That's it! Thank you.

p.s. just learned the National Park Service considers it an invasive. Yuck.

lol ... your first clue.. should be that you said.. they were all over the place .. lol

plants like this.. are rarely a good thing ....

ken

between this, the chameleon plant, and the English ivy I think the previous homeowners were masochists

Seriously? Holly fern invasive? I've never heard that.

'....these are scattered all over multiple beds...' does not necessarily mean they came up volunteer. They were likely planted and are used a lot in zones 7b and warmer.

They are a valuable, handsome evergreen fern for shady areas. Don't know where you are located.

Dave, these were def planted in the beds and in a rather haphazardly fashion, not to mention in almost full sun. (I'm close to you, down VA Beach) Here is link to NPS alert I saw...

https://www.nps.gov/cue/epmt/products/Cyrtomium%20falcatum%202012%20NCREPMT.pdf

That says 'most of the US accounts of the plant acting as a weed are in the Southeast from SC across to TX and FL.'

I can tell you it will never likely act 'as a weed' up here in 7a, since it is not all that vigorous and freezes down nearly every winter.

I wonder if Cyrtomium fortunei acts the same way. It seems to be a half zone hardier than falcatum. They can be a bit hard to tell apart unless side-by-side.

Yeah, these have stayed pretty tame, clumping and not really spreading, of course that could have something to do with the 5 inches of mulch the previous owners kept going. Good grief.