Ferns 06.06.2015

Recently I have been developing an obsession for ferns. I love them! I have a shady area in the garden that has a couple of shrubs/small trees but the rest of the soil is quite bare and thus weeds run wild if you don't keep them under control. So, I have decided to dot the place with ferns. There already was a fern in the garden when we moved in, and I am amazed at how it develops its leaves. I bought another type of fern late last summer, and recently I bought 2 that are totally different.

This is the fern that was already here when we moved in. I decided to move it as it was competing for space with a rose. After the winter, my landlord chopped all the leaves off and left only the bulb. I was shocked, but those amazing prongs started to appear when it got warmer. I'm afraid I can't tell you what type of fern it is exactly, but it looks quite "standard".

This is the first fern I bought. It's from our local National Trust and I decided to buy it because it made golden and orange leaves naturally. They didn't turn that colour in the autumn, they were "born that way". Again, after seeing that the resident fern grew back, I decided to prune this fern and I'm so glad I did because it's looking amazing now. 

The variety is Dryopteris erythrosora prolifica. "A handsome fern, slowly creeping, forming finely divided, glossy, triangular fronds which are pink when young, slowly turning bronze then dark green with green midribs"

These are my most recent purchases.

The Athyrium niponicum var. pictum is my favourite. It has a dark green leaf with a silver centre, which I had never seen before.  It just looks amazing! 

It is from South Japan. Deciduous. Silvery-grey fronds with purplish midribs. Use in front of taller plants for contrast. Ideal for herbaceous borders and shady pond margins.

This fern is a bit more of a mystery. the label says it is Fern Assorted, but I don't think that is the name of the plant! Still, I really liked the structure of the leaves on this plant rather than the colour. 

So there you have it. My new found interest in ferns. I must admit when I saw, I think it was, Carol Klein talk about them in a programme I thought: but... they're just leaves! But now, if you think about how this type of plant has been around for thousands of years and has barely evolved, it's mind blowing. They are amazing to look at, and watching them grow their fronds (I'm learning the terminology now!) is fascinating -at least it is to me.