CHAPTER X 



Hardy Garden Ferns 



NORTHERN exposures Euid moist places always suggest ferns. 

 They are usueJly somewhat fragile and must be protected 

 from high winds. They usually need an abimdance of water, 

 but prefer good drainage. Furthermore, they should be planted where 

 water will not continually drip upon them. They are especially success- 

 ful under trees where they take care of themselves nicely. They 

 shoiild be transplanted in early Spring or Fall — those in exposed places 

 better in Spring. They may be plsmted in clumps of all. of one species 

 or they may be mixed. Among rocks, on a slope, is a very good place 

 for them. They vary in height from foiu- inches to four feet. Ferns 

 possess creeping underground stems; some are deep, others £ire merely; 

 surface creeping; a few have thick, upright stems, which are hard to 

 puU up. ! 



The soil that ferns wiU like varies greatly. The best method of 

 knowing what soil they need is to note where they grow naturally. 

 In general, most ferns like a .deep, rich, not too heavy soil — better 

 with little peat in it. In their native habitat they have few or no 

 enemies, but in the gEirden they are attacked often by wood Uce, 

 slugs, snails, caterpillars and the grub of the daddy longlegs. 



The fern spores are very peculiar for they are produced ia Uttle 

 sling shots which Eire so small as to appear like brown spots on the 

 lower sides of the leaves. Some persons have thought their ferns 

 unhealthy when they have seen these brown areas, but this is not the 

 case, for it is the normal procedure to produce spores. When these 

 sling ehots ripen they burst open and scatter their contents. The 

 spores, instead of growing into a fern that we would recognize, produce 

 furmy Uttle green plants like a heart-shaped leaf, usuadly the diameter 

 of a lead pencil. These green plants produce spores and it is from them 

 that the characteristic fern grows. There ■ are memy kinds. We 

 name the following: 

 Ajjiantum pbdatum (Maidenhair). Prefers a well-drained, light soil.' 



It is of a poor color when growji in the sun. 

 AspmiuM. (See Dryopteris). 



AsPLBNiuM ACHOSTiCHOiDBS. MoistuTe; some shade. Endures sunlight 

 if cool. 

 ANGusTiFOLiuM. Avoid the removal of old fronds. New crop springs 

 up and weakens the plant. 



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