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Hi I saw these two fern type plants growing in the crack in a wall, could they
be foreign, or are they native, I have heard that in certain parts of the country
some alian plant's are growing in their own micro climate, has anyone any
idea's please.
Less we forget
Hi Skipper,
Yes both of these ferns are native ferns that you will find growing in the wild in most parts of the country.
The fern with the big smooth single leaf is a form of Hearts Tongue Fern, I'm afraid I would need to look up 'exact' details. This is a useful fern and great at naturalising in a damp shady spot in my experience. They look particularly good by waterfalls next to garden ponds or between stones/rocks or in walls. HTF are common and can be purchased in most decent garden centres these days.
The other is a Maidenhair Spleenwort and is an evergreen fern so really useful for filling gaps in stone walls etc, which is where you would generally find it growing naturally anyway. Again you can buy it in nurseries but not quite as readily available as HTF. If you do a little search on ebay I noticed you can find them for sale on there!
As with all wild plants you shouldn't take them from the wild, which to be fair isn't necessary as you can buy most things these days if you look around hard enough!...
I hope this helps a little? Goggle either names now and you will probably find a mountain of further information about them I would imagine!?
Cheers
Higgy
Thanks Higgy much appreciated, will look them up, and see if I can buy some for around my pond, as I was really impressed with them.
Well done Higgy, I hadn't the faintest
Ray
a good laugh is better than a tonic
Great plants to have as self seeds!! Love ferns there are a great selection at most garden centers, I have some lovely large ones mixed in with hostas + grasses here. They would look great round a pond in a shady area.
'In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks' John Muir.
Excuse wobbily dyslexic spelling!
Whilst not trying to hijack Skipper's thread but Higgy might be able to help here too but have you noticed the height of the ferns in the UK this year, I took this pic yesterday morning and the height was between 10-12', in 73 years I cannot recall seeing them this height before, is it the wet weather that has caused this?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16304936@N06/
http://suffolk.activeboard.com/f528553/birds-of-suffolk/
B------hell there not fern's they are trifid's
I have to say that is pretty impressive!!! Having only been in our current garden a couple of seasons now mine haven't grown that big but have put on some good lush growth. We are really wet here on low lying marsh grazing land so I'm now hoping for great things in future years!! LOL
The only conclusion I can make is that they've loved the wet weather and therefore deep soil. I know that fertilizing/feeding ferns will produce a bigger plant as will not restricting it's roots so could be a mixture of these things?? have a look and see what Mr & Mrs Google say??
Another use for ferns....
Apologies for anyone who has read my blog recently but I couldn't resist putting up a picture of my new 'BOG GARDEN', which has quite a variety of ferns around and adds another use for these great plants!....
See you can even grow them in the cloakroom!!!!...
Thanks Higgy, we live in an area that has sandy/loamy soil, we noticed in June that the ferns were over 6' high, some of our woodland paths are not passable because of the height and density of the ferns, good cover for animals though
lol
Love the bog garden,brill idea