For more texture, try the golden-scaled male fern (Dryopteris affinis, from Europe and Asia), which has striking golden-brown scales on its fiddleheads, then forms a massive clump of leathery ...

Steffen: Ones with great architectural, upright vase shapes like the robust Dryopteris affinis, most commonly the cultivar ‘Cristata’, which is easy to grow and does well in our climate.