Mario Bautista
ASHLAND — I got a question from a piano player friend years ago. He asked me about native Ohio Ferns and what could he do about his shady garden?
Shade gardening is a real challenge on a normal basis to get anything exciting to grow and keep going. All my friend wanted was to find out about the native Ohio ferns.
More than 10 years ago I planted a fern garden in my yard and most of them seem to do very well — toughness from my experience defines their nature. As designers, their variety makes them an exciting addition to any landscape.
If you have shade in your yard, it is a natural habitat for most ferns.
Ferns soften the look of your garden with rocky ledges. If you want to color your shade garden, placing ferns in front of the flowers will cause the colors to pop.
Ferns are members of the Polypodiopsida family and are vascular plants that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. Our ferns have a vascular system which is very different from moss and fungus.
There are 10,560 known different species of ferns. Leaves develop from a crown growing into a fiddlehead first.
Surprisingly spring is the only time of the year you can eat any part of the fern which is the fiddle head. These ferns first appeared in the fossil record during the Silurian period, 423.2 million years ago.
This is a quick list of some of the Ohio Native Ferns. Most of these ferns I mention I have had success growing, including:
Maidenhair Fern, Lady Fern, Hay-Scented Fern, Giant Wood Fern, Evergreen Fern, Ostrich Fern, Sensitive Fern, Royal Fern, Cinnamon Fern, Christmas Fern, Bulbet bladder fern, Crest Shield Fern, and Marginal Shield Fern are all native to Ohio.
I would give you the scientific names if I had more space.
Ferns as you may guess want to grow in as rich a soil as possible to get started. Some of these ferns need swampy areas, while others are strictly woodland-type plants.
My Cinnamon, Ostrich, and Christmas ferns can take over and fill in an area very well. Therefore, I would consider these two plants more of a ground cover because of their aggressiveness.
The Lady Fern I have is more subdued than the big boys because she is more of a cross between two other ferns. What I like about this little fern is the color, which has purple, gray, and green colors on the fronds.
Most of my ferns have done very well in my garden except the Maidenhair fern. I planted this Maidenhair fern in dry shade, which is a bad location for the plant, which needs a swampy moist area to survive.
Another of my favorite ferns is the Hay-Scented Fern. Most ferns you encounter do not have any scent at all. The Hay-Scented rubbing leaves in your hands will cause your hands to smell just like freshly mown hay.
I recommend Hay-Scented Fern as an excellent reason to grow.
I caution against harvesting ferns in a park or the country which may be breaking the law. Another caution is that you may bring home some disease in the backyard you never wanted.
I hope you have a nice stroll through your gardens this week and enjoy the flowers and the non-flowers. There is a reason for all the plants to be there.
I’m afraid that summer may be almost over. Time sure does fly.
If you have any questions email me at ericlarson546@yahoo.com , and I shall help where I can. Thank you all for your questions.
Soon I shall post my columns to my website www.ohiohealthyfoodcooperative.org.
