common polypody
Polypodium vulgare
USDA zones6 to 9
SunHandles full sun or partial sun or full shade
WaterHandles dry to moist soil
Size12 inches tall2 to 3 feet wide
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Habit
- Creeping
- Bloom season
- Spring, summer, autumn, winter
- Foliage color
- Green
- Soil types
- Sand, loam, chalk
- Soil pH
- Alkaline, neutral
Garden uses
Notes
Common polypody (Polypodium vulgare) is a fern for shade gardens, rock gardens, and ground cover. It is hardy to USDA zone 6, or down to -10°F (-23°C). This plant likes full sun to full shade and dry to moist, sandy, loamy, or chalky soil. Its leathery green fronds grow about 12 inches long from creeping rhizomes. If conditions get too dry, it goes dormant in summer and reflushes in fall. Deer tend to pass it by.
Pairs well with Common snowdrop, Ivy-leaved cyclamen, and Winter aconite.
Native range
Europe and Asia and Africa.