ROCK GARDENS

Hardy Ferns for Rock Gardens 4

It is deciduous, but owing to its habit of keeping its fronds very late in the autumn and shooting out very early in the spring, it is very nearly as useful as some of the evergreens. It will grow practically everywhere, shade suiting it, perhaps, better than full sunlight, but it is quite happy in partial sun. When planting these ferns they should be put in deeply, the crown being only just above the surface of the ground. N. pseudo-mas is an evergreen, with a few pretty crested forms. Pteridium aquilinum is the common Bracken, too well known to need description. It likes a peaty, sandy soil, and is best raised from seed, or more correctly "spores," for the old roots, or rhizomes, are apt to do badly when replanted. The Bladder Fern (Cystopteris bulbifera) is a pretty deciduous fern, doing well in many places where most plants would fail, though it is not good for culture in pots. Among the hardy ferns introduced from North America the best for garden culture is, perhaps, Ad/ant= pedatum. This is a deciduous fern, and makes fine big clumps, if well grown. When the clump is in good condition and strong when planted, fronds as much as two feet high are often produced in the first season, increasing in size as the plant becomes established. It resembles NephrodiumFilix-mas in keeping its fronds very late and renewing them very early. Polystichum acrostichoides and P. agrandiceps are both good imported rockery ferns, and there are many others which do well. Most of these ferns like protection from the early morning sun, and should be looked to and perhaps protected during the late spring frosts. All hardy ferns do best in a situation in which they get the direct sunlight, if at all, only in the late afternoon.

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