Fancy Fronds and Fiddlehead

text and photos by Scott Woodbury

If there is one group of plants that is hard to come by, and therefore underutilized by gardeners, it is native ferns. Although many ferns are easy to grow at home in shade, they are difficult to propagate commercially. Spore production is tricky and root division is a slow process. That makes production expensive. That said, Pan’s Garden (owned Angel Kruzen and her husband, the late Tom Kruzen of Mountain View, MO) used to supply the St. Louis area with a short list of ferns. For over 30 years, they produced broad beach, sensitive, lady, Christmas, purple cliffbrake, common woodsia, narrow-leaved spleenwort, and maidenhair ferns in large outdoor beds at their nursery near the Jacks Fork River. They divided and potted plants in February and March (before fiddleheads

emerge). At times, they divided in April, while the tightly curled fronds (fiddleheads) were under 3-4 inches tall (short stem length prevents frond damage). Lastly, they planted small plants back into the original beds, and fertilized heavily with bone meal to stimulate regrowth. By the next spring, plants were big enough to divide again. They sold out of ferns at every plant sale, before Tom got sick and passed away five years ago. Unfortunately, the nursery is no longer operating, and nobody has since filled their shoes. From my experience selling ferns at our spring and fall wildflower Ostrich fern markets, there is a native fern market ready to fiddlehead take off. If you are looking for native ferns to purchase, inquire with Grow Native! professional members, who may carry some stock. See www. grownative.org, Resource Guide. Cathy Pauley, owner of Grow Native! Professional member Papillion Perennials in St. Louis (https://www.papillonperennials.com), is propagating at least 10 species of ferns native to the lower Midwest. As with all native plants, digging ferns from the wild depletes their populations, and is prohibited on private land without permission. Digging plants on public land is illegal. Purchasing propagated native plants, including ferns, protects wild populations. The easiest native fern to grow is sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilus). Lucky for us, it is also the most commonly available species. It is sensitive because the leaves die back with the first light autumn frost. It is easy to grow because it tolerates average to wet soils in part shade to shade. It can even tolerate part sun to sun if growing in permanently wet soil (like at the edge of a pond or lake). It works well in shady rain gardens and swampy woodlands. It colonizes into a dense groundcover in part shade, but is more open in denser shade. It performs well with other shade-loving species like wild geranium (Geranium maculatum), Virginia knotweed (Polygonum virginianum), and Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum). Another easy-to-grow species is ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris). This one prefers greater moisture, so water in summer when it’s dry. This species also spreads by underground runners to form small colonies. The fiddleheads (coiled leaves that emerge in early spring), picked in early April when they are 1-2 inches tall are edible. Steam or sauté them in butter and add to a cream sauce and your favorite pasta. Cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) is the other commonly eaten fern, though it prefers swampy wooded areas. My favorite ornamental fern is narrow-leaved spleenwort

(Athyrium pycnocarpon). This one is a clump-forming fern that grows 2 to 3 feet tall and has clean foliage all summer. It prefers shade or part shade (with little or no direct sun) and moist soil. It tolerates summer drought better than most ferns, but I water during dry periods to keep it looking good. This one combines well with little-flower alumroot (Heuchera parviflora) and golden groundsel (Packera aurea). Maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) has delicate, fine textured fronds. In nature it grows on north-facing slopes, and prefers good drainage, plenty of shade, and regular moisture. Maidenhair mixes well with spring ephemerals (plants that flower in spring Maidenhair and go dormant by early summer) like celandine poppy fern (Stylophorum diphyllum), Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium reptans) and Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica). One of the most drought-tolerant species is Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides). Christmas fern is semi-evergreen, staying green through most of winter. By late winter the leaves turn brown, just before new spring growth emerges. In nature it grows on steep dry banks along creeks where leaf litter blows away, and will tolerate growing in well drained garden soil. In gardens,

Horticulturist Scott Woodbury is the Curator of the Whitmire Wildflower Garden at Shaw Nature Reserve in Gray Summit, MO, where he has worked with native plant propagation, design, and education for 30 years. He is also an advisor to the Missouri Prairie Foundation’s GrowNative! program. remove tree leaf litter from Christmas ferns during winter months to prevent smothering. Broad beach fern (Thelypteris hexagonoptera) is a slow colonizer that prefers wooded slopes where soils are sandy, acidic, and dry. Get a soil test to determine your pH. Acid soils (an indicator of sandy or cherty soils) are in the range of 4 to 6, whereas soils above 7 are alkaline (indicating limestone soils). If you have an acidic woodland, you will be able to grow lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium vacillans), mountain azalea (Rhododendron roseum), dittany (Cunila origanoides), and cream wild indigo (Baptisia bracteata) to name a few. Nothing beats the shade in summer, and a patch of ancient ferns. They add graceful beauty and a sense of wonder because they appeared on earth three hundred million years ago, well before the flowering plants (around half as old). Most ferns need regular watering in summer, but in general, shade gardens are easier to maintain than sunny ones. Ferns don’t spread from seed, unlike flowering plants, because ferns produce spores that rarely germinate or spread in gardens. If they do germinate, consider yourself lucky to have the perfect place for native ferns. Wishing you many fancy fronds and fiddleheads! For a list of other Grow Native retailers who may carry native ferns, please visit grownative.org/resource-guide/plants/