Looking great in the worst of winter is the amazing native fern, Pleopeltis michauxiana. This epiphytic fern, which only grows on trees and rocks, can be found in the wild in woodlands from Ohio south to Florida, and west to Oklahoma. We used Liquid Nails construction adhesive to attach a tiny piece to this oak tree over 22 years ago. When droughts occur, the foliage curls up and appears dead, only to re-hydrate with the next rain. While it’s technically evergreen, it’s only such with regular rains. For years, this fern was considered a subspecies of Pleopeltis polypoidoides, but is now considered a stand-alone species. We have still not been able to figure out how to grow this from spores in the nursery, but we haven’t given up hope yet.
Resurrection fern! How seasonal! And super cool to watch while I lived in FL.