One of the oddest, and consequenty, coolest ferns we grow in the garden is Lepisorus palmatopedatus, which translates in to palm-foot, scaly-sori fern. We’ve grown this Chinese (Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou) oddity for over three years, and it justs gets better each year, spreading slowly, via an underground rhizome. For us, it’s been mostly evergreen
Discover the fascinating world of ferns in this hands-on class in the garden. We’ll begin in the classroom with an overview of fern morphology, life cycles, propagation techniques, and practical identification tips. Then we’ll head outdoors to explore our diverse and extensive fern collection, learning how to recognize key features in the landscape. To conclude,
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Looking handsome in the winter woodland is Polystichum dracomontanum. While most garden polystichums are either American or Asian in origin, this gem hails from South Africa. The specific epithet “dracomontanum” translates to Dragon Mountain, and in this case indicates that the plant is from the Drakensburg Mountains in South Africa. Although I spent a bit
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Winter is the time when all the evergreen ferns shine, and there are few fern genera that look better in winter than the holly ferns. A favorite that’s rarely offered is the spear-leaf holly fern, Cyrtomium lonchitoides, which hails from Japan, China, and Vietnam. This has the smallest pinnae of the hardy holly ferns, which
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Looking fabulous in the winter garden in mid December is the amazing Arachnioides standishii. The common name, upside down fern, refers to the fronds, which appear to be inverted. This slowly spreading fern is tardily deciduous, meaning it remains evergreen until temperatures drop to 10-15 degrees F. Although the fine texture makes it look delicate,
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Cyrtomium falcatum ssp. littorale is a dwarf, cold hardy, rock garden-sized form of the common holly fern. Our oldest specimens of this evergreen gem, have topped out at 8″ tall x 15″ wide. While it grows fine in regular soil, it also thrives in rock crevices, where it tolerates several hours of full sun. It’s
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After six failures to launch, we’ve finally succeeded in growing one of the most fascinating of our native ferns, Asplenium rhizophyllum (formerly Camptosorous rhizophyllus). Known by the common name of walking fern, the long frond tip of this tiny fern, roots into the organic debris or moss everywhere it touches, forming a new plant. If
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Looking great throughout our rock garden sections is the elegant, evergreen desert fern, Cheilanthes eckloniana ‘Naude’s Neck’. Cheilanthes eckloniana is named after the 1800s Danish plant collector Christian Ecklon. We first met this gem on our 2005 expedition to South Africa. This is our 2013 Plant Delights/JLBG introduction, spore grown from plants along the road
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Our hanging basket of the evergreen Pyrrosia lingua ‘Corymbifera’ is looking lovely as we head toward another fall season. This Japanese selection of the epiphytic tongue fern has excellent vigor, forming a dense clump either in a container or in the ground. This moss-lined basket is now six years old, and lives outdoors year round
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We’re always excited when a new fern finds our garden to it’s liking, and such is the case with Cyrtomium tsinglingense ‘Li Ping’, which is now heading into it’s fifth year in the ground. This previously uncultivated species of holly fern is from a Mark Weathington collection in Shaanxi, China.
Sing-a-long Holly Fern Read More »
