. The century book of gardening; a comprehensive work for every lover of the garden. Gardening. FFRNS—HARDY AND EXOTIC. 349 where we find the stateliest Lady and Male Ferns and all the smaller tribe developed to the utmost. Fifty yards away, by the wind-swept roadside, we find them all, it is true, but in what a different form—short, stunted, and w ind-worn. They are the ragged school, the tramps and vagabonds of Fern life ; but over the crest and down in the glen we have the pampered aristocracy in court array, and in growing them under artificial conditions the nearer we approach this ideal
. The century book of gardening; a comprehensive work for every lover of the garden. Gardening. FFRNS—HARDY AND EXOTIC. 349 where we find the stateliest Lady and Male Ferns and all the smaller tribe developed to the utmost. Fifty yards away, by the wind-swept roadside, we find them all, it is true, but in what a different form—short, stunted, and w ind-worn. They are the ragged school, the tramps and vagabonds of Fern life ; but over the crest and down in the glen we have the pampered aristocracy in court array, and in growing them under artificial conditions the nearer we approach this ideal the more the plants will repay us. We gather from the glen illustration, indeed, all the main needs for proper culture, viz., a loose, leafy, moist soil, cool moist air, and protection from winds and excess of sunshine. It is all in a nutshell. Hence for outdoor culture a shady position under a north wall, a good deep bank of leafy loam and some sort of wind-break' in case of need, and we have an ideal place for some of the tougher class, Hart's-tongues, Male Ferns, and other Lastreas, and some of the dense-growing and crested Lady Ferns. Osmunda regalis, the Royal Fern, wants a specially damp position, and if the Marsh Buckler Fern (L. Thelypteris) be grown, a good plan is to sink a glazed earthen. FERNS IN THE WILD GARDEN AT CAUNTON MANOR, NEWARK. pan or tub with the edge just below the surface, half fill with bricks, and complete with a peaty compost, planting the Ferns in the soil over this hidden arrangement, which, by retaining water, forms a bit of bog in which the roots will revel to the consequent benefit of the fronds. That difficult little Fern, the Parsley Fern (Allosorus crispus), takes absolute care of itself and thrives year after year if properly treated, Nature being again our teacher. We find this Fern on slaty, rubbly hillsides, rooting into shifting debris washed or rolled down from above, ever and again burying it. Profiting by the lesson, we dig out a
Size: 1892px × 1321px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectgardening, bookyear19
