604 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



stronger-growing kinds should be plunged up 

 to the rims of their pots in a sheltered place in 

 the open ground, placing only the more tender 

 kinds in a frame. 



One great error is often made in drying off 

 deciduous Ferns by withholding water when 

 the fronds are fading or have died down. No 

 Fern should be allowed to go short of water at 

 any time of the year. Some of the rock species 

 when growing wild often withstand lengthened 

 periods of drought, but under cultivation it is 



dangerous. In some seasons they will require 

 more water than in others. In late autumn 

 and winter only those plants which the rains 

 and dews do not reach may need watering, but 

 in spring and summer it is scarcely possible to 

 over-water them. Many Ferns are perfectly 

 happy in positions exposed to full sunlight if 

 only they can obtain sufficient moisture at the 

 root. That such is the case is evident from 

 the growth of some of our native Ferns on 

 open commons, in sunny stream- sides, &c. 



Fig. 733.— Hardy Feru Kockery. 



That the smaller species are found only in 

 shaded positions may be due to their being 

 forced from sunnier ones by plants of stronger 

 growth. Many plants in nature grow where 

 they can, not where they would prefer. It 

 is as well to bear this fact in mind when 

 constructing a fernery. With few exceptions 

 Ferns are as happy under bright sunshine as 

 the general run of plants, but they must have 

 plenty of water. 



Snails, slugs, and woodlice are the chief ene- 

 mies of Ferns in the open garden, and at all 

 times they should be diligently sought for and 

 destroyed. 



Hardy Fernery under glass. — The fitness of 

 hardy Ferns to form rockeries, or as border 

 plants in unheated structures, is not recognized 

 to the extent they deserve. In many gardens 

 there are unheated corridors and other structures 

 for which hardy Ferns are well adapted. Narrow 



borders should be made on each side of corridors, 

 and suitable Ferns be planted in them. The 

 evergreen kinds, especially the Japanese, North 

 American, and other exotic species, should be 

 selected, as they preserve their beauty in 

 winter better under glass than in the open 

 air. 



In gardens where there is an old disused 

 house which is not worth renovating, by dis- 

 connecting the heating apparatus it may be 

 turned into a hardy fernery, in which much 

 beauty with a minimum of trouble may be 

 obtained. 



Select List of Hardy Ferns. 



Adiantum Capillus- Veneris. — Rhizome creeping; fronds 

 6 to 12 inches long, bi- or tri-pinnate; pinnules obliquely 

 fan-shaped, bright-green. Cosmopolitan (Britain). Var. 

 incisum, found in Ireland, differs in having the pinnules 

 cut into narrowish segments; comubiense, found in Corn- 

 wall, has large fringed pinnules. 



