Foxtail Fern

Will my foxtail fern survive with me covering it with thick plastic when the temperature is below freezing? I really love my plant but is in too big of a container and is way too heavy for me to lift.

Thanks!

The foxtail fern is hardy (in the ground) in 20 to 30 degree weather. It would be a bit more susceptible to damage in a container. Never allow plastic to touch the plant as the plastic will transfer the cold to the parts it touches damaging them. Better to pile pine needles or straw around the pot and base of the plant and cover with cloth first, then plastic.

I would wrap the container in bubble wrap plastic, to prevent the frost / cold from cracking the pot OR freezing the roots, the fronds (stem/ feathers) of the plant will naturally die down over winter so the part you need to protect is the growing (HEART) of the plant where the stems come out of the crown, so I would place a mulch of wood chip or similar over the crown, it would be best IF you could cut off the dead or dying stems from the plant and place them over the crown before you add the mulch, remove this come spring after checking there is no danger of frost AND you notice the curly new (FRONDS /STEMS ) starting to form, these are most attractive when you can see the new growth uncurl into beautiful long stems as the season extends. IF you cover the growing part of the plant with plastic and no air circulation, the plant will rot and die off at the growing crown.
To Make new plants, look under the leaf and you will see tiny dots all thew way up / down the under stem, these are the seeds, dry off the leaf and scatter the seeds OR place the stem onto a shallow plant tray with some compost, make a few wire pegs to pin the leaf onto the top of the compost and then keep in a cool but ventilated area, by spring you should find lots of new little plant-lets growing along the stem, when large enough to hold, remove the plant-lets and re-pot into small pots of compost to grow on, it's also a good way to make sure you never loose this fern should the parent one die off. Take good care and hope this helps. WeeNel.

the foxtail fern is not a fern so the info weenel provided doesn't fit your plant.
if you have a fleece blanket, that would be much better to wrap both pot and plant, as moon suggested. these plants are very tough and i don't do anything to mine though they do have the benefit of a wide overhang from the house.

Mine are in pots outside and I have not done anything for them for the hard freezes we have had this year and they still look fine while lots of other plants have melted.

same here......umatilla.

WeeNel, the Foxtail fern referred to here is actually a member of the asparagus family and it not really a fern. Here is a bit of info on the plant dirt_Digger was asking about.

http://www.magnoliagardensnursery.com/productdescrip/Fern_Foxtail.html

http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantab/asparagdens.htm