Garden Planner & Almanac The Cottage Garden Companion
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Staghorn Fern

Platycerium bifurcatum

also called platycerium

Two kinds of frond doing two jobs — flat shields that clasp and hold, antlers that arch out toward the light.

Light Part shade
Height 90 cm
Spread 2 ft 7 in
Spacing 80 cm

Spacing & sowing

Plant spacing
2 ft 7 in
In-row spacing
2 ft 7 in
Between rows
3 ft 3 in
Square-foot density
Not suited to SFG

Growing

Type
Houseplant · Perennial
Botanical family
Mixed / other
Sunlight
Part shade
Feeding
All-purpose balanced
Frost tolerant
No

Through the year

  • Mar–Dec Spring Growth
  • Jan–Mar Spring Growth

Pests & problems

Garden allies

Beneficial predators that hunt this plant's pests — grow their favourite flowers nearby to recruit them. companion plant

  • Hoverfly Syrphidae
    Hunts Scale insectsMealybugs

    Bee-mimicking flies whose legless larvae graze aphid colonies clean while the adults pollinate. A ribbon of shallow, nectar-rich flowers kept in bloom all season recruits wave after wave of them.

    Plant nearby CalendulaChamomileFennelFrench marigoldPhaceliaSweet alyssum
  • Ladybird (lady beetle) Coccinellidae
    Hunts Scale insectsMealybugs

    The gardener’s favorite ally: adults and their alligator-shaped larvae each eat thousands of aphids, plus scale, mealybugs, and other soft-bodied sap-suckers. Grow flat, open flowers for the adults and never spray a colony that ladybird larvae are already working.

    Plant nearby CalendulaCilantroCosmosDillFennelYarrow
  • Green lacewing Chrysoperla carnea
    Hunts Mealybugs

    Its bristly larvae — "aphid lions" — impale aphids, mealybugs, thrips, and mite colonies, eating hundreds a week. Adults feed on nectar and pollen from small open flowers and overwinter in hollow stems left standing.

    Plant nearby CilantroCosmosDillSunflowerYarrow

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