Crested Bird’s Nest Fern

Crested Bird's Nest Fern (Asplenium antiquum 'Leslie') is the bird's nest fern with forked, crested tips on every frond, so the rosette reads as sculpture rather than plain green. It builds to about 80cm tall and 90cm across in a glossy upright vase shape, and it is one of the few architectural plants that is not toxic to cats or dogs.

Why you'll love it

• Crested frond tips. Each frond forks and ruffles at the end, which is what separates 'Leslie' from an ordinary bird's nest fern.
• Safe with pets. Not toxic to cats or dogs, so it can sit at floor level in a home where things get chewed.
• It copes with indoor conditions. Moderate indirect light and normal room warmth suit it, and it tolerates more air movement than most ferns.
• A tidy 80cm by 90cm. Large enough to hold a corner, small enough for a courtyard pot or a wide shelf.
• Nothing to deadhead. Ferns do not flower and fronds hold for a year or more.

Where it works best

Indoors as a feature plant. A single plant in a decorative pot fills a bathroom corner or the shaded end of a living room. Grown inside, your climate stops mattering, which counts for a plant this frost tender.

Shaded courtyards and balconies. In tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens it lives outside year round in full or dappled shade, handling humidity and moving air better than most ferns.

Under planting in a shaded bed. Grouped in threes beneath established trees it gives the understorey a strong repeated form.

Growing Crested Bird's Nest Fern in Australia

Position and climate. Bright indirect light or dappled shade. Direct sun scorches fronds within a day or two, and sun through glass is worse than sun outdoors. Outdoors it suits tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens only, and it is frost tender.

Soil. An open, organic mix that holds moisture without going boggy, so a quality potting mix with extra coarse bark. In the ground, plant into leaf litter rich soil under a canopy. Keep the crown above the mix, never buried.

Water and feed. Keep the mix damp but never sodden, and water around the outside of the rosette rather than into the middle, since water standing in the crown is the usual cause of failure. A half strength liquid feed monthly through spring and summer is enough.

Pruning. Cut old or browned fronds off at the base as they age. Never trim a frond partway, because the cut edge browns and the tip never regrows.

What to expect when it arrives

This fern is grown as tube stock, so you are buying a young plant with a handful of fronds rather than a finished specimen. Pot it straight into a 200mm pot, keep it shaded and damp, and it fills that pot within a season. Reaching the full 80cm rosette takes a couple of years.

Fronds are soft and can arrive creased, or with a browned tip from transit. That is cosmetic, and new fronds unfurl clean. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95, and every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Getting fern conditions right in your garden
• Browse ferns for shady areas
• More indoor plants that are safe around pets
• Compare plants for full shade

Common questions

Is it safe around cats and dogs?

Yes. Bird's nest ferns are not toxic to cats or dogs, which is why they appear on almost every pet safe plant list. It can sit at floor level without worry, though a chewed frond will not grow back.

Why are the frond tips browning?

Usually dry air, and sometimes salt build up from tap water. Raise the humidity, water thoroughly so salts flush out the base, and move it away from vents and heaters.

Can I grow it outdoors?

Only in a frost free garden. Tropical, subtropical and warm temperate climates suit it, in full or dappled shade with shelter from hot wind. In cooler gardens use a pot that comes inside for winter.