Mail Order Catalogue 2008

Ferns and Grasses

FERNS.
At last these wonderful foliage plants are getting the recognition they deserve.  Even the most "common" varieties can add great diversity to a garden and the delicacy of leaf form is unequalled for grace and beauty.  Most prefer shade and moisture retentive soil, but nevertheless will tolerate a wide range of habitat.  For instance, for bog or water side choose Matteucia, Onoclea, or Osmunda;  for drier soils Dryopteris, Polypodium and Polystichum. The ones listed below always create great interest and comment in the garden. All are best grown using plenty of leaf mould.

ASPLENIUM.
   -   scolopendrium.  ( The Hart's Tongue) Very easy on either limestone or in acid conditions. 2 ft. D
   -   -   - 'Golden Queen'.  Frond ruffled and golden yellow in colour.  1 ft.  M
   -   -    'Ramocristatum'.  The frond is both branched and crested.  1 ft. H

ATHYRIUM. (Lady Ferns)
   -   -   'Fieldii'.  Strong narrow cruciate fronds. 3 ft. H
   -   -   ' Frizelliae Capitatum'.  The pinnae on the frond are reduced to little bead like knobs, whilst the end of the frond itself is decorated by a large crest.  1 ½ ft.    L
   -   nipponicum  var. pictum.  (Japanese Painted fern) Fronds are coloured all shades of smokey lilac, fading to silver, with deep purple ribs. A most strikingly beautiful and easy plant. 1 ½ft  F

BLECHNUM.
   -   chilense.  Dark green, leathery, arching fronds form an imposing plant of great decorative value.
Evergreen and spreading.  3 ft. H
   -   penna-marina.  Delightful, densely creeping bronze green fern with many garden uses.  8 ins.   E

MATTEUCIA.
   -   struthiopteris.  (Ostrich Feather Fern)  The imposing and symetrical shuttlecock fern is a plant of great presence and grows to over four feet tall in ideal conditions. It spreads by runners and is very easy to grow in damp half shaded positions.  E

ONOCLEA.
   -   sensibilis.  (Sensitive Fern) Despite this name it is perfectly hardy. The fronds carry quite broad pinnae and it's spreading habit make it a wonderful waterside plant where it relishes the damp conditions. 2 ft.  E
   -   -   'Copper' .  In this delightful form the emerging fronds are a deep red copper colour which persists on the fronds throughout most of the season. As easy to grow as the foregoing it is presently rather rare. 2 ft.  G

OSMUNDA.
   -   regalis.  (The Royal Fern)  Making a very striking specimen in time this wet loving fern is justly famous. It can reach up to six feet in height but rarely achieves four foot in gardens. Standing in shallow water the lacy fronds make a beautiful plant.  F
   -   -   'Purpurascens'.  This much smaller growing form is characterised by attractive purple stems.  3 ft.  F
   -   -   'Cristata'.  Smaller in stature, the ends of the pinnae being crested in a lobular way. 2 ½ ft.  I

POLYPODIUM.
   -   vulgare  'Bifidomultifidum'.  A variably crested and divided form of the Common Polypody,  useful for it's ability to sustain itself well in much drier conditions than one might think. Creeping. 1ft.  E

POLYSTICHUM.
- setiferum (Soft Shield Fern) A plant of damp woodlands. We only sell the varieties below.
- -   Divisilobum Group. As in all of this species the foliage is usefully retained well through the winter into the New Year. In this form the pinnae are very finely cut giving an exceptionally lacy appearance.  1 ft.  E
- -   Plumosum Group. The fronds have an almost mossy texture which gives a rich velvet effect. One of the elite! 1 ft.  E
- -   Cristatum Group. As the plant matures more and more fronds develop divided ends.  E


GRASSES
It is very pleasing to see that grasses are now being used more and more widely in gardens, as their varied shapes and colours, and all year interest, are quite unsurpassed. Certainly their place in "water-scapes" is unrivalled. It is true that some of the more rampageous ones are only suitable for large plantings, but many are very well behaved and have the great advantage of needing little or no maintenance when once established. As specimen plants they are superb, and by water their reflections are quite beautiful. All are easy to grow.

CAREX. (Sedges) A most useful group of decorative grasses that will grow in almost any situation that doesn't dry out.  Their attractive unusual colours and shapes are a lovely foil to other plants, and in Winter when covered in frost or snow they provide interest to otherwise drab areas. See also Water Plants and Marginals section
-   buchananii.  Foxy red fine narrow leaves curl gracefully outwards. Upright and very erect habit. Clump forming, it looks superb when planted with Elymus magellanica (q.v.).  2 ½ ft.  E
-   dipsacea.  A real beauty, with deep olive green leaves and wonderfully eye-catching black flower heads. Forms a low and graceful clump.  1 ½ ft.  E
-   flagellifera.  Often wrongly sold as 'Coman's Bronze' this has slighly broader leaves and a more chestnut bronze tint.  It grows in a mound like a "Dougal Dog".  2 ft. D
-   grayi.  Evergreen, with amazing mace like flower clusters nearly three inches across. Good for cutting. This will take half shade and likes a damp position.  E
-   pendula.  A woodland plant, that revels in dampish shade. Tall arching and broad green leaves set off the pendulous  flower heads that hang down like catkins and are splendid for flower arranging.  3 ft. E
-   siderostica variegata.  Very showy green and white striped leaves often an inch wide, sometimes pink flushed at the base.  Slowly spreading and an excellent ground cover.  10 ins.  E

ELYMUS.
    -   magellanicus.  This grass always causes astonishment, as it is a pure silver blue colour with a metallic sheen that glistens in the sun.  Flattish slightly spikey leaves. A glorious contrast to purple or bronze plants, or chestnut grasses. Seems happy in ordinary soil that doesn't dry out. 1 ½ ft.  E