Colorado Native Plants: Fernbush
Fernbush – Chamaebatiaria millefolium – zone 4-8
By Marilyn Raff:
A Colorado native, the Fernbush, a tough and durable plant, is an ideal deciduous shrub for a rockery or as a specimen plant for a dry, full sun location. For decades I grew it in my rock garden, among Penstemons and Eriogonums and other xeric plants. Or plant it among shrubs, like blue mist spirea. The Fernbush is roughly three -four feet high and wide, larger if it receives more water. It produces pretty clusters of white flowers which release an attractive scent, especially when you work in the area and may rub against its foliage. The flowers appear in summer and continue through August.
Pollinators enjoy the flowers too. In mature plants, the lacey-textured foliage is stunning against dark cinnamon-colored stems which add to its overall beauty, especially in winter, along with bronze seedheads after the flowers fade. To maintain a nice, tight, compact shrub deadhead old seedheads in early spring or prune more.
In its native habitat, the Fernbush grows among cactus and xeric grasses, so keep water use low once the plant is established. A lean soil mix works best - very low in organic matter.
