Clearing Woods - Ferns and Other Forbs - Part 1


than dry. Propagation is by spring division of the rhizomes or by spore.

This species is reported to be poisonous to livestock and rarely, if ever, eaten by deer. My deer herd has never touched a fern of any type in my garden, and I grow several besides these native ones. Something to keep in mind if you're troubled by bambi.

There are no cultivars, but there is a form in cultivation that has red fronds in the spring - rare, but worth finding, says Rickard, who has also obtained a dwarf form that may prove stable.

Next time, the last of this series about plants in my woodland, Other Forbs, includs our fascinating jack-in-the pulpits. See ya' later!

More Information

  • If you're fairly new to ferns, be sure to visit the The American Fern Society web site. Joining the society is also a good idea and there's a membership form you can print out to mail in.. There are two levels of membership, both quite reasonable, that entitle you to participate in the spore exchange. One level provides you with 'The Fiddlehead Forum' newsletter and the other gives you that plus 'American Fern Journal'. In addition to basic information about ferns and growing them from spore, there is a link to subscribing to Fernet, the fern enthusiast's email list and there's a brand new fern forum on the site.

  • Ferns on Long Island has good photos and brief descriptions of many native ferns that are found up and down the east coast as well as on Long Island.

  • Dr. Leonard Perry's outdoor ferns page lists several common ferns with links to information about them, photos and most interestingly of all - a sound file with the pronunciation of their often incomprehensible botanical names.

  • I highly recommend The Plantfinder's Guide to Garden Ferns by Martin Rickard for all you budding fernophiles out there. I particularly like the images of fronds for various cultivars and species done at about half size. When you're trying to identify a fern, that kind of visual information is worth a thousand words. Published by Timber Press, it's available at Amazon.com.

Image Credits

Title image and all photos and scans are by Marge.

Gardening in Shade is just one of the of nearly sixty different gardening topics you can visit here on Suite 101, covering everything from annuals to zucchini.
The copyright of the article Clearing Woods - Ferns and Other Forbs - Part 1 in Shade Gardening is owned by Marge Talt. Permission to republish Clearing Woods - Ferns and Other Forbs - Part 1 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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