Sword Fern

Here's a plant that means business. The Western Sword Fern doesn't mess around with seasonal costume changes or flashy flowers – it just stays magnificently green all year long, like nature's own bouncer standing guard in the forest understory.

Don't let the fierce name fool you, though. While those fronds do look like they could slice through morning mist (hence the "sword" part), this Pacific Northwest native is actually one of the most chill plants you'll ever meet. It's the kind of fern that thrives in those dim, forgotten corners where other plants throw dramatic fits and give up entirely.

The coolest thing about Sword Ferns is how they reproduce. Instead of flowers and seeds like the plant world's show-offs, they've got these tiny brown dots called sori on the undersides of their fronds. These little packages are packed with spores that get carried off by the wind to start new fern colonies. You'll spot them doing their thing all over our median plantings, creating that lush, effortlessly cool vibe that makes everything else look more intentional.