Fronds, Ferns, Fiddleheads, and Fossils

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Fronds, Ferns, Fiddleheads, and Fossils

This year I had to remove ferns encroaching on a walkway so I thought I would take photographs before digging them out. 

They are a very mysterious foliage that seemingly commit to a spot in the garden and thrive. They thrive under the Ginkgo tree, another long surviving plant.

Of course, the fiddleheads unfurl with grace,

the silent music of nature...... 

Fossil fern phegopteris guyottii

Fern Societies                                  

          American Fern Society

Ferneries                                          

The Dorrance H. Hamilton Fernery

Botanical phylogeny chart.        

Phylogeny Chart

Trachaeophyta Lycopodiophytes (club mosses, spike mosses, quillworts) Euphyllophytes Spermatophytes (seed plants) Ferns Psilotopsida  Psilotales (whisk ferns)   Ophioglossales (grapeferns etc.)  Equisetopsida  Equisetales (horsetails)  Marattiopsida  Marattiales  Polypodiopsida  Osmundales   Hymenophyllales (filmy ferns)   Gleicheniales   Schizaeales   Salviniales (heterosporous)   Cyatheales (tree ferns)   Polypodiales

Eusporangiate Ferns Leptosporangiate Ferns

DIY___________________________   

Hanging baskets and landscape plants are often overlooked as gifts in favor of floral arrangements or a dozen roses which are lovely to receive but a thoughtful gift to any gardener can be an appropriate plant from your local nursery. Once aware of the giftees needs and requirements, (hardiness zone, the home's shadiness, and a preference for wildflowers, roses, foliage plants, succulents, or orchids) a thoughtful gift can be selected readily.

If your Mother has a shady tree lined garden, and likes ferns selecting the right one is important. 

I have wood ferns and evergreen ferns in my zone 7 garden. If I lived further north I would love hanging baskets filled with ferns, but they do require more attention than I am willing to give them in the heat of the summer. Your local landscape nursery professional can direct you to the best choice for your climate.

In the previous post I treated wildflowers with an "artistic flair" and I am adding cards that you can create or use for an enclosure. This post will be about ferns with a "musical twist," with cards for enclosure that you may use or create yourself.  Of course, not everyone appreciates puns so these "ideas" are obviously not for you. If your Mom needs a new washing machine go for it, but if not, she might like a fern.

Explore Further.                       

A Dell Full of Ferns, by Charles O. Cresson

Ferns

Author:	Martin Rickard
Publisher:	London : Cassell Illustrated, 2003.

Publisher Synopsis

Oft regarded as dull and Victorian, ferns could not have had a worse press. But if you have a shady corner which you can't fill, you can be sure there is a fern suitable to add presence and stateliness throughout the year. From their tightly packed fronds curled through winter in readiness for the warmer weather of spring to the gentle unfurling to reveal their summer beauty. And no, they don't all look the same. They have a diversity as wide-ranging as any genus, from the diminutive Blechnum penna-marina to the towering matteuccia struthiopteris; the delicate ash green and pink of Athyrium niponicum var. pictum, the glossy lime green of the Aspleniums; fragile Cheilanthes to the sturdy Dicksonias. Covering cultivation, which plant to choose for what situation, propagation, pests and diseases, this is part of the RHS Wisley handbook series, providing a comprehensive and concise look at ferns, fully illustrated and clearly written. Aimed at both the amateur and professional grower, this is an invaluable addition to any serious horticulturalist's bookshelf. - Lucy Watson



Neyland, Ray. A Field Guide to the Ferns and Lycophytes of Louisiana: Including East Texas, Southern Arkansas, and Mississippi. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University 

Diggs, George M, and Barney L. Lipscomb. The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas. , 2014. 

Hyden Photography

 for

~Grassroots Horticulture~

2016

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