254 ALPINE FLOWERS 



get an important American element in our rock gardens by using 

 American ferns that have a talent for spreading among rocks and 

 give a feeling of coolness in hot weather. 



DELICATE FERN EFFECTS 



Oi course, ferns thrive best in shade, and genuine alpine 

 flowers do not. But we must do the best we can. Some of us 

 cannot afford elaborate watering devices and, therefore, the only 

 way to keep rocks cool is to shade them. So we must make a 

 special study of flowers that demand partial shade, and have the 

 alpine charm. We must select ferns that have interesting leaf 

 forms and spreading growth, instead of the tall, coarse ferns of 

 commonplace form. 



There are fifty-two kinds of native ferns that can -be bought 

 from nurserymen, but the following seem to me most appropriate 

 because they answer the above requirements, and are a foot or less 

 in height: 



Common Names Scientific Names 



Common polypody Polypodium vulgare 



Hairy lip fern Cheiianthes lanosa 



Maidenhair spleenwort Asplenium Trichomanes 



Walking fern Camptosorus rhizophyllus 



Purple-stemmed cliff brake Pellcea atropurpurea 



Moonwort Botrychium Lunaria 



Hart's tongue fern Scolopendrium vulgare 



Broad beech fern Phegopteris hexagonoptera 



Adder's tongue Ophioglossum vulgatum 



Bulblet fern Cystopteris bulbifera 



Brittle fern Cystopteris fragilis 



Long beech fern Phegopteris* polypodioides 



Oak fern Phegopteris Dryopteris 



Rusty woodsia fFoodsia Ilvensis 



The club mosses and selaginellas are also interesting and 

 refreshing and nearly a dozen kinds can be had now through special- 

 ists in native plants. 



