CHAPTER XXI. 



THE HARDY FERN GARDEN. 



THE marriage of the fern and flower garden is worth effecting, our 

 many hardy evergreen Ferns being so good for association with hardy 

 flowers. There are many varieties of our native Ferns which would 

 be excellent companions to plants suited for sheltered, half-shady 

 nooks, and there are hardy and vigorous exotic kinds. Graceful 

 effects may be had in foregrounds, in drives through glades, through 

 the bold use of the larger hardy Ferns, whether evergreen or not. 

 The Bracken is everywhere; but there are Ferns of graceful form 

 which delight in the partial shade of open woods and drives, and 

 succeed even in the sun. Ferns have, as a rule, been stowed away 

 in obscure corners, and have rarely come into the garden land- 

 scape, though they may give us beautiful aspects of vegetation 

 not only in the garden, but by grassy glades, paths, and drives. 

 In countries where hardy Ferns abound, they are often seen near 

 water. and in hollow and wet places, and it will often be best to 

 group them in such localities, but without any of the ugly aspects 

 of " rockwork " too often supposed to be the right thing in a hardy 

 fernery. 



In the home counties there is probably not a better fernery 

 than that at Danesbury. It is on a sloping bank in a rather 

 deep dell, overhung with trees and Ivy, in the 

 A hardy fernery, shade of which the Ferns delight. As regards 

 the planting, the various families are arranged 

 in distinct groups, and each group has a position and a soil 

 favourable to its requirements. The best way to grow Ferns, 

 however, is with flowers, as in Nature, and a hardy fernery may 

 be very beautiful. As a rule, Ferns have in their natural state 

 both soil and locality exactly suited to their requirements ; and the 

 soil is yearly enriched by the decaying foliage of surrounding trees, 

 which protects them in winter. In arranging a fernery, study the 

 habits and requirements of each species, and allot to it the position 

 most likely to give the best results. At Danesbury the most 

 sheltered, moist spot is given to the evergreen Blechnums, which 

 delight in a damp atmosphere, and to the delicate forms of Asplenium. 



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