'Brilliance' Autumn Fern | Creekside Champions™

'Brilliance' Autumn Fern | Creekside Champions™

A bold, low-maintenance fern with copper-red new fronds that mature to deep green for lasting texture and contrast. Thrives in shade, resists rabbits, and brings effortless elegance to borders and containers.

Size

Price: $19.99

71 items left

This plant is on pre-order, meaning if you order it now, it won't ship until spring of 2026.

'Brilliance' Autumn Fern | Creekside Champions™

Size

Price: $19.99

Features

Characteristics

Plant Needs

About Creekside Champions

Each Creekside Champion plant is hand-selected for its exceptional beauty, resilience, and proven garden performance. Grown with care by our family and backed by generations of expertise, these plants embody trust, quality, and the joy of cultivating something truly special. Confident, dependable, and naturally stunning — Creekside Champions™ are made to thrive. Family Grown. Proven Performance.

Dryopteris erythrosora ‘Brilliance’ (Autumn Fern)
Dryopteris erythrosora ‘Brilliance’, commonly known as Brilliance Autumn Fern, is a standout selection prized for its glowing copper-orange new fronds that mature to a glossy, deep green. This beautiful contrast gives the plant a dynamic, multi-toned appearance that adds warmth and texture to shaded gardens. In fall, bright red sori (spore clusters) appear on the undersides of the fronds, enhancing its seasonal appeal.

Thriving in woodland gardens, shaded borders, or Japanese-style plantings, this fern provides reliable color and form throughout the growing season. In mild climates—or with winter protection—it remains evergreen, offering lasting interest even in the cooler months.

Why It’s a Creekside Champion™:
We love ‘Brilliance’ for its luminous copper spring flush, glossy deep-green summer foliage, and those striking red sori in fall—true multi-season interest in the shade. Add in its tidy habit, reliable performance in Eastern humidity, and natural deer resistance, and you have a shade workhorse that still looks upscale.

Details:

  • Foliage Color: New Growth Copper-Orange, Maturing to Deep Green

  • Height: 18–24"

  • Spread: 18–24"

  • Spacing: 18–24"

  • Exposure: Part Shade to Full Shade

  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 5–9

  • Characteristics: Evergreen in Mild Climates, Shade Loving, Deer Resistant, Low Maintenance, Excellent Texture

Photo(s) courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

Characteristics

Plant Type:

Perennial

Height Category:

Medium

Garden Height:

20 - 24 Inches

Spacing:

20 - 24 Inches

Spread:

20 - 24 Inches

Foliage Colors:

Green, Orange

Foliage Shade:

Orange turns to green

Habit:

Upright

Container Role:

Filler

Resists:

Deer, Rabbits

Plant Needs

Light Requirement:

Part Shade to Shade

Maintenance Category:

Easy

Bloom Time:

Grown for Foliage

Hardiness Zones:

5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b

Water Category:

Average

Soil Fertility Requirement:

Average Soil, Fertile Soil

Soil PH Category:

Acidic Soil, Neutral Soil

Uses:

Attractive Foliage, Border Plant, Container, Mass Planting, Woodland Garden, Woodland Gardens, Woodland Shade

Maintenance Notes: 

This fern thrives in neutral to acidic, loose, richly organic soil and part sun. The soil should remain moist but well-drained, though it will tolerate drier soils once it is established. Mulching plants in the winter will help to conserve moisture and keep weeds from taking hold there.

About Creekside Champions

Each Creekside Champion plant is hand-selected for its exceptional beauty, resilience, and proven garden performance. Grown with care by our family and backed by generations of expertise, these plants embody trust, quality, and the joy of cultivating something truly special. Confident, dependable, and naturally stunning — Creekside Champions™ are made to thrive. Family Grown. Proven Performance.

Dryopteris erythrosora ‘Brilliance’ (Autumn Fern)
Dryopteris erythrosora ‘Brilliance’, commonly known as Brilliance Autumn Fern, is a standout selection prized for its glowing copper-orange new fronds that mature to a glossy, deep green. This beautiful contrast gives the plant a dynamic, multi-toned appearance that adds warmth and texture to shaded gardens. In fall, bright red sori (spore clusters) appear on the undersides of the fronds, enhancing its seasonal appeal.

Thriving in woodland gardens, shaded borders, or Japanese-style plantings, this fern provides reliable color and form throughout the growing season. In mild climates—or with winter protection—it remains evergreen, offering lasting interest even in the cooler months.

Why It’s a Creekside Champion™:
We love ‘Brilliance’ for its luminous copper spring flush, glossy deep-green summer foliage, and those striking red sori in fall—true multi-season interest in the shade. Add in its tidy habit, reliable performance in Eastern humidity, and natural deer resistance, and you have a shade workhorse that still looks upscale.

Details:

  • Foliage Color: New Growth Copper-Orange, Maturing to Deep Green

  • Height: 18–24"

  • Spread: 18–24"

  • Spacing: 18–24"

  • Exposure: Part Shade to Full Shade

  • USDA Hardiness Zones: 5–9

  • Characteristics: Evergreen in Mild Climates, Shade Loving, Deer Resistant, Low Maintenance, Excellent Texture

Photo(s) courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

Plant Type:

Perennial

Height Category:

Medium

Garden Height:

20 - 24 Inches

Spacing:

20 - 24 Inches

Spread:

20 - 24 Inches

Foliage Colors:

Green, Orange

Foliage Shade:

Orange turns to green

Habit:

Upright

Container Role:

Filler

Resists:

Deer, Rabbits

Light Requirement:

Part Shade to Shade

Maintenance Category:

Easy

Bloom Time:

Grown for Foliage

Hardiness Zones:

5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b

Water Category:

Average

Soil Fertility Requirement:

Average Soil, Fertile Soil

Soil PH Category:

Acidic Soil, Neutral Soil

Uses:

Attractive Foliage, Border Plant, Container, Mass Planting, Woodland Garden, Woodland Gardens, Woodland Shade

Maintenance Notes: 

This fern thrives in neutral to acidic, loose, richly organic soil and part sun. The soil should remain moist but well-drained, though it will tolerate drier soils once it is established. Mulching plants in the winter will help to conserve moisture and keep weeds from taking hold there.

Our customers say it best