The Sensitive Fern is a deciduous native species with a spreading habit and wonderfully soft texture. In early spring, attractive red fiddleheads emerge from the ground unfurling to form large and long, deeply pinnately divided bright green fronds 2 to 4 feet long with leathery, triangular leaflets having distinctively netted veins. The fronds remain green throughout the summer before turning a rusty brown color in the fall. Twice-pinnate fertile fronds appear in late summer and, though dead, remain upright through winter. The stalks of this fern have a decorative, "beaded" appearance, lending the plant one of its common names, Bead Fern. Growing 3 to 4 feet tall and spreading to form a colony to 4 feet wide or so, it thrives in consistently moist to wet soils in part shade to full shade environments, which makes it a perfect selection in woodland or shade gardens along streams and other bodies of water where the soil doesn't dry out. Onoclea sensibilis is commonly called Sensitive Fern because of its sensitivity to drought.

Growing 2 to 4 feet tall and spreading 3 feet or more, the Sensitive Fern is an elegant perennial plant ideal for use in groupings or mass plantings for naturalization in shady to partially shaded environments where the soil stays consistently moist. Perfect along ponds, streams and other bodies of water. A fine addition to marsh, bog and stream gardens, rain gardens, woodland gardens and native gardens.