Division
Division is a reasonable and practical option for increasing two types of ferns ferns with a creeping and or branching rhizome or those with multiple crowns. Many ferns have long-creeping rhizomes, those feet that circle the basket or roam about in the garden. These can be judiciously cut apart, taking care to take a growing tip and roots, and potted up in humusy soil or, if of substantial size, set directly into the garden. Try for 4-in. 10-cm or even larger clumps, as many species, such as...
Asplenium nidus Birds nest fern Epithet means nest
Evergreen, 3 to 5 ft. 1 to 1.75 m tall. Zones 10 and 11. description The fronds with virtually no stipe are undivided and it is especially significant for fine tuning that the midrib on the underside of the frond is rounded rather than keeled. range and habitat This pantropical species usually perches in trees. culture and comments Although it is an epiphyte in wild habitats, this species will grow as a terrestrial when provided with airy, fast-draining soil either basically mineral or...
Acystopteris
Acystopteris away from Cystopteris , a genus closely related to Cystopteris, is comprised of a few deciduous species that are not heavily in demand. Two are occasionally found in cultivation. Acystopteris japonica from Japan is a thin-textured creeper with fronds of 1 to 2 ft. 30 to 60 cm . The stipes are dark and the bright green, triangular blades are tripinnate and not hairy. This fern will spread in loose, moist woodland soil in Zones 8 and 9. Acystopteris tenuisecta slender, cut to the...
Araiostegia
Araiostegia Greek araios, thin, and stege, roof, in reference to the indusium is a genus of five to seven species typically bearing finely divided fronds and furry creeping rhizomes. They are native to the tropics with outposts in the Himalayas. The tender Araiostegia hymenophylloides thin or membranous leaf , giant carrot fern, grows to 3 ft. 90 cm from a fleshy rhizome and is cultivated with winter protection in Zone 6 German gardens. Araiostegiapseudocystopteris false Cystopteris , synonym...
Cyathea smithii Soft tree fern
Synonym Alsophila smithii Epithet is after John Smith 1798-1888 . Evergreen, 25 ft. 7.5 m . Zones 9 and 10. description The brown trunk reaches 25 ft. 7.5 m and is surrounded just below the crown by skirts of dead frond Crosier of Cyathea medullaris at the Noel Crump Nursery in New Zealand. Crosier of Cyathea medullaris at the Noel Crump Nursery in New Zealand. midribs that offer protective insulation from winter cold. Soft green, tripinnate fronds are 7 to 9 ft. 2.1 to 2.7 m long and have...
Acknowledgments
Jam indebted to many talented and special friends and family members who have contributed advice and observations from their considerable knowledge, who have patiently offered welcome encouragement, and, for some, devoted many hours of time to the making of this book. Thank you does not begin to express my gratitude but I am indeed grateful to you all. Very special thanks go to long-time friend George Schenk, who has kindly offered invaluable support, encouragement, and welcome advice...
Cheilanthes feei slender lip fern
Epithet is after French botanist Antoine F e 1789-1874 . Evergreen, 6 to 10 in. 15 to 25 cm .Zones 5 to 8. Apogamous. Upright fronds of Cheilanthes eatonii among rocks in the Horder garden. The underside of a fertile frond on Cheilanthes farinosa showing the namesake white farina. Cheilanthes fendleri silhouetted against a stump in the Carstensen garden. Cheilanthes fendleri silhouetted against a stump in the Carstensen garden. A colony of Cheilanthes feei on the east side of the Ladronas...
Dryopteris lacera
Epithet means torn into a fringe. Semievergreen to evergreen, 2 ft. 60 cm . Zones 5 to 8. description The rhizome is erect and the rusty brown-scaled, grooved stipe is one-fourth of the frond length. The ovate blade is pinnate-pinnatifid to bipinnate with 10 to 20 pairs of pinnae. Noticeably reduced fertile pinnae are restricted to the terminal stretches of the spore-bearing fronds. The sori with kidney-shaped indusia cover the undersides of the fertile pinnae. Not only will the spores fall at...
Cheilanthes lindheimeri
Epithet is after Ferdinand Lindheimer 1801-1879 , the first permanent-resident plant collector in Texas. Evergreen, 8 to 12 in. 20 to 30 cm . Zones 7 to 9. Apogamous. description The rhizome is long-creeping. Stipes are dark, woolly and one-half the length of the frond. Ten to fifteen Cheilanthes lindheimeri with dryland companions at the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley. Cheilanthes lindheimeri with dryland companions at the University of California Botanical Garden at...
Diphasiastrum
Formerly considered fern allies but now having their own independent lineage see comments under Selaginella , these clubmosses or running pines were also classified, and often still are, as lycopodiums. They differ in having flat, scalelike leaves rather than the bristles of the latter. The genus name means false but incomplete resemblance to Diphasium. They are trailing creepers with upright shoots and are without Furry new frond on Dicksonia squarrosa looks as though it is ready to be petted....
Synonym Asplenium trichomanesramosum Epithet means green
Evergreen, 4 to 7 in. 10 to 18 cm .Zones 3 to 8. description The rhizome is erect. The stipes of one-fourth to one-half of the frond length are green. Linear blades are once-pinnate with 10 to 18 pairs of rich green rounded pinnae. Sori and indusia are linear with few pairs per pinnae. range and habitat Circumpolar in distribution and exclusive to limestone, this species is more likely to be encountered by rock climbers rappelling down cliffs than it is for the diligent fern enthusiast in...
Belvisia
Belvisia from Belvisius, the Latinized name of Palisot de Beauvois, 1752-1820, a French explorer who specialized in grasses is a genus of eight species primarily from India, China, and the tropics. Belvisia spicata growing from its mount on a shingle. To the left is a watchful little Ifugao tribal territorial marker a hogang carved from a tree fern trunk. The single fern frond at the upper right belongs to a small, tropical montane form of Nephrolepis cordifolia that arrived as a stowaway, and...
Shorter Notes Ulr
Deparia okuboana after Saburo Okubo, a nineteenth-century Japanese botanist is a tall, deciduous species from Japan, Korea, and China. The broadly ovate blades are tripinnatifid and unusual in having round rather than herringbone sori. A recent introduction to horticulture in the United States, it is growing successfully in Zone 6 and recommended for dampish shade where a tall and tolerant species is a welcome addition to the garden design. Depariapetersenii after Petersen produces a colony of...
Ferns Through the Ages
Ferns grew in full sun three hundred forty-five million years ago when they were among the dominant plants on the planet. There were no trees to provide shade, and flowering plants were not to provide competition until two hundred million years later. Three hundred forty-five million years is quite a figure to contemplate, and adjusting to and surviving the earth's intervening vicissitudes is an incredible accomplishment that much of the flora and even the dinosaurs could not manage. According...
Horsetails
Historically these curious, and sometimes invasive, plants have been considered fern allies. Based on sophisticated research, however, their status has been significantly altered Moran 2004 . They are, as it turns out, true ferns, even though to most observers their leaves do not look like those of ferns at all. By whatever classification, they always have been ancient plants, dating back to the Carboniferous era of 345 million to 280 million years ago. At that time they were also huge by...
Shorter Notes Vuo
Cyathea australis of the south , the rough tree fern, synonym Alsophila australis, by virtue of its relative cold and slight frost tolerance, is one of the more practical tree ferns for probable success in u.S. gardens. In nature the trunk can reach 35 ft. 10.5 m and supports bipinnate to tripinnate fronds of up to 15 ft. 4.5 m . New growth and old stipe bases are covered with spines. As this species shares habitats with the Cyathea smithii and the rata tree Metrosideros, which is endangered...
Shorter Notes Fra
Equisetum xferrissii after Ferris , a cross between E. hye-male and E. laevigatum, is the most common of the many Eq- uisetum hybrids. it is intermediate between the parents with the lower portion of the stems evergreen as in E. hyemale and the upper deciduous as in E. laevigatum. Lower stem and upper stem sheath configurations and colorations respectively tend to match the parents as well. This Equisetum is found throughout canada and the united states except for the consistently hot and humid...
Ferns on Walls
Growing ferns on walls is a step more specialized and challenging than rock gardening but may include a number of species suited for both habitats. It appears to be the only situation that will support the lifestyle of that wretchedly difficult but beautifully photogenic Ceter-ach officinarum. Wall dwellers tend to prefer grit rather than soil and are frequently seen peering from crevices in venerable old buildings in Britain and Europe. And what a wondrous sight they are. It is possible,...
Dwarf scouring rush
Evergreen, 4 to 8 in. 10 to 20 cm .Zones 1 to 8. description The rhizome is short-creeping. Twisting, wiry, ridged branches without a central cavity form a tangled mass of foliage with small sheaths of three teeth garnished with deciduous hairlike tips. it is diagnostically significant that the stems are not hollow. Fertile cones are partially enclosed in the ultimate sheath and may persist over winter. The three teeth trim six equal-sided ridges, helping to distinguish this species from the...
Dryopteris varia
Evergreen, 1V2 to 2V2 ft. 45 to 75 cm . Zones 5 to 8. Apoga-mous. description The upright rhizome produces a tuft of stiff fronds equally proportioned between stipe and blade. The lower stipe is clothed in dark chocolate scales, which become lighter as they approach the rachis. The triangular to pentagonal leathery blade, with up to 20 pairs of deltoid pinnae, transitions from tripinnate to bipinnate upwards from the base towards an abruptly narrowed apex. New growth as illustrated in Iwatsuki...
Dryopteris sieboldii Siebolds wood fern
Epithet is after Philipp von Siebold 1796-1866 , a German botanist specializing in plants of Japan. Evergreen, 11 2 to 2V2 ft. 45 to 75 cm .Zones 6 to 9. description The rhizome is short-creeping. The grooved soft, light green stipes are up to one-half of the frond's mass. The unique open blades are leathery and ovate, looking like a Pteris on steroids, with two to five pairs of broad, linear bluish pinnae and a lengthy 6- to 12-in. 15- to 30-cm terminal pinna. The sori are distributed randomly...
Dryopteris Ardechensis
Dryopteris aitoniana for William Aiton, 1759-1793, head gardener at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a finely divided, 2-ft. 60-cm evergreen from the Atlantic Islands. The triangular, somewhat glandular blades are borne on long stipes. This plant is cultivated in Zone 8 in Britain. Dryopteris ardechensis from the Ardeche region of France grows to 2V2 ft. 75 cm on rocky cliffs in cold regions of Mediterranean Europe. It is visually similar to both D. filix-mas and D. affinis and likely a hybrid...
Cheilanthes wrightii Wrights lip fern
Epithet is after one of the Wright botanists. Evergreen, 3 to 10 in. 7.5 to 25 cm .Zones 8 and 9. description The rhizome is short-creeping. Stipes are at least one-third to one-half of the frond length, grooved and brown without scales or hairs. The oblong-lanceolate blades are bipinnate with 8 to 10 pairs of pinnae. This species is remarkable for its lack of scales and hairs. Sori are discontinuous along the margins and protected by recurved toothy lobes of tissue. range and habitat Occurring...
Northern maidenhair five finger fern
Epithet means palmate or pedate, as in a bird's foot. Deciduous, 1V2 to 2 ft. 45 to 60 cm .Zones 3 to 8. description The rhizome is short-creeping. Brittle stipes are purple-black and usually one-half the length of the frond. Adiantum pedatum 'Miss Sharpies'with Acerpalmatum HO 19. They fork into two major branches that curl in an indeterminate recurved circular pattern. The six to eight pinnae per branch become progressively smaller, eventually forming a small curlicue. Note that, unlike...
Dryopteris goldiana Goldies wood fern
Epithet is after Scottish botanist John Goldie 1793-1886 , who discovered the fern while visiting America. Deciduous, 3 to 4 ft. 90 to 120 cm .Zones 3 to 8. description The ascending rhizome is stout and supports dark-scaled, grooved stipes one-third the length of the frond. The broadly ovate blades, in variable shades from bluish green to light pastel green tints, are bipinnate and abruptly contracted at the apex giving the frond a stubby tip. There are 15 to 20 pairs of long pinnae. The sori...
Blechnum nudum
Fishbone water fern, black-stemmed water fern Epithet means naked. Evergreen, 2 to 4 ft. 60 to 120 cm . Zones 8 with protection and 9. Dimorphic. description The thick rhizome is erect, occasionally developing a trunk. Glossy black stipes with a slight groove and shiny basal scales are one-fourth of the frond length. Lanceolate, 2- to 3-ft. 60- to 90-cm , once-pinnate, sterile blades taper symmetrically from top to bottom. The erect fertile fronds are shorter than the sterile with linear...
Ceterach
Ceterach from the Greek sjetrak or, prior to that, the persian chetrak, both being ancient names for fern is a small genus often included with Asplenium however, various authorities segregate it based on the scaly undersides and the reticulate netted venation. The species are compact, low swirls of dense pinnatifid masses of foliage. Traditionally the fronds carry a functional, protective undercoat of thick and showy scales that develop in silver and fade to rust. The succulent Dwarf forms of...
Athyrium rupestre
Epithet means growing among rocks. Deciduous, 6 to 16 in. 15 to 40 cm . Zones 5 to 8. description The rhizome is erect. Plum-red stipes with swollen bases bearing dark scales are one-third of the frond length. Lanceolate to ovate blades are pinnate-pinnatifid with 10 to 15 pairs of pinnae. Sori with fringed indusia are crescent to J-shaped. range and habitat This species is native to well-chilled climates in eastern Russia and Japan where it is a cliff dweller in the mountains. culture and...
Asplenium platyneuron Ebony spleenwort
Epithet means broad-nerved, wide-veined. Evergreen, 8 to 18 in. 20 to 45 cm . Zones 4 to 8. Dimorphic. description The rhizome is erect. Short stipes are a polished, dark mahogany-brown and usually about one-fifth or less of the frond length. Lanceolate blades are once-pinnate with up to 40 pairs of auriculate pinnae without stalks. it is of diagnostic significance that the pinnae are alternate and the auricles overlap the rachis. The sterile fronds are lax and short the fertile fronds, upright...
Cyathea medullaris Black tree fern
Evergreen, 60 ft. 18 m . Zones 9 and 10. description The black trunk, which is covered with scars from fallen fronds, grows rather quickly to 60 ft. 18 m in the Cyathea dealbata with its signature silver undercoat. Self-sown plants at the half-sunny entry of a shady pathway in a very dry Auckland garden have yet to develop any trunk at all after 16 years. Photo by George Schenk. wild. At a slender 8 inches 20 cm in diameter, the trunk supports bipinnate-pinnatifid to tripinnate masses of fronds...
Bulbils
I once saw a program where a professional, who should have known better, described how to grow ferns from cuttings. This was especially interesting and disconcerting since ferns do not grow from cuttings. And folks wonder why they have little luck with fern propagating. Growing from bulbils, or bulblets little nodules along the fern's rachis, the stemlike section of the leafy portion of the frond , comes close, but is not the same. Cystopteris bulbifera has bulbils the color and size of peas...
Shorter Notes Jpi
Asplenium aethiopicum African, from Ethiopia is occasionally available commercially and is suitable for outdoor cultivation in Zones 9 to 11 or indoors elsewhere. Lanceolate fronds mature at 12 to 15 in. 30 to 38 cm and have 12 to 18 pairs of variable dark green bipinnate pinnae. This species is apogamous. Asplenium australasicum from Australia is a tender bird's nest species with simple fronds that can, in time, reach 5 ft. 1.5 m tall. They are a brilliant, satiny green and are identified...
Containers
There are many excellent reasons for planting ferns in containers. With the current trend toward living in apartments and condos, gardening on decks, patios, and indoor sites becomes the only opportunity for foliar enrichment and the attendant nur Tree ferns and fuchsias in a large container collection at Longwood Gardens. Tree ferns and fuchsias in a large container collection at Longwood Gardens. turing instincts of plantfolks. Options for planting vary widely and include entire landscapes...
Deparia japonica Black lady fern
Synonyms Athyrium japonicum, Diplazium japonicum, Lunathyrium japonicum, Athyriopsis japonica Epithet means from Japan. Deciduous, 1 to 2 ft. 30 to 60 cm .Zones 6 to 9. Dimorphic. description The branching rhizome is short-creeping. Stipes are dark and scaly at the base with scales and hairs continuing upwards through the length of the frond. Bipinnatifid sterile blades are oblong and the taller, erect fertile blades are narrower with 12 to 16 pairs of pinnae. Sori with linear-in-rolled indusia...
Dryopteris uniformis
Epithet means one shape. Evergreen, 1 to 2 ft. 30 to 60 cm .Zones 5 to 8. description Fresh warm green fronds emerge in early spring from the erect rhizome. The grooved stipes are one-fourth of the frond length and unfurl from an effervescent bowl of persistent blackish-brown scales. The prominent ebony stipe scales are basally sheltered by green cloaks. Ovate-triangular blades are bipinnate with 12 to 18 pairs of lanceolate pinnae. Fertile pinnae are produced exclusively on the narrowed upper...
Cheilanthes lanosa Hairy lip fern
Epithet means woolly or softly hairy. Evergreen, 6 to 12 in. 15 to 30 cm .Zones 5 to 8. description The rhizome is short-creeping, producing stands of upright foliage. Rounded dusky stipes are one-fourth to one-third of the frond length and significantly have hairs but no scales. The lanceolate bipinnate blade is made up of 10 to 15 pairs of gray-green pinnae that are sparsely woolly with a reddish undercoat of hairs. The derivation woolly is actually far more descriptive of other cheilanthes....
Blechnum novaezelandiae
Synonyms Blechnum sp. 1, B. capense Epithet means from New Zealand. Evergreen, 2 to 5 ft. 60 to 150 cm .Zones 7 to 9. Dimorphic. description The rhizome is short-creeping, producing dense clusters of frond bouquets. Stipes of one-fifth or more of the frond length are slightly tan scaled. Fronds with oval, once-pinnate sterile blades offer showers of 20 to 40 pairs of bright green pinnae with wavy margins. Fertile fronds are upright with feathery, linear pinnae approaching the apex and...
Dryopteris muenchii
Semievergreen, IV2 to 2V2 ft. 45 to 75 cm .Zones 6 with protection to 9. Warm sunset tones on the emerging fronds of Dryopteris lepidopoda. Dryopteris marginalis in the woods of Massachusetts. Dryopteris marginalis in the woods of Massachusetts. description The rhizome is erect with narrowly triangular fronds fanning out from the crown. The stipes are one-fourth to one-third of the frond length, and the willowy blades are bipinnate-pinnatifid. There are 20 to 25 pairs of pinnae with medial sori...
Acrostichum
Acrostichum with sori covering the entire back of the fertile pinnae is a genus with more synonyms than species. The three species are once-pinnate with netted veins. They grow in brackish water and muck in many of the warmer areas of the world and are more likely to be surrounded by alligators than the lovely floral abundance usually associated with a visit to a subtropical paradise. Acrostichum aureum golden is included here for its functional contribution to gardens in difficult and wet...
Athyrium atkinsonii
Deciduous, 11 2 to 3 ft. 45 to 90 cm .Zones 6 to 8. description The rhizome is short-creeping, producing individual fronds rather than clusters. Stipes of up to one-half of the frond length are a lustrous rusty red with a few scattered brown scales. Triangular blades are a feathery tripinnate to quadripinnate with 7 to 10 pairs of pinnae. Sori with J-shaped indusia are one per pinnulet and close to their midvein. range and habitat This species grows in forests and mountain slopes at high...
Woodland Gardens
In the woodland garden, ferns enjoy a site with filtered light shade and soil1 not to be called dirt enriched with compost, humus, or the well-draining leaf mold associated with the undisturbed forest floor. Most species appreciate and thrive in acid soil that fortuitously occurs naturally under a canopy of conifers with their annual top-dressing droppings of lightweight needles. A clay soil, while nutritionally dense, is problematic. For most gardeners, it is easier to establish plants in...
Dryopteris lepidopoda Sunset fern
Epithet means scaly feet. Evergreen, 2 to 21 2 ft. 60 to 75 cm .Zones 5 6 to 9. Apoga-mous. description The erect rhizome and stipes are adorned with dark chocolate scales. The proportionately tall stipes are one-half of the frond length. The bipinnate, glossy blades, with an average of 20 pairs of pinnae, are broadly lanceolate. They emerge in richly decorative hues of salmon, orange, pink, and deep rose that subside into warm green tones. With the base of the blade squared and blunt truncate...
Dryopteris corleyi
Dryopteris aemula x D. oreades the latter is also a parent of D. filix-mas . Epithet is after British botanist Hugh Corley. Semievergreen, 2 ft. 60 cm . Zones 8 and 9. description The rhizome is ascending with fronds that are equal parts slightly scaly, tan to green stipe and lanceolate to narrowly triangular blade. The blade is bipinnate with 20 to 24 pairs of pinnae. The sori are medial and covered with kidney-shaped indusia. The overlapping genetic influence of D. oreades is displayed in the...
Tissue Culture
A number of commercial growers have developed a laboratory technique for producing great numbers of progeny via a vegetative reproduction system. The process involves selecting a meticulously cleaned and sterilized growing portion of the fern or spores and putting it them in a customized nutrient solution. This results in a mul- titude of plantlets that are rapidly grown on in test tubes until they are strong enough to survive as individuals. There are several advantages for the professional in...
Blechnum wattsii
Epithet is after William Watts 1856-1920 ,a collector in Australia. Evergreen, 2 to 3 ft. 60 to 90 cm . Zones 8 with caution and serious protection and 9, or greenhouse. Dimorphic. description The rhizome is creeping, producing numerous closely spaced upright fronds. Buff-colored, grooved stipes, with shiny dark brown scales at the base, are up to one-half of the frond length. Narrow, lanceolate blades are once-pinnate with 10 to 15 pairs of slightly stalked pinnae and a long terminal apex....
Shorter Note 1
Coniogramme emeiensis from Mount Emei Omei , China , alternate spelling C. omeiensis, has recently been imported into the United States. The correct name for the material in the market may be C. emeiensis 'Variegata', as this is a prominently variegated plant. The deciduous fronds are 2 to 3 ft. 60 to 90 cm tall with bipinnate willowy foliage. The free veins are cream-colored giving the pinnae an unusual striped appearance. The plant needs partial shade and is tentatively rated for Zones 8 to...
Tree Ferns
Tree ferns are magnificent specimens native to the moist forests of the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and across the entire Southern Hemisphere where they stand tall and dignified. They are indeed treelike and range in height from 3 to 60 ft. 90 cm to 18 m with members of the Cyatheaceae being the tallest. The arching fronds, among the largest leaves of any plant, flush from the top of the trunk and can reach 20 ft. 6 m . Like most ferns they are ancient plants, predating the dinosaur...
Blechnum
Blechnums are a colorful collection of mostly tropical and subtropical species that rejoice in humid-rich environments and excel in moist to spongy acid soil. They are shade-loving understory plants of forest floors, road banks, and mountainsides, often carpeting their native habitats with blankets of showy, rosy red, luminous foliage. With many species offering their new growth in these pleasing tints from pink to rose to bronze, they are welcome accents in both garden and home environments....
Aglaomorpha
Aglaomorpha Greek aglaios, splendid, and morphe, shape is a genus of large epiphytes that consequently like basket culture and good drainage. The tall fronds grow from large and broad bases designed to catch litter. Bases often turn a papery brown in maturity. Leathery fronds are pinnatifid and are striking in conservatory or greenhouse settings, but can grow as house-plants where space is not limiting. Two of the most popular species are Aglaomorpha coro-nans crowned from the Far East, which...
Rock Gardens
Rock gardening began in China and Japan where the focus was on rocks and their formations rather than plants. The definition and style changed and eventually spread especially and initially to horticulturally enlightened Britain as with so much of our horticulture, we are indebted to Britain . The first large-scale rock garden was constructed there at the Chelsea Physic Garden in 1772-73 with 40 tons of Portland limestone left over from the rebuilding of the Tower of London combined with chalk...