At least I think that's what it is. In June last year I went to the Eden project. In the Temperate Biome, on the left as you go in, was a very big fern with lots of babies growing all along the tops of the leaves. One of these babies accidentally fell into my pocket. I know, naughty girl, don't worry I slapped my own wrist. As I was potting it up I noticed on the undersides of one of the tiny leaves some spores, so I pressed this onto the soil. Lo and behold, lots more babies grew, I have just potted them on too. The one in the Eden Project was very big so i'm looing forward to 3ft leaves! :eek:
It looks like a healthy little specimen B, it should produce some bulbils on the top of the leaves at any time. I have grown these delightful plants for many years as they were always useful in floral displays and had many in our palm house(at work) and caught the eye of the public. I wonder how many of our plantlets and leaves went missing then and ended up in people's houses? :D
It's a clever little fern don't you think, reproducing with both spores and bulbils. I would never taken one of yours of course.
This is one of my favourite ferns: easily grown, readily propagated and when large, extremely impressive. It can tolerate light, occasional frosts without damage and is a good garden plant in sheltered spots in southern counties. Snails and slugs are partial to emerging fronds so you have to watch out for them. I have a couple planted around the base of a tree fern and where one of the older fronds has remained in contact with the trunk, a couple of plantlets have rooted into it. Spore-bearing fronds have much narrower leaflets and tend to be produced after the sterile fronds have developed. Both types can produce plantlets, but more seem to develop on the broader leaved, sterile fronds.
Interesting DaveP, I did not realise that it could survive outdoors. Maybe I will try one when it is more mature. I know it comes from New Zealand in damp forests so imagine it would probably need the same here. Would it remain evergreen or die down in winter?
It remains evergreen here and should be with you if it is grown in light shade. Trevenna Cross has listed this together with a hybrid as a garden plant for some years. They rate it to be hardy down to minus 8C. but if there's a risk of temperatures approaching that, I would provide a very thick mulch. As mentioned before, slugs and snails are very partial to the young unfurling fronds so you need to provide some barrier in spring.
Thanks for your advice and info DaveP. Slugs are a problem here but I don't use pellets, so I will have to devise a cunning way of protecting it.
