Coniogramme emeiensis ‘Golden Zebra’

Photos courtesy of Mark Leichty

This month, I’m writing about a plant I’ve been saving for a while, waiting for just the right time to put into the game. It’s a superb champion which I find breathtaking in its beauty. It’s Coniogramme emeiensis ‘Golden Zebra’, the striped bamboo fern.

It certainly is a fern and not a type of bamboo. ‘Golden Zebra’ was introduced by Plant Delights Nursery in 2006. It is native to the Mt. Emei (also Omei) region of Sichuan province in China. According to Tony Avent, owner of Plant Delights and plantsman extraordinaire, their first specimens of Coniogramme emeiensis arrived from China at the nursery mislabeled. Imagine that, right? After researching and learning the correct genus and species, and noting the beautiful striped variegation, they clearly had a winner. They began propagating it from spores, and the striping continued to come out true to form.

‘Golden Zebra’ is hardy in Zones 7b-9b. I often see it in some of the outstanding gardens in the Pacific Northwest. It is also a great container fern, and if you live in a colder climate, ‘Golden Zebra’ can come indoors and be a remarkable houseplant. I first saw it in the garden of Sue Olsen in Bellevue, Washington. Sue is the author of “The Encyclopedia of Garden Ferns” and “The Plant Lover’s Guide to Ferns,” co-authored with Richie Steffen.

Seeing ‘Golden Zebra’ was love at first sight. I have a modest stumpery in my garden in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, and my ‘Golden Zebra’ has been doing well for several years. It takes a while for it to establish into a 2-foot by 2-foot slowly spreading clump, but it’s worth the wait. Tony describes it as semi-evergreen. Depending on the year, it may go dormant in early winter and reappear in spring.

It is available as liners from several sources in the U.S., including Casa Flora. As a horticultural crop, we’ve found it very easy to grow at Little Prince.