The fern garden : how to make, keep, and enjoy it ; or, Fern culture made easy . for in truth no beginner should betroubled on that score. I will suppose you have a largeplant of the common Male fern [Lastrea filix mas) or ofthe common Hartstongue [Scolopendy^ium vulgare), andyou wish to make more of it at once. The best time tooperate is when the fronds are just rising in the spring,but it may be done at any time if proper care be take the plant out of its pot, or lift it out of theground by means of a fork or trowel, and lay it on aboard or table. Probably at a glance you will disco
The fern garden : how to make, keep, and enjoy it ; or, Fern culture made easy . for in truth no beginner should betroubled on that score. I will suppose you have a largeplant of the common Male fern [Lastrea filix mas) or ofthe common Hartstongue [Scolopendy^ium vulgare), andyou wish to make more of it at once. The best time tooperate is when the fronds are just rising in the spring,but it may be done at any time if proper care be take the plant out of its pot, or lift it out of theground by means of a fork or trowel, and lay it on aboard or table. Probably at a glance you will discoverthat a number of distinct crowns, each with a tuft ofroots attached, may be easily removed from the outsideby the use of a strong sharp knife. Separate suchoffsets, carefully disentangle their roots from the mass,and at once pot them in very small pots in the sort ofmixture already advised for use in growing pot ferns inChapter VI. Prepare the pots by putting in themplenty of small crocks for drainage, over them a thinwisp of dry moss, or a bit of fibre torn from the ?^ The Art of Multiplying Ferns. 65 then put the little plant in its place and fill in roundthe roots and press moderately firm. If this is done inspring before the fronds have unrolled, you may becontent to give a little water and put them in a frameand keep shut rather close until they begin to grow,giving very little water until they have made someprogress. If you have no frame, the pots may beplaced in any sheltered shady corner on a bed of coalashes, and will almost take care of themselves. But theold plant remains, not much diminished in size by theremoval of the offsets. Lay it on its side and care-fully pass the knife through the centre of it, and as itseparates into two portions, you will probably see howto divide it yet further without using the knife again,securing to each piece a centre or crown^ and a tuft ofroots. Treat these in the same manner as the offsets ;or, if you have not rashly torn
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectferns, bookyear1894
