Native to the UK and parts of Europe, Polystichum setiferum, the Soft Shield Fern is one of the loveliest of all the small ferns. Its luxuriant green and finely-cut bipinnate fronds are extremely soft-textured and pleasing to the touch. It is this combination of lush greeness, its elegant and finely-toothed serrations and its pleasingly tactile nature that make the Soft Shield Fern such a winningly desirable and very beautiful plant. It somehow manages to achieve the seemingly impossible paradox of being graceful and showy yet in a subtle and charmingly understated way.

Semi-evergreen, the fronds persist into January and sometimes February before the new fronds emerge in April. lt thrives in shady moist conditions in a free-draining, organically-rich, neutral or acid soil.