4 minute read
Fern fever: The Victorian love affair that paved the way for gender equality
WORDS BY NORA MARIE VATLAND
How a largely forgotten fern craze and the study of horticulture became a push for women’s freedom and empowerment throughout the Victorian era.
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Have you ever wondered how houseplants grew their way into our social media feed and inspired hashtags such as #plantparenthood #succulentsunday, #plantsoninstragram and #monsteramonday? With the current houseplant trend in mind, it is inevitable ask questions like ‘how do plant trends come to be?’ and ‘how have previous plant obsessions paved the way for modern-day horticulture?’
In our technology driven world, it may come as a surprise that our plant obsession did not begin on social media. We need to go back in time. To 1860s Britain to be exact. This period is commonly known as a time where great comfort and wealth stood in stark contrast to squalor and poverty. It was an era where a woman’s place was in the home, looking after the children and maintaining her beauty. This not only kept her out of the public sphere but also limited her daily activities. What you may not yet be aware of is the Victorians’ baffling obsession with ferns.
Starting in around 1830 and peaking in the 1860s, the craze, coined by novelist Charles Kingsley as ‘Pteridomania’ or ‘fern fever’, quickly made its way into Victorians’ everyday life. They immortalised their obsession by producing pottery, glass, textiles and gravestones with fern designs in many variations. Picnics, weekend trips and daily walks were planned around fern hunting which became increasingly popular and accessible due to railroads being built. Late naturalist and gardener Peter D.A Boyd wrote in his 1993 Pteridomania - the Victorian passion for ferns that Britain had since the late 1930s been “attracting increasing numbers of amateur and professional botanists.” In other words, while the traditional way of life continued seemingly unchallenged, an organic revolution emerged and spread its roots throughout Victorian society.
The fern fever is a vital part of botanical history as it impacted society as a whole, reaching beyond the formerly excluding botanic community. Boyd wrote that “Even the farm labourer or miner could have a collection of British ferns which he had collected in the wild and a common interest sometimes brought people of very different social backgrounds together.” When learning about the social and political significance of this movement it is clear that it transcends its decorative nature. Up until this point, gardening was a male-dominated activity and women were often not allowed to garden at all. Suddenly, the hobby was predominantly enjoyed by young women and teenage girls, making the movement hold a pre-feminist spirit. In other words, this new fascination gave them access to nature and the freedom to pursue a vastly different pastime. Women were permitted to do so unaccompanied by a male escort and would, according to The Gardeners’ chronicle, wear a ‘kilted dress’. This indicates that new clothes were made specifically to improve and ease movement.
In 1855, Kingsley encouraged the study of plant history in his book Glaucus while reflecting on young girls’ curiosity for fern collecting. “Your daughters, perhaps, have been seized with the prevailing ’Pteridomania’, and are collecting and buying ferns, with Ward’s cases wherein to keep them (for which you have to pay), and wrangling over unpronounceable na
mes of species (which seem different in each new Fern-book that they buy), till the Pteridomania seems to be somewhat of a bore: and yet you cannot deny that they find enjoyment in it, and are more active, more cheerful, more self-forgetful over it, than they would have been over novels and gossip, crochet and Berlin-wool.”
Despite its beauty and accessibility in British wilderness, it seems odd how ferns attracted the staggering attention. From a biological perspective, the species are able to flourish even with lack of sunlight, making it the ideal houseplant for poorly lit Victorian homes. However, after being uprooted and transported to air-polluted cities, the ferns were unable to thrive. They became dependent on what is today known as a terrarium to survive.
Furthermore, at its peak, the amount of people taking advantage of the wilderness was enormous to the extent and the government even debated imposing regulations prohibiting people from uprooting certain species to avoid extinction.
The Victorian fern fever, like any other craze, was not everlasting. Despite eventually being replaced with an orchids obsession, the impact remains an important, though often forgotten, piece of history. Throughout its 50 year-peak it boosted female freedom and empowerment. And there is no doubt that plant mums today are still chasing the same thrill and excitement when ordering their new plant babies with a click of a button.
Polypodium Filix Mas by James Sowerby
