of Foxtail and Asparagus ferns at the nursery today!
