Ferns

At home some ferns are weeds seeding themselves in seedpots and everywhere. Still I like ferns and have planted quite a few but have almost no pictures of them!
Here is one from last spring showing the croziers of emerging Dryopteris affinis.
'Lady in Red' looks fine!

Hoy wrote:

At home some ferns are weeds seeding themselves in seedpots and everywhere. Still I like ferns and have planted quite a few but have almost no pictures of them!
Here is one from last spring showing the croziers of emerging Dryopteris affinis.

How big does D. affinis get (width and height), and does it spread?  I'm looking for ferns that make clumps rather than spread, some ferns can be aggressive spreaders.

Mark, D. affinis a native here but it does not spread much neither by spores or otherways. Others like D. carthusiana, dilatata and expansa are worse. And Athyrium filix-femina is worst!

D. affinis get about 1m tall when the conditions are right and about the same width. It is a very nice fern. (Can't show pics until I get home.)

There are quite a few ferns that will probably take full sun in eastern North America. (They won't here, unless they have constant moisture.) Any of the rock ferns, Pellaea, Cheilanthes, etc., would be good choices.
The problem is that the market for xerophytic ferns is non-existent, which is perfectly understandable, so you would have to grow these from spores.

On a local woods walk yesterday

Asplenium scolopendrium var. americanum

Asplenium rhizophyllum

Asplenium scolopendrium is native where I live but I have never seen them in the wild! But I grow some in my garden. Nice to see a close relative in such an abundance! A. rhizophyllum looks interesting too.

Trond,
These pictures were taken at a Clark Reservation http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/126/details.aspx near Syracuse, NY, USA.  The Hart's Tongue grow on the north facing slopes of glacial potholes, growing only on directly north facing slopes, disappearing with only a degree or two variance.  A. scolopendrium v. americanum is listed as rare, locally abundant.  I am fortunate to live in a geologically interesting region that is home to many interesting plant communities.  Interestingly, the European Hart's Tongue A. scolopendrium is tetraploid while the american variety is diploid

I just posted a newsy item about NARGS member Tom Stuart and an article about ferns he is interviewed in. See it here:
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=602.0

I also learned that Tom Stuart is proprietor of the Hardy Fern Library, an online taxonomical guide.  This is a must-visit site, a one-stop destination for any fern lover!
http://hardyfernlibrary.com/ferns/

Thanks for the link to Stuart's site Mark.

I have about 30 ferns in my yard with more ordered.  I have grow many from spores so I have a few weird unnamed forms.  Dryopteris affinis is one the largest and most impressive ferns in my collection.  They easily reach 1 m and spread a little more, but it is a definite clumper.  You'll love it Mark.  Excellent choice.  Dryopteris goldiana and Polystichum braunii are also large, clumping ferns that are highly recommended.

Mark, I'm amazed how lush the ferns look next to your deck - there must be quite a bit of moisture down below. The 'Lady Fern', which is so beautiful, struggles in our dry summers and I can only grow it on the north side of a greenhouse where it gets run off from the rain. However, all the forms of Polystichum do really well, coping with drought pretty well, as do quite a few Dryopteris. But they don't approach the wonderful vigour of your plants. Woodwardia unigemmate, one of the chain ferns, coped surprisingly well with a long dry summer spell a couple of years ago - I had expected it to suffer badly. It could make a magnificent specimen under your conditions, and some selections have marvellous red new growth. It roots down at the tips of the long(!) fronds and spreads over quite an area this way.

I too am fascinated by the more xeric species, but generally they are grown as show plants in pots in the UK, even though at least some should be able to grow in the garden given winter protection. Sue Olsen's book is superb and makes you realise just how diverse ferns are. They do seem to be being grown more in gardens here, which is good news, and they are fun to raise from spores (and in my very limited experience the xeric Cheilanthes are relatively easy to raise in this way, probably tolerating drier conditions better than some).

I love ferns, though they are uncommon locally ( at least on our property, don't get into woods on other folks property much, and they are not roadside plants!).. I know of exactly two spots they occur on the family farm ( two very different species, neither of which I know to name) and one spot on my acreage, which I assume is a native-my mother thought my aunt may have planted it, but I doubt she'd have planted such a little thing..
Besides that, I have two small pots with wild collections from the farm awaiting beds--one of the first tw mentioned above, a tiny thing from a wet dark place, also a Botrychium virginianum..
And in one ill-chosen bed I have a couple of potentially large ferns bought as loose rhizomes (? sold loose in a bin, one growing point each) a couple of years ago and planted in a spot I didn't realise was so dry... I prob should move them....(best time of year for that?)

I'll try to get pics of all of the above, I do have shots to edit of those in the bush....

I'm also really interested in small xeric ferns to grow indoors- viewing pictures of Echeveria and other Mexican/Central American succulents in habitat, I saw many small ferns growing with them--these are presumably semi-shaded rocky areas, dry in winter.. indoors I wqould grow them with my C+S.. no luck finding spores, so far though... Tim, you mentioned folks growing some in Britain, know of any sources or growers I could ask for spores? Looking for the smallest plants possible, 30cm tall would be a maximum, preferably much less..

cohan wrote:

I'm also really interested in small xeric ferns to grow indoors- viewing pictures of Echeveria and other Mexican/Central American succulents in habitat, I saw many small ferns growing with them--these are presumably semi-shaded rocky areas, dry in winter.. indoors I wqould grow them with my C+S.. no luck finding spores, so far though... Tim, you mentioned folks growing some in Britain, know of any sources or growers I could ask for spores? Looking for the smallest plants possible, 30cm tall would be a maximum, preferably much less..

What about this one, Cohan? Asplenium septentrionale The Norwegian name is Olavsskjegg - beard of Olav (an ancient holy king btw).

Cohan, the British Pteridological Society has a superb spore list with many xeric species and I expect most growers who exhibit them are involved with the BPS. I have only grown a few Cheilanthes in the past and used to collect spores and put them in the seed exchanges. One of the finest sources in the UK is Rachel Lever of Aberconwy Nursery, but few others grow the smaller ferns.

A very odd fern, Trond - very different from those I am used to... what do the individual fronds look like?  Could you post a picture?

I am now in Oslo but if I find one tomorrow I'll post a picture. Or else you have to wait some weeks!
Maybe Stephen has a picture.

Or you can take a look here while waiting:
http://floragutt.com/Smaaburknefamilien.htm

Wow, really  unusual!  Thanks for the link.

Trond, that looks like a very nice one to grow--by its surroundings, seems maybe it would work with Semps, and obviously Sedum  ;D
I'm certainly interested in growing ferns outdoors, though its quite a separate issue from looking for tender (anything less than -40 is tender ;) xerics for indoors...

Tim, maybe I will try begging on SRGC.. There must be easily a dozen or more societies for various sorts of plants I grow and or love, indoors and out, that I already can't afford to join ;) ..nonetheless, I will check to see if BPS is online..lol

On a garden tour last year, I remarked to the owners that I used ferns like they used Hostas. There were a half dozen species on our lot or in the surrounding woods when we bought it almost 50 years ago. I started out modestly adding to the collection a few ferns at a time planting them around the house foundation and randomly along the paths.  I had access to Polystichum acrostichoides, Osmunda claytonia and Adiantum pedatum. Many of these have been undisturbed for 40 years and form impressive stands. Then several years ago I started collecting ferns in earnest and to accommodate them I cut a new trail through my back woods with Dryopteris along one side and Polystichum and Athyrium  along the other, naming it my Pteridophyte Ptrail.
What are my favorites: Adiantum pedata, A. venustum, Osmunda cinnamonea, O. regalis, Dryopteris marginalis, D. goldiana, Polystichun acrostichoides, P. braunii, Asplenium trichomanes and Diplazium pycnocarpum.

your fernery sounds wonderful, Plummer! We'd love to see photos :)

Just a reminder to whom it may concern,

Special instructions for fern spore donations to the seed exchange:

Fern spores (and other dust-like seed) should be packaged into individual envelopes by the donor. The spores are so small that they are impossible to repackage. Spore packets should be small enough to fit inside the glassines used for distribution, about 1 inch or 2 cm square; folded foil or waxed paper work well.

Browsing the late summer nursery benches at a large chain Garden Center in our area, I came across this colorful and delicate looking fern, Adiantum hispidulum.  The labels gives the common name as Rosy Australian Maidenhair Fern.  It is also written "Key Benefits - Insignficant flowers" (too funny :rolleyes: ).  I was tempted to buy one, but wasn't sure of it's hardiness, even though it is being sold among supposedly hardy perennials for our Zone 5 area, there was no hardiness rating on the label.  

Looking it up, I see that this is a widespread tropical species, rated on a couple sites as Zone 7. Nurseries sometimes pass plants off as hardy when they are clearly not suitable to be grown in the zone being sold in.  Does any one have experience with this pretty fern with rosy frond tips, in terms of its winter hardiness?

Mark, I have never tried it. However, with a hardiness rating from 7-10 I would have tried it here without hesitation but I'm not sure how it tolerates your climate. It looks very nice and if it is on sale -  ;)

Hi Mark,

I tried it here, in zone 8, and I can tell you that it is a little bit sensitive to the cold. It survives through a large garden protection (temperatures never fall below -12 °C here) but it will never be as beautiful as in a warmer site. It would be better in pot, protected from the cold in winter.
For cons, I think that hardiness depends of the clone you buy, if it comes from an area of ​​low  or high altitude etc..
A friend of mine is interested particularly in contrast to hardiness of plants harvested at different altitudes, he is botanizing in Tasmania at the moment. (for example, he collected seeds from a Schefflera taiwaniana that grew at high altitude and its seedlings have passed -18 ° c, which is far from true of all S.taiwaniana)
However, it is well resistant to a relative drought, as A.venustum.

Hi Geoffrey, welcome to our forum on this side of the pond  ;)

I saw your registration request and recognized it instantly, glad you made it over to NARGS, hope to see you on the Epimedium pages, the season should be getting into gear in a couple months.

That's very interesting about what you recount about your friend finding high elevation forms of Schefflera, such exercises might prove useful with many plants having both lowland and mountain distributions.  Well, I don't regret not buying Adiantum hispidulum; I don't have a greenhouse, or even much windowsill space.  I have experimented with Zone 6 ferns which didn't survive our winters, so one rated as Zone 7 or 8 would have probably been a lost cause.  I too read that this fern species is relatively drought resistant.

Thank you Mark! Very kind of you.

Well, I'm quite shy but I would try to post as I can, with my average English level! :)
I would have a lot of selections of Epimediums to show if you're interested, including many hybrids of 'The Giant'.

On ferns, which I love as much as epimediums, I would say you have to experiment, why not if the rates of the plant is not too high? I tried lots of ferns renowned for their sensitivity to cold in zone 8 and I had some pleasant surprises as some Blechnum, Woodwardia, Pteris wallichiana, Hypolepis, Lophosoria etc.

Nevertheless, there are so many beautiful ferns easily acclimatables and with very pretty colors, as Dryopteris labordei, Dryopteris koidzumiana, Dryopteris decipiens, Dryopteris lepidopoda, Cheilanthes tomentosa or lanosa, Adiantum aleuticum 'japonicum' or 'Miss Sharples' etc.. , or with dark scales that produce a very decorative effect as Dryopteris wallichiana which is very close to Dryopteris affinis ssp. affinis, Dryopteris polylepis or some Polystichum.

The world of ferns is so vast.

We had an extraordinary fern's nursery in Europe, created by Martin Rickard, 'World of Ferns', in Devon (UK). They closed in 2011 following the winter of 2010 that caused too much damages. A tragedy...

Nice to see you here as well, Georffrey. 

Welcome!

Geo wrote:

I would have a lot of selections of Epimediums to show if you're interested, including many hybrids of 'The Giant'.

Yes please, would love to see your Epimediums, particularly 'The Giant' hybrids.  Feel free to post in the Epimediums 2012 topic:
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=943.0

I have to admit, I'm a fern "newbie".  I greatly admire ferns, but don't currently grow many, mostly because for many of years in my current location, my property was exposed, sunny, and hot and dry.  But finally with more shade in the yard now with maturing trees, I have decided to start introducing more ferns into the garden, I think they'll be a great complement to Epimediums.  I have taken note on the ferns species you mention, and will start looking towards a spring order of some good ferns, thanks for the suggestions.

By the way, young English is just fine :)

Geoffrey - I would be greatly interested in your experience with ferns. We grow quite a number even in the dry south-east of England, and I am keen to start growing them again from spores. I visited Martin Rickard many years ago, after seeing his extraordinary and superb displays at the Chelsea Show, and I am sure there is quite a revival again in their interest amongst gardeners. I am especially attracted by many of the xerophytic species, though these are grown by relatively few gardeners. Several of these grow well on a simple sand bed along with dryland alpines and provide good contrast.

Thank you Rick! I see that the nargs and srgc forums are closely related!  ;D

McDonough wrote:

Yes please, would love to see your Epimediums, particularly 'The Giant' hybrids.  Feel free to post in the Epimediums 2012 topic:
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=943.0

Ok, the first blooms of the 'Giants' hybrids will begin here in late March, so I would take plenty of pictures.(There are pictures of many epimediums in the flickr gallery under my name, at the bottom of my post).

There is an interesting book on ferns, very accessible, "Encyclopedia of Garden Ferns" by Sue Olsen, a good book, well illustrated.

Ferns are perfect companions for epimediums, indeed, particularly those with small or medium sizes like Gymnocarpium, Phegopteris, Polypodium etc.
Here I grow about an hundred of them, most are really easy to grow, some require a little more care and patience, as Pyrrosia ...

Tim, here the climate is quite wet (almost 1000mm / year) and the garden soil is clayey, which doesn't let me any choice for xerics species: container or, as you say, sand bed where they grow very well in full sun. So, the number of xerics ferns here is quite small at the moment: Cheilanthes tomentosa, Cheilanthes lanosa, Cheilanthes sinuata (Astrolepis sinuata), Pellaea rotundifolia, Pellaea falcata, Pellaea atropurpurea, Paraceterach muelleri.(many forms of Ceterach officinarum but it's not really a xeric fern)
I would try others but it's not always easy to find them in France...

By cons, if I often grown ferns from spores (it's incredibly easy isn'it?), I never even tried sowing xeric fern spores...Maybe later, I'm very encumbered by my little fern-seedling's greenhouses!

1 : Dryopteris affinis 'Cristata The King'

2 : Adiantum aleuticum 'Japonicum'

3 : Adiantum 'Miss Sharples'

4 : Adiantum venustum

5,6 : Onocloa sensibilis, for wet soil.

7 : Cystopteris lanosa

8 : Gymnocarpium dryopteris, a very good groundcover

9 : Phegopteris connectilis, wich is a very very good fern and a good companion for Epimediums.

Geoffrey, I checked out your Flickr link, and WOW, many superb Epimediums there, I'm taking notes on some exciting named Epimedium hybrids I've not heard of.  I'm sure we'll be discussing these.

Regarding ferns, that's a super selection of ferns you show, please let us know which ones they are, I want to grow all of them!  I too have been intrigued by xeric ferns, but don't currently grow any, this topic can serve as a good reference for ones to try, as you have suggested.  Your annual rainfall is actually quite similar to what we get here in Northeastern USA.

Ooops, I was sure that I put the identifications...I correct immediately.

Well Mark, if you have a rather sunny place, fairly dry and very well drained, try Cheilanthes tomentosa, the most adaptable of Cheilanthes in my opinion.

Here :

1,2,3 : Coniogramme emeiensis, one of my favourite! Often called "Bamboo fern". Easy from spores, I've got many babies.

4 : Blechnum penna-marina, a little groundcover, easy in half-shade in acidic or neutral soil.

5 : Athyrium otophorum 'Okanum', well known, but I love it, very colorfull.

6 : Polypodium cambricum, I don't know the name of the selection...Great with Epimedium!

7 : Polypodium cambricum 'Omnilacerum'

8, 9 : Dryopteris wallichiana

10 : Adiantum venustum, for me, the best of the Adiantum.

Lots of beauties Geoffrey! ferns are another group I have little of, but hope to have more someday! Likely a rather different set than yours for hardiness reasons!

What a wonderful assortment, Geoffrey. :o

I need to add to my pitifully small collection, too!

Hi, Geoffrey, you have a fine collection!

Geoffrey, what a super fine selection of ferns :o :o :o , my list of "must have" ferns just increased dramatically.  The red-pink color on Adiantum aleuticum 'Japonicum' is wonderful.  I'm partial to Adiantum, the one named 'Miss Sharples' is so fine and lacy.  I like the "fluffy" looking ferns very much, your first form of Polypodium cambricum is gorgeous.

But it is the upright vase-shaped ferns that I like best, like Dryopteris wallichiana that you show us, to add elegant vertical accent in the woodland garden.  So this one goes to the top of my list for fern acquisitions 2012 :)

I have an Adiantum growing in my garden since I moved into my current home 25 years ago.  Just spent about 1-1/2 hours looking for photos, I know that one spring season over the last few years i took lots of photos capturing the fronds as they emerge, but can not find them (I take thousands of photos, most live with their generic digital names until I have time to go through them and rename them).  I did find a few general garden views where the Adiantum is present, I think it is A. pedatum, or A. aleuticum, but could it be venustum? If I'm wrong, please let me know.

Here are some garden views of what I think is Adiantum pedatum, co-mingling with Epimedium, Pulmonaria, and Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens, from the red emerging shoots, chartreuse young unfurling leaflets, to the dark stemmed green leafy canopy by early May.

What a glorious mix of plants! I grow several adiantums but, oh, I wish I had clumps of cypripedium like that too. Woodland plants like this I think are gardening at its very best, and probably also more accessible for many gardeners than the more esoteric alpine plants that many of us love so much. So now which way do I turn - the long wanted tufa garden or the 'woodland'? Nothing better than such a choice!

On the forums I too get pulled in this direction or that.  I marvel at eye-popping hardy cacti and incredible Yucca plants seen on NARGS, to such an extent that I mentally reconsider my "no spiny plants and glochid-free gardening" doctrine, but when it comes down to it, soft fluffy fronds, feathery foliage, and foamy flowers in the woodland garden take precedence.  So, I'm still on the fence about whether I start a hardy cacti garden, but creating a sunny enbankment full of hardy succulents (Sedum, Sempervivum, Delosperma and company) is definitely on my agenda for the 2012 season.

I remember visiting one of the most remarkable private gardens in Seattle (although can't remember the owner's name), one that featured ferns almost exclusively; it left an indelible impression on my garden sensibility, one that I feel compelled to pursue some 28 years hence. :)

Nice ferns and woodland setting, Mark! I too love woodlands and woodland gardens, but also the rocky crags and gravel flats of other settings-- why choose one or the other unless your property only accommodates the one habitat? Unfortunately (since I love open spaces and blazing sun as well) I have a lot more woodland/woodland edge meadow than truly sunny spots, but I will still aim for some of each!

cohan wrote:

Nice ferns and woodland setting, Mark! I too love woodlands and woodland gardens, but also the rocky crags and gravel flats of other settings-- why choose one or the other unless your property only accommodates the one habitat? Unfortunately (since I love open spaces and blazing sun as well) I have a lot more woodland/woodland edge meadow than truly sunny spots, but I will still aim for some of each!

When I first moved to my 1-3/4 acre property, I had 1 acre of full blazing sun, then the property falls off in the back, my lower 3/4 acre is steep and dry woodland (mostly sugar maple), this area beyond reasonable reach of a hose.  I wasted a lot of money in the early years here planting Rhododendrons, just to have them totally dessicate in winter (too sunny and wind-exposed on a hill).  In the 25 years I've been here, trees I've planted now provide some much needed shade, and the wooded south side boundary to my property has grown in and providing a good amount of open shade, so I can finally grow shade loving plants without them frying in the sun.

So I still have lots of open space for rock gardens and sun-loving plants in general.  But I am trying to narrow my focus; for example, tempted by hardy cacti, but judging by gardens I've seen in New England where hardy cacti are grown, our climate is not optimum for them and they look tatty and disheveled; haven't seen a cacti garden here that I've liked yet.  There are plenty of things that grow particularly well here, so why not focus my interests, not a bad idea for us plantaholics that like everything. ;)

One of my favorite ferns is a common one, Athyrium niponicum var. pictum, the Japanese Painted Fern.  For two years it languished in a pot in my "nursery seedling area" which is sunny and hot, and the fronds would crisp in the sun. It survived drought conditions.  I finally moved it to the north side of my house, getting shade from the shadow of the house, and it looked much better in that position, with perfectly gorgeous silver fronds.

For sure- working with plants that like your climate is a good idea! (when its possible to know what those are....lol)
Frankly, I've seen few cactus gardens I liked outside the obvious places where they especially thrive.. but not necessarily because the plants may not do well- just because they tend to be collections of plants rather than gardens- many of the growers need to broaden their interests to other sorts of dryland plants that will grow well with and complement the cacti and yuccas (the other obsession of cold hardy cactus growers)- so the garden is not just a series of single cacti dotted through the gravel.....

The painted fern is lovely, I've seen them (not here) but not grown... the big commercial garden centres here carry a number of ferns in summer, not sure if the plants they carry are actually hardy here- often they are shipped from head office in Toronto or something-- apparently no one told them its colder here..

Cohan, you might want to try Athyrium niponicum var. pictum, if you can get your hands on it.  It survived two years sitting in a small pot, the pot just sitting on the ground totally exposed, through a couple of very tough winters.  I suspect it is extremely hardy.  There are some recent-ish hybrids with this species, but I find they are not as hardy, so I'll stick with the original.

I'm not sure if I have Athyrium niponicum (I don't pay as much attention as I should to the ferns I have) but Athyrium filix-femina x niponicum 'Branford Beauty' (below, though not a great specimen!) is hardy here, as is A. filix-femina (which I see is a native species):

(Uggh, what a messy photo!  That area has been shaded by 8-foot tall 'Therese Bugnet' roses, and is hard to get into, so it's always thick with Campanula trachelium and greater celandine seedlings - but it will be renovated this year!)

Geoffrey and Mark, your ferns are spectacular!

Thanks Lori.  I have bought 'Branford Beauty' twice, and each time it died over winter, maybe it jusy needs to get firmly established before winter, so I'll try again with an earlier spring planting.  I have tried a couple other similar crosses coming from the fabulous garden of Nick Nicou, of Branford, CT, but I have yet to establish them with the exception of one that is just hanging on. These new hybrid ferns are in vogue, thus VERY expensive, and I bought them in late summer when perennials are discounted, I think the late planting is the problem.

Nice silvery fern, Lori.
Mark, I'll have to look more closely at the ferns offered this year-- they have seemed to be mostly offered in 6" or larger pots, and I don't often want to spend that much on one plant...lol- more likely to buy several small plants, or more often yet, seeds!

There are some nice things available mail order, but that's even more money all at once  ;D
Just have to get some more spores one of these days - Kristl at Gardens North has offered a fair number of species...

I alreadyhave some very nice ferns but I can have more! Fall planting usually isn't problematic here, on the contrary as May-June usually are the driest months and new plants have to be watered.

I am also drawn in all directions and can't make up my mind whether to consentrate on this or that or both! Therefore I have both spores germinating and cactus seeds!

McDonough wrote:

Geoffrey, what a super fine selection of ferns :o :o :o , my list of "must have" ferns just increased dramatically.  The red-pink color on Adiantum aleuticum 'Japonicum' is wonderful.  I'm partial to Adiantum, the one named 'Miss Sharples' is so fine and lacy.  I like the "fluffy" looking ferns very much, your first form of Polypodium cambricum is gorgeous.

But it is the upright vase-shaped ferns that I like best, like Dryopteris wallichiana that you show us, to add elegant vertical accent in the woodland garden.  So this one goes to the top of my list for fern acquisitions 2012 :)

I have an Adiantum growing in my garden since I moved into my current home 25 years ago.  Just spent about 1-1/2 hours looking for photos, I know that one spring season over the last few years i took lots of photos capturing the fronds as they emerge, but can not find them (I take thousands of photos, most live with their generic digital names until I have time to go through them and rename them).  I did find a few general garden views where the Adiantum is present, I think it is A. pedatum, or A. aleuticum, but could it be venustum? If I'm wrong, please let me know.

Here are some garden views of what I think is Adiantum pedatum, co-mingling with Epimedium, Pulmonaria, and Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens, from the red emerging shoots, chartreuse young unfurling leaflets, to the dark stemmed green leafy canopy by early May.

Mark, your Adiantum is not a Adiantum venustum, but an Adiantum pedatum, because Adiantum aleuticum produces green, not cherry red, new growth (so, in fact, Adiantum aleuticum 'Japonicum' would be a pedatum...). This is a very good fern which is well hardy and very tolerant once installed, your picture clearly shows it.
Adiantum venustum is more adaptable but less cold hardy (zone 5) and has a different look.

Your pictures are stunning, I always wanted to try one or two Cypripedium, but I've never done, I love the shades of yellow and bronze of Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens, a very beautiful plant.

About Dryopteris wallichiana, it would be hardy to zone 6... So I imagine that it would need some protections in zone 5. The young wallichiana are sensitive to frost, so here, I plant large specimens, and only in spring, with a follow sprinkler (? not sure about the expression...) for 1 year.

In the same kind, I love Dryopteris cycadina, the beautiful Dryopteris crassirrhizoma, the big fern Dryopteris x complexa 'Robusta'.

About Athyrium nipponicum 'Pictum, I completely agree, it is tolerant to many conditions.
I especially like three selections of Athyrium nipponicum : Athyrium nipponicum 'Applecourt', the crested painted fern, Athyrium 'Branford Rambler', it's a creeping fern, a cross between painted fern and the lady fern, and Athyrium 'Ghost', also a cross between painted and lady fern. All three are quite showy and it is never easy to associate them in the garden.

But the lady fern has very nice selections also : 'Frizelliae', 'Frizelliae multifidum', 'Victoriae', 'Pseudovictoriae', 'Vernoniae', 'Plumosum Axminster', 'Lady In Red' etc..

Rick, Hoy and Cohan, thank you for your comments. In truth, I had not seen you live in so cold areas! While I often complain not to live in zone 9-10 on the west coast of France...

Does one of you grow Dryopteris x australis or Dryopteris goldiana? Both are large ferns, which are becoming very attractive when they are mature after a few years of cultivation, and adaptable to zone 4/5.

I grow Dryopteris tokyoensis....
It hangs on (for ten years) in dry part shade among Sugar maple roots.  Never more than a foot high  :(.  I don't know if it is because it is too cold here in zone 4, or because of the clay based, rich, dry soil.

Adiantum venustum does quite well here, in the right places, of course.

Geoffrey, thanks for the positive ID on my Adiantum pedatum, nice to be sure about what it is. 

I have tried Athyrium 'Ghost' twice before, and each tim it "gave up the ghost" after just one season.  It should be hardy, but again, I think spring planting is probably better than autumn planting, for more established plants and better hardiness.

After a quick google search I found the Hardy Fern Library, an excellent resource! I have bookmarked it and will be studying and looking up the ferns that are being mentioned here.  Are there other fern web sites that fern newbies should know about?
http://hardyfernlibrary.com/ferns/home.cfm

Rick, I looked up Dryopteris tokyoensis, another new one for me.
http://hardyfernlibrary.com/ferns/listSpecies.cfm?Auto=39

I'd like to hear from any US nargs members regarding purchasing ferns, what mail order nurseries do you have experience with?

Hi Geoffrey, I am not sure which ferns i grow! I just buy those I like or sow spores and plant out everywhere I think they fit in! Maybe I should make an inventory of my ferns ;D

Well Rick, Dryopteris tokyoensis grows in wet and acidic soil in its natural habitat. Here she seems to be happy in my cool and neutral soil, and it's approximately 90cm (35 inches). So it is surely drought that blocks growth indeed.

Mark, I often planted in the fall here because the winters are never very strict (except there are about ten days here where the freezing weather has hit us ...), but the plants I really afraid of losing, I always plant in the spring. Plants are more established when winter comes.

Otherwise, in addition to the Hardy Fern Foundations, there is the American Fern Society ( http://amerfernsoc.org/ ) and the British Pteridological Society (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted_sites/bps/), and there are others.
I often look at these two blogs (http://varenplanten.blogspot.com/ and http://varenbos.blogspot.com/), a Dutch ferns-lover, which transforms a forest in southern France, in Ardèche, in a woodland of ferns.

Hoy, if you grow lots of ferns, it might be interesting to inventory them indeed! ^ ^ It could be funny!

Mark,
Two of the best sources for ferns are on the west coast, Sue Olsen http://www.foliagegardens.com/ and Judith the fern lady http://www.fancyfronds.com/list.cfm.  Fancy Fronds has a large selection of ferns hardy in our region.  I am growing Dropteris tokyoensis in my garden and Ellen Hornig had some magnificant specimens in her garden at Oswego.  You should be able to grow all the hardy Athyriums, spring planting is recommended.  Adiantum venustum grows like a week here, but Adiantum aleuticum subpumillum that I have started from spore struggles to barely survive, I keep trying possible sittings to encourage it.

Thanks Geoffrey, regarding D. tokyoensis.  Unfortunately I hardly even have any constantly moist areas, let alone wet.  Oh well.  The maple was hit late in the year by a severe case of verticillium wilt, so maybe it will completely go...

Geo wrote:

Hoy, if you grow lots of ferns, it might be interesting to inventory them indeed! ^ ^ It could be funny!

Interesting to have it - not to do it ;)
In my work I have a lot of paper work - or laptop work these days so I try to avoid it in my spare time (forum time don't count  ;) )

Geoffrey, that Adiantum pedatum "Japonicum" is stunning.  Any chance of spore next year?  Hint, Hint.  I even have an import permit and I've been fairly successful growing ferns from spore.  I use the peat pellet method because it's stupid simple.  It even seems to work for dryland ferns but you must transplant the prothallia early.  I start them all under lights inside.

Right now I've got at least half a dozen varieties coming from spore.  I'd post them but I have COL (cat on lap ) so I can't go down and check.  I know I have Woodwardia fimbriata, Polystichum vestitum, Doodia aspera at least to prothalia stage right now.  My greenhouse has Polypodium hesperium and Asplenum trichomanes plumosum coming along.  I also just repotted my Cyathea milnei babies.  Most of those are traveling north to the WWSW to be given to a friend who lives on the coast (mild enough to grow it) and Judith Jones.

Jan 

Jan, here I use plastic mini-greenhouses and sowing on sterilized leaf mold. I would have tried with xerics ferns.
Yes, I suppose I should have spores of Adiantum aleuticum (pedatum) 'Japonicum', in truth, I've never tried to sow many Adiantum (Adiantum hispidulum this year, so far all goes well, the prothallia are there, still no initial frond).

I do not know, me neither, precisely the species that I sowed this year...There are some species I have sowed for the fun as Gleichenia quadripartita, Blechnum minus, Lastreopsis hispida, Blechnum niponicum etc..
Others are quite common, many different Asplenium scolopendrium, Asplenium x ebenoides, Dryopteris wallichiana, cycadina, crassirhizoma, odontoloma, Athyrium otophorum, Hypolepis glanduligera, Dryopteris coreano-montana, some Pteris (many form of P.cretica, umbrosa, wallichiana, vittata etc.) etc.
All are currently at the stage of prothalli, some first fronds begin to appear.
I had some problems in some mini-greenhouses with white rot...Hard to get contamination under control in a mini-greenhouse.

I'd love to plant Polystichum vestitum here, it's an absolutely beautiful fern, but I'm a little afraid of damages due to cold.

I must go to check my plant of Polystichum vestitum. Our climate is probably not much different to Geoffrey but the polystichum has probably not done so well because I have it in a place that is just too dry. I grow quite a few polystichums and find them generally very tolerant of our garden, and extremely attractive. One mountain species, stenophyllum, grows on a raised bed with alpines, and really makes me think I should try more such small species.

I think your climate is slightly warmer than here (-11.8 ° C this year) Tim.

If you like small ferns in rockery, you should try the Pellaea. They are little beauties, Pellaea atropurpurea, Pellaea rotundifolia (which is often sold as indoor plant, but fits comfortably in the outdoors in pots or in rockery, the sun), Pellaea falcata (ditto).
Cryptogramma crispa is also a good rockery fern, not necessarily easy to culture, it grows on acid rocks.

Woodsia polystichoides is not bad either.

Yes I think I will definitely try some of these smaller ferns. Rachel Lever at Aberconwy Nursery has been growing many of these, especially the Cheilanthes. It would be nice to hear more of people's experiences growing them in the garden, but I imagine few people do. I haven't tried Pellaea species, so will certainly look out for these.

-11.8 sounds positively sub-tropical to me  ;D
Those small rockery ferns are very interesting for sure! Be sure to share anyone who has  or gets any!
I've mentioned before becoming very fascinated with small ferns growing in seasonally/dry places in Mexico/Central America along with succulents such as Echeveria! would love to get some of those to grow indoors with succulents, but have not found any :(

Lis - I would certainly be interested in spores. I did join the British Pteridological Society mainly so I could try a wider range of ferns from spores, but so far haven't really started growing many. They are a group (the rock ferns) that I would very like to propagate as we develop the nursery again, and I used to grow a number of cheilanthes. These, however, are generally difficult outside here so it's good to hear of experiences with other small ferns.

I can collect spores of Asplenium septentrionale if anybody is interested. And Lis, Cryptogramma crispa is very common here - I haven't tried it in the garden - but if you need more spores that's easy to get hold of!

Cool one, Trond!

cohan wrote:

Cool one, Trond!

I don't know what to think about a fern that tricks me into thinking it is a grass... :-\

Lis wrote:

RickR wrote:

I don't know what to think about a fern that tricks me into thinking it is a grass... :-\

You think, 'Wow, that is sooo cool!' of course.

That's what I said  ;D I always like plants that don't look like they are supposed to :)

Lis wrote:

RickR wrote:

I don't know what to think about a fern that tricks me into thinking it is a grass... :-\

You think, 'Wow, that is sooo cool!' of course.

Any chance of A. septentrionale spores in the seedex soon?

Lis, I have a better idea: I'll send you some when the spores ripen. Then you don't need to use your quota in the seedex.

A little plant of Woodsia obtusa just unfurling its new fronds on the sand bed. This is growing in a carpet of Raoulia australis and makes a nice contrast to other plants on the bed.

Nice one, Tim!

Never seen this one before, seems to be a nice species!

Lis wrote:

RickR wrote:

I don't know what to think about a fern that tricks me into thinking it is a grass... :-\

You think, 'Wow, that is sooo cool!' of course.

Any chance of A. septentrionale spores in the seedex soon?

Lis, still interested in spores?

BTW, here is a strange one I found:

Tim, a belated response, but I do like the Woodsia species very much, must add some to the garden.

Adiantum pedatum is a joy to watch as the fronds unfurl, I love the pattern of airy filigree leaves as they first expand.

Hoy, your strange one looks more like Adiantum than Asplenium,  although no idea which one

Harold wrote:

Hoy, your strange one looks more like Adiantum than Asplenium,  although no idea which one

Harold, I agree to that but no Adianum is native to Norway and the place I found them is very far from any garden.

Lis wrote:

Yes, very interested! Does your strange one show any signs of fruiting?

Lis, I have some spores now and two small plants also. Please PM me!
The strange one had signs of sori but they looked rather empty. I'll keep an eye on it!

Mark, I have one small clump of A pedatum in my garden but wanted more! Now I have a big box full of prothalliums ;)

Ferns must be amongst the most beautiful plants as their fronds unfurl in spring - even in our relatively dry garden we are growing more and more. At the Chelsea Show every year the fern displays are like a green oasis amongst the sea of colour (especially, in the past, Rickard's stand) - perfect time to display them in mid-May. This is one of the Dryopteris unfurling under the apple trees in the garden. So different to the delicate beauty of the Adiantum.

Here is Athyrium othophorum 'Okanum' unfurling.