Naturally Natives Fancy Fronds and Fiddleheads text and photos by Scott Woodbury
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f there is one group of plants that is hard to come by, and therefore underutilized by gardeners, it is native ferns. Although many ferns are easy to grow at home in shade, they are difficult to propagate commercially. Spore production is tricky and root division is a slow process. That makes production expensive.
emerge). At times, they divided in April, while the tightly curled fronds (fiddleheads) were under 3-4 inches tall (short stem length prevents frond damage). Lastly, they planted small plants back into the original beds, and fertilized heavily with bone meal to stimulate regrowth. By the next spring, plants were big enough to divide again. They sold out of ferns at every plant sale, before Tom got sick and passed away five years ago. Unfortunately, the nursery is no longer operating, and nobody has since filled their shoes. From my experience selling ferns at our spring and fall wildflower markets, there is a native fern market ready to take off.
That said, Pan’s Garden (owned Angel Kruzen and her husband, the late Tom Kruzen of Mountain View, MO) used to supply the St. Louis area with a short list of ferns. For over 30 years, they produced broad beach, sensitive, Ostrich fern lady, Christmas, purple cliffbrake, common woodsia, narrow-leaved spleenwort, and fiddlehead maidenhair ferns in large outdoor beds at their If you are looking for native ferns to purchase, inquire with Grow Native! nursery near the Jacks Fork River. They divided and potted plants in February and March (before fiddleheads professional members, who may carry some stock. See www. grownative.org, Resource Guide. Cathy Pauley, owner of Grow Native! Professional member Papillion Perennials in St. Louis (https://www.papillonperennials.com), is propagating at least 10 species of ferns native to the lower Midwest. As with all native plants, digging ferns from the wild depletes their populations, and is prohibited on private land without permission. Digging plants on public land is illegal. Purchasing propagated native plants, including ferns, protects wild populations.
The easiest native fern to grow is sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilus). Lucky for us, it is also the most commonly available species. It is sensitive because the leaves die back with the first light autumn frost. It is easy to grow because it tolerates average to wet soils in part shade to shade. It can even tolerate part sun to sun if growing in permanently wet soil (like at the edge of a pond or lake). It works well in shady rain gardens and swampy woodlands. It colonizes into a dense groundcover in part shade, but is more open in denser shade. It performs well with other shade-loving species like wild geranium (Geranium maculatum), Virginia knotweed (Polygonum virginianum), and Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum). Another easy-to-grow species is ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris). This one prefers greater moisture, so water in summer when it’s dry. This species also spreads by underground runners to form small colonies. The fiddleheads (coiled leaves that emerge in early spring), picked in early April when they are 1-2 inches tall are edible. Steam or sauté them in butter and add to a cream sauce and your favorite pasta. Cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) is the other commonly eaten fern, though it prefers swampy wooded areas. My favorite ornamental fern is narrow-leaved spleenwort 12
The Gateway Gardener™ OCTOBER 2021
