354 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF GARDENING. 



like variation, and P. v. cristatum, grandiceps Fox, Forster, and Parker are gems of 

 cristation. P. v. pulcherrimum is on Cambricum lines of folioseness, but fertile. There are 

 numerous other forms, and all do well if bedded on the surface of good rough brown peat 

 and leaf mould mixed with a very little loam and some sand. Plant in shallow pans and 

 stand these in saucers, keeping the saucers filled with water. Under these circumstances 

 they form grand evergreen specimens, and improve in beauty year by year. 



EXOTIC FFRNS. 



THESE comprise a large and variable class of plants, many being popular because 

 easily grown and of beautiful form. In a large number the fronds are delicately divided and 

 cut, while the fresh green colour of many of them tends to increase their popularity. For 

 arranging with flowering plants they are invaluable, as they furnish charming masses of 

 greenery to serve as a foil to the more gaudy tints of the flowers. Many Ferns are of delicate 

 constitution, and need special care and attention ; while on the other hand large numbers even 

 of those that require a stove or greenhouse are robust, and if not coddled during their earlier 

 stages of growth will stand considerable exposure, and may be used for indoor decoration for 

 long periods with impunity. Again, where flowers are grown for cutting, Fern fronds are often 

 used in their arrangement, the Maidenhair being frequently cultivated in large quantities for the 

 supply of fronds alone. Ferns occur naturally in all quarters of the globe, and vary in height 

 from 2in. or jin. to 50ft. or 60ft., as Dicksonia antarctica in its Australian home, and the even 

 taller Alsophila excelsa. 



Though most Ferns have fronds of some shade of green, there are many exceptions, and 

 some of those that are of that tint when mature are brightly tinged in their young state, while 

 a few are clearly and distinctly variegated, a feature which occurs more frequently among the 

 forms of Pteris, or ribbon Ferns, as some of them are popularly called. 



In many kinds the fronds are crested, that is, they are tufted or tasselled at the 

 ends, and this frequently leads to a more or less pendulous style of growth. Several of the 



AN OUTDOOR FERNERY. 



