tree fern

My husband thought he was doing me a favour yesterday when he bought me a fern from the garden centre after hearing me mention that I wanted one to plant next to some rocks by my newly fitted pond.
It's a lovely healthy plant but on closer inspection and after looking at the label it turns out it's a very young tree fern!!!! Not quite the effect I was looking for!
Luckily I have the room for it to grow to maturity, but can't say it fits in with the cottage garden theme!!
Just out of interest does anyone know how quickly they grow?

 

Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very Slowly !

A small one will give you fantastic long fronds, but will not grow much taller. About a 1cm to an inch a year maybe if you are lucky.

I have a variety of sizes the small ones are great, but they will need winter protection of the crown from the frosts.

 

Nah banana..... I think they grow even slower than that hehehe
Yours look great
Mine are just throwing up their new ferns this year

 

Hi whis4ey I love 'em, especially at this time of year, emerging :D

If the trunk is small it can be easily hidden in a border without fuss.

Similar ferns are ones like the Prince of Wales fern (centre of pic), which would not look out of place either.

 

oooo lots of 'verys' there! So by the time I pop my clogs (I'm 31 now) it should be full size? :rolleyes:

 

Hi Mel, I just turned 32 and I would like to think that by the time I am 92, my baby tree ferns will be approaching 6 feet of trunk :D

Just remember to water the top/crown regularly all year round, as more tree ferns die of drought than of rot.

 

Mine's a real baby. Has no trunk at all yet and just looks like a large fern. (It's a dicksonia antarctica) If it wasn't for the label I wouldn't have realised it was a tree fern at all!So I'll probably be long gone before it's 6 feet tall :(
Shame as I've come to rather like the thought of a monster specimin in the border now I've got used to the idea and there's no way I can afford a mature one!!

 

A four footer on the 25% off days at B&Q are about �£67. Or if your husband does something really naughty then one of these must be the order of the day. My wife must have been really naughty for the number I have. :rolleyes:

 

Yours look great. Now next time we have a row I'll have to convince him to buy me one to make it up to me...on your advice of course!

 

Mel, you should pay a visit to Heligan and see their Tree Ferns. David.

 

I have been meaning to and probably will at some point during the summer. Have plans to go to the eden project too as although I live quite close I still haven't visited yet!

 

I would love to see Heligan and Eden
Hey BM ... by the time you are 92 I will only be 125
Wonder what size my tree fern will be by then hehehehe

 

Had 21 baby tree ferns in 3in pots delivered to the nursery in feb, they had about three fronds then and have about 6 or 7 now by the time they will be of a size to plant in one of our parks gardens I will have retired, I will have to look after them for a number of years before they can be planted and if the theft of unusual plants from our parks is anything to go by they will be gone the day after!

 

Wow you can grow these in your garden? :eek:
It is one of my favorite plants and never knew they grew so very slowly

 

what a wonderful, peaceful place your fern garden looks. I would love to have one just like it but I have left it too late to start one if they take years to grow.

I'm well over 21