don't we have any fern addicts here?
seems this forum is a little light... or maybe I'm checking the wrong place.
drew
ferns
Drew, I love ferns, but don't know enough to be a 'fern addict' LOL. I do wish I knew more about them. I had started to get a few for my shade garden this past summer, but then we decided to sell the house. Maybe in the next yard...
Given my zone, I feel quite fortunate that I can keep my 2-3 tender ferns alive overwinter in my house, which gets quite dry from the heat. I manage to lose many houseplants but keep the ferns, somehow. Of course they look ragged by spring, but they survive.
Well Drew your posting just reminded me of you at the GARU surrounded by your beautiful ferns. I like ferns and have started collecting locally but no names for my ferns. This weekend I started a project of listing my plants by Genus and species then common name. Most of my ferns I have no idea. Can give me any information about the tree fern you traded to me? It is doing fine and growing well.
Delisa
It was Cyathea cooperi 'Brentwood'
aka australian tree fern.
In the trade it is often called Cyathea australis which is not even close to the truth.
run a google on it.
feel free to ask me any details you couldn't find elsewhere.
drew
Does it have to be wet and shady for ferns?
I have shade and damp to regular acidic soil
I have a microlepia fern, actually two of them, and one is in a sunnier and drier place than the other. Surprisingly it has done very well indeed, and it is beautiful fern. I can recommend it highly. Don't know how it will do in acid soil, though, mine's pH neutral.
yeah and you are in a much warmer clime
Aah, the tree ferns of Golden Gate Park. I had just moved from Florida to coastal central California. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
Here in zone 6 the sensitive fern does well in dry shade, returning every year.
not all ferns require shade and alot of moisture.
evenly moist is better than wet in most cases.
as a general rule of thumb, the ones that can handle full sun only do so because they are in a swampier area or an area that stays regularly moist.
Rox, in Virginia I would think you would have an ideal climate for most ferns, not quite hot enough over winter for tropicals, but you would still have a great selection of hardy ferns, literally hundreds of cultivars...
drew
I have a very shady yard and ferns have been a staple for me for the last three years, since I moved into this house. We did just today have a water oak taken out, so beginning in Spring I'll have to rethink my garden. I don't have all of the botanical names, but the ferns I've got in the ground right now are:
Autumn fern - Dryopteris erythrosa
Sword fern - Nephrolepis spp.
Tasmanian Tree Fern - Dicksonia antarctica
Rabbit's foot fern - ?Polypodium spp.
Cinnamon fern - Osmunda cinnamomea
Leather leaf fern - Rumohra adiantiformis
Deer tongue - Phyllitis Scolopendrium
Blechnum spp.
Bird's nest - Asplenium nidis
Mahogany fern
Sheild fern - Thelypteris kunthii
I had a branch with Resurrection fern(Polypodium polypodioides) but the branch rotted away and I couldn't get the plant to transfer.
Potted I've got elkhorn and staghorn, button and heart ferns.
And I'm not especially into ferns, it's just a matter of what will grow in the enviroment I had to offer.
This message was edited Nov 12, 2003 1:32 PM
This message was edited Nov 14, 2003 11:32 PM
Great I will look into ferns
Right now all I have is a whole lotta shade and
a very large planting of Chinese Silver Grass
It grows 15 feet and is quite spectacular however
it is rather invasive to next door.
Roxroe; let me suggest you look into hostas for your shady garden. I've been looking into them and have planted lots. There are many different colors, shapes and sizes and most even bloom in the spring. (Of course I have them mixed in with my ferns, caladiums, coleus and alocasias) And now with winter here, impatiens are cheap, cheap cheap. Just a thought...
Molly
Hi Molly, You mentioned ferns, caladiums and coleus which are among the very few plants I have grown. Probably because I lived in "jungle" in Miami and everything just grew without any help. But what are alocasias? Of course impatiens are my favorite because no matter what I do they just bloom and bloom! I love the pictures of hostas in all the magazines, but had no idea they would grow in this climate. How are yours doing? I have shade for my caladiums and would love to try hostas. Any suggestions? I have a new fern, holly fern, that I rescued from Home Depot's throw away cart and he's doing great!
Pati
Pati; I recently bought lots of hostas from a lady out of Utah. I planted them in my front yard and they have been coming up very nicely. I tried to watch the hardiness zone info, but sometimes I just love the looks of them and buy. They are doing well now, but I read somewhere that in our zone they may not "do as well as" in zones 9 and further north. THe man didn't say it couldn't be done. And I'm not failing before I give it a good try. I will keep them out of the direct sun, which in my front yard I only get 1 hour of sun at 7AM during the heat of summer. Sending some hosta baby pics. Aren't they so cute?
Pati, I'd like to drop you an email with the alocasia pics in them. I have to go to Key Largo now to take pics of our boat we're selling. Check back with you later. Isn't this baby hosta cute?
i like ferns-i love my staghorn and i just got a huge elkhorn one off ebay-waiting for it to get here-shipping was 15.00 it suppose to be a biggen!!! The one like it i was bidding on went up to 100.00 i cried-but then the lady offered one that she said was a close look alike and I won! ;)oh happy day
i like my asparagus fern. the boston ones i got from a guy in florida are -OK
Outside Im just getting into them!
I have a place that i am making a shade garden out of. I am interested in having some ferns there. This place is somewhat damp and is mostly shady. It does get some sun sometimes in the late evening hours. Any suggestions? Robbie
autumn fern, east indian holly fern, holly fern, painted fern, lady fern, etc etc
Thanks for the suggestions, DeepRoots. I will check the nursery near me for those ferns.
if you can't findem, lemme know come spring, I'd be happy to trade/barter for em.
drew
That sounds like a wonderful idea to me. What would you like to barter for. I am new to gardening and dont know exactly what all ihave to barter with. Thanks, RObbie
do you have a first born son that is willing to pull weeds?
if not, I dunno, we'll figure something out come april or so.
I have one son but he is 23 and is on his own. He lives and works in Hoover Alabama. He works night shift and doesnt have to time to help me. That is ok tho. I will do what is needed to get them in the ground if you send some to me. Thanks, Robbie
hmmm, you have a son that is 23?
he's too old... probably set in his ways, I'd need someone younger to mold into gardening servitute...
course I'm only 24, so guess I can't say too much eh?
Drew
I geuss you can ask too much since you are just one year older than he is. You will have to raise your own son to mold him as you wish. I can get mine to do things for me still. He is pretty good to me. I think i will keep him.
my son is only 3months old tho...
heck, I'll be broken down by the time he gets to being a class A weeder... heck by then, he'll want me to pay for college or something.
Oh you cant teach him how to help you do the weeding as he grows up. They love to mimic mom and dad and i bet would help you as much as he possibly can. Just teach him. He will listen to you. Just keep him with you and keep him some of his own tools to use and possibly his own garden to tend as he grows up. He will learn to enjoy it. Having their own tools or whatever gives them something to do while you do some of the same work. It worked with my son and i bet it will with yours. I know we are off subject in this forum but i hope it doesnt matter too much. Have a wonderful day, Robbie
off topic? who cares...
I do work with my daughter (currently 3 1/2).
Of course she was responsible for the "great tag pull of 2003"
500 labeled named amarylis quickly became uhhh well they'll flower again....
You have a nice sense of humor. That is good with children. They are special, arent they? You are right. Those amarylis will bloom again.