Pellaea rotundifolia (Button Fern)

A delicate little evergreen fern. Yes, ‘little’. Despite being very much into grand architecture and stately statements we do appreciate some dainty little plants, too. And so should you. Especially if they’re a little outside of what’s considered the ‘usual’. This fern is a relatively new introduction from (you guessed it) New Zealand and has proven itself to be remarkably frost hardy. Quite low growing with fronds up to 18″.

This little fern won its spurs as a house plant because of its ability to enjoy a dry atmosphere but as happens from time to time people started planting them outside in cold climates (they probably didn’t know you couldn’t) and – surprisingly – they loved it. There you go: sometimes it’s not the immediate impact of a particular plant that grabs you, but the context of its placement or the surprise at seeing it where you hadn’t expected to and seeing it do so well. For this reason we love the Pellaea fern and its glossy little fronds.

The common name is Button Fern. No one knows why and we avoid the name on the nursery because Sophie has a strong antipathy to the word button. Why? No one knows that either. It still works as a house plant – in common with the well known Nephrolepis fern.

A friend from Hong Kong smuggled a tiny piece of this to me in Italy once as a surprise. I didn’t ask: she’s a bit reckless and once brought over a new husband which was also a surprise. It is fascinating to see my little button doing so well on my Milanese balcony. It endures both dry shade in the summer and icy Dolomitic winds in winter. I marvel that it came to me from far steamier, warmer and more tropical climes. Tucked into a Hello Kitty toothbrush case, it’s thriving now and has lasted longer than the husband.

Like all ferns, it likes a good loamy soil with a high organic content but is more tolerant of a dry atmosphere than most. Propagated from spores.