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Ferns Are Shady But Cool

P90309+++++It could be either an asset or a liability. With few exceptions, ferns do not want to be too exposed to direct sunlight or wind, especially during warm and dry weather. However, as long as they get just enough filtered light, they can be quite happy in sheltered spots that are a bit too shady for other plants. Most like to be watered regularly, and perhaps lightly fertilized in spring and summer.

They provide neither floral color nor fragrance. They lack interesting branch structure and bark. Since they reproduce by spores, they do not even produce any fruit, either edible or ornamental. For those who do not know them any better, they might seem to be rather boring. Yet, those of us who grow them know how handsome their lush, finely textured and uniquely patterned foliage is.

Of the popularly grown ferns, only two develop ‘trunks’, (which are actually just clustered wiry roots growing downward through rotting stems). Two others are ‘epiphytes’ that naturally cling to trees or exposed stone, but in home gardens, are more popularly grown on wooden plaques. Most other ferns are terrestrial understory perennials that naturally live in the partial shade of larger plants.

Although mostly confined to the ground, some ferns can get quite large. Individual leaves, which are known as ‘fronds’, can get several feet long. Even before it develops a trunk, Australian tree fern produces huge fronds that can shade an atrium. Other ferns with smaller leaves can spread very efficiently, and can even become invasive. Fortunately, most ferns are relatively complaisant.

The two popular epiphytic stag-horn ferns have weirdly lobed but otherwise undivided fronds. Leaves of the odd bird’s-nest fern is neither divided nor lobed. Otherwise, fern fronds are intricately divided into small leaflets known as ‘pinnae’. These pinnae are neatly arranged on opposite sides of leafstalks known as ‘rachi’. Some ferns have silvery variegation, but most are rich dark green.

Ferns innately do well in pots. Boston, maidenhair, rabbit’s foot, holly and bird’s-nest ferns are actually excellent houseplants. However, Australian tree fern and a few others shed irritating fuzz that would be a problem in the home. Most of the popular ferns are evergreen. Many consume their own deteriorating foliage by covering it with new foliage. Some ferns need occasional grooming.

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Bird’s-Nest Fern

80829Ferns tends to be . . . well, ‘ferny’, with divided or intricately lobed foliage. Staghorn ferns and bird’s-nest ferns are the more familiar of the rare exceptions. Staghorn ferns have two types of simple undivided fronds, and both types lack rachi. Bird’s-nest ferns have weirdly simple fronds that, although equipped with prominent rachi, lack any distinctive division or lobes that make ferns ‘ferny’.

Asplenium nidus is the more familiar of the bird’s-nest ferns, although none of them are common. It is usually grown as a potted houseplant, and is sometimes grown in rich and well watered soil in sheltered atriums. In the wild, it typically grows as an epiphyte, attached to the trunks or limbs of trees, where it collects rain and organic debris that fall from above into its flaring smooth foliage.

Fronds of mature bird’s-nest fern are commonly about two feet long and four inches wide, and can be twice as long and wide in ideally warm, humid and sheltered situations. They are arranged in neat funnel shaped rosettes. Partial shade is best. Bright ambient light is not a problem, but keeps foliage lower and more dense. Direct sunlight can easily scorch foliage. Frost kills entire plants.

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Where The Green Ferns Grow

80829thumbThe list of what ferns will not do is more noteworthy than the list of what they will do. They do not bloom with colorful or fragrant flowers. The do not produce fruit. Very few turn color in autumn, and their color is generally nothing to brag about. Most ferns will not maintain their appeal through drought, or if neglected too long. Nor will they tolerate heat and wind, especially in full sun exposure.

Yet ferns are still popular for what they ‘will’ do. They provide remarkably distinctive and stylish foliage. They survive in spots that are too shady or perhaps too damp for other plants. Ferns will be quite happy in pots or planters, and some are happy to grow as houseplants. Ferns somehow avoid getting eaten by deer. If a fern gets tasted by a deer who does not know better, it will survive.

All ferns are perennial. Most are evergreen. Their foliage arches upward and outward from the terminal buds of stout rhizomes. Some ferns develop dense foliar rosettes. A few develop trunks by growing vertically instead of horizontally, and dispersing roots downward through their own decomposing fibrous rhizomes. Many ferns will get quite broad. Many are quite delicate and diminutive.

Ferns may not require too much maintenance, but the little bit of maintenance they require is somewhat important to keep them looking tidy. Old foliage should be pruned away as it is replaced by new foliage. This may be as simple as pruning away all old foliage just after new foliage develops early in spring. For some ferns, small batches of old foliage might get removed through the year.

The foliage of ferns is comprised of leaves known as ‘fronds’. With few exceptions, the fronds of ferns are intricately lobed or divided into smaller leaflets known as ‘pinnae’. (‘Pinna’ is singular for pinnae.) These pinnae are arranged on opposite sides of fibrous leafstalks known as ‘rachi’. (‘Rachis’ is singular for rachi.) Rachi are quite fibrous and tough, so should be cut close to the ground with pruning shears when they get groomed, rather than plucked.

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Stag Party

P80415Staghorn ferns are epiphytes. They cling to tree trunks, rocks or whatever they happen to grab onto. They can root into decayed wood if it is porous enough, but they are satisfied to just cling to the exterior. They do not need soil. They sort of make their own soil by collecting debris that falls from the canopies of trees above. In the jungles where they live, they get all the water they need from rain. They often live in the crotches of branches because that is where they happen to land. (The epiphyte I wrote about earlier was just a palm that landed in the wrong place, but is not really an epiphyte. https://tonytomeo.wordpress.com/2017/11/15/epiphyte/ )

In home gardens, staghorn ferns are often grown on wooden plaques so that they can be moved around like potted plants. Because it does not rain much here, they need to be watered occasionally. They do not grow very fast, but eventually need to be attached to larger plaques, or divided into smaller clumps that fit onto new plaques. Alternatively, they can be grown like plants in hanging pots, but without the pots. Even if they start out in pots, they may eventually envelop and obscure their pots, and form a big rounded hanging mass that only wants water and debris from above. A small bit of fertilizer might improve their naturally light color, but too much will roast leaf margins.

My colleague Brent Green acquired this humongous and well rounded specimen from a client who wanted it removed from an olive tree that it had grown too big for. It had been there for decades. Brent gives it a banana every month or so because it likes potassium. It does not get much debris from above in Brent’s well groomed garden.