lithophytes

Neolepisorus fortunei 'Green Ribbons'

Rockin’ Ferner

In January, we posted photos of the Asian epiphytic fern, Neolepisorus fortunei ‘Green Ribbons’ growing in the ground, in our woodland garden. Here is another planting of it, growing as a lithophyte (on rocks) in our crevice garden. This six year old patch of ribbon fern shows that it doesn’t require soil to thrive. This

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Aquilegia canadensis

Plants that had rather Phyte than switch habits and habitats

Throughout the years, we’ve failed with many plants, some, simply by not realizing that some plants have very specific habitat preferences. The vast majority of plants can grow equally as well in the same, well-amended soil, with a pH around 6.0-6.2. The Latin root is used to describe those with a more specific preference or

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Time to bring back Resurrection Ferns

One of my favorite plants when I strolled through the woods as a young child was resurrection fern, Pleopeltis michauxiana. If the Latin name sounds unfamiliar, it was originally published in 1939 as a member of a different fern genus, Polypodium polypodioides var. michauxiana. It’s natural distribution range is quite large, from West Virginia south

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Pleopeltis – The Grey-haired Brazilian Sword Fern

We’ve been fortunate to grow a huge number of hardy garden ferns through the years, but it’s hard for any to top the amazing Pleopeltis lepidopteris, to which, we’ve given the common name, Brazilian hairy sword fern. Below is a patch at JLBG, composed of three individual clumps, looking great, despite the ravages of summer.

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Lithophytes, epiphytes, tigers, and bears…oh my

Just out in the garden in early January and wanted to share photos of a few of our favorite evergreen ferns that would rather not be growing in the ground. In our garden, these are all growing within a few feet of each other. Each of these ferns are epiphytes, which grow attached to a

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