Sweetfern
Comptonia peregrina
Sweetfern is a low, aromatic shrub with soft fern-like foliage that releases a sweet resinous scent. A nitrogen-fixer for the poorest dry, sandy, acidic soils, spreading into deer-resistant colonies for erosion control.
- Family
- Myricaceae
- Type
- shrub
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 2–4 ft
- Spacing
- 4–8 ft apart
- Light
- sun, part shade
- Soil moisture
- dry
- Soil pH
- acidic
- Bloom
- April, May
- Bloom colors
- green, brown
- Wildlife value
- pollinators, larval host
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~64 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- foundation, erosion control
- Native states
- CT, IL, IN, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VA, VT, WI