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| Osmunda regalis Purpurea | Matteuccia struthiopteris [Shuttlecock Fern] | Polystichum aculeatum |
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| Athyrium or Dryopteris | Athyrium or Dryopteris | Blechnum spicant? |
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| Left:
Asplenium scolopendrium [Hart's Tongue Fern] Right: Polypodium vulgare Cornubiense [Common Polypody with a twist] |
Blechnum chilense [acid soil only] | All pictured in April / Early May |
| Ferns
are Boring ............... Or so I used to think, however, having been dealt dry shade in part of my small garden and large hordes of slugs and snails - ferns have since become a welcome addition. OK you can have too much fern, too many wavy frondy specimens and everything becomes a little bland. Epimediums seem to be able to tough it out once the new shoots have been protected and other woodlanders like Anenome nemorosa, dicentra and various umbellifers also seem to be able to cope with mollusc ravaging and work well in combination with ferns. I am still experimenting. The spring pictures above are just to show how quirky the unrolling or unravelling of the fronds are. The classic crozier approach is very satisfying as evidenced by the Lady or Male ferns pictured [see I don't know my British native ferns that well - I thought I had 'em identified in late summer last year but failed to label them, spore shape you know!]. The Blechnum chilense is very disciplined, the main coils are wound tight and then each hard individual frond unrolls separately either side from the spine. The Common polypody also unrolls its horizontal fronds from the central spine. The Polystichum is sooo very laid back at the nearly finished stage it is leaning backwards and the Osmunda at the top looks positively shy. Of the ferns shown, the evergreens are, Polystichum, Asplenium, Polypodium and the Blechnum [one of my freebie natives is too but I have forgotten which]. The later emerging bronze Dryopteris erythrosora completes the winter to spring stalwarts. Old fronds should be cut back before the new fronds start emerging, in the case of the rambling polypody if you don't, you risk snapping off the tender new fronds as you rummage about as I have found to my cost. Of the deciduous ferns the most unruly is the Shuttlecock Fern, it sends out runners, and shuttlecocks pop up all over the place - it does seem to tolerate some dryness but will need watering during very dry periods. If you thing all that green could get a little boring [honestly it isn't!] - the Japanese Painted Fern, Athyrium niponicum Pictum lends silvers, purples and pinks to a scheme, mine is not so happy in dry shade, I only get a few fronds a year, moister suits it better. Some ferns only tolerate acid conditions [which is another potentially offputting reason for not engaging with ferns if you live in predominantly alkaline areas] and of this selection the most fussy has been the Blechnum chilense which is why it is now growing in a pot in peat based compost. The Osmunda regalis is also in a pot but in this instance in John Innes 3 as it likes to be kept moist.. I gained a few of the common ferns 'free' - I must now mention the dreaded 'peat' word again. I have a number of acid loving plants in pots and young ferns started to appear in the compost, including Male Fern, Lady Fern and a Buckler Fern and yet more are emerging. Some of these have been planted into more alkaline conditions without any problem. Ferns really can be good value in the garden - don't dismiss them as fussy or boring especially if you have similar problems to mine. Read more about the wood bed |
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| Reference:
Grasses, Ferns,
Mosses & Lichens of Great Britain and Ireland [1994] - Roger
Phillips Buy: Rickards Ferns Crûg Farm Plants - plus many other woodland plants to go with them! [North Wales] Long Acre Plants - as above [Somerset] |
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@Kari's garden 2002 - 2007