POLYPODIUM VULGARE

Every time I go to a garden centre lately, I tell myself that I have absolutely no more space in my already packed garden for another plant—then I buy one, or two.  Yesterday it was another fern.  I have a nostalgic thing going on about ferns, mentioned in a previous post.  The newcomer is only young but very beautiful; it's Polypodium vulgare. 

Polypodium vulgare

The label says (and it seems to be referring to ferns in general): "Ferns belong to the oldest plant varieties on Earth.  More than 50,000 varieties of ferns are found all over the world.  Ferns reproduce by spores.  They filter polluted air and produce pure oxygen.  The plant should not be placed in full sun but should receive much light indirectly.  Water sufficiently to keep the soil moist.  Fertilize once a month.





Growing Polypodium vulgare (Royal Horticultural Society external link)  Now the RHS seems to think that this evergreen fern will tolerate full sun, which is just what I want.  I have planted a row of ferns along a path which receives partial sun.  However, a number of the ferns require some shade.  To give them some shade during the time when the sun can reach that area, early in the morning, I have planted in the border my Dryopteris filix-mas Euchinensis which had outgrown its container but it's too large for its new position and sticks out like a sore thumb.  I want to plant something smaller in its place eventually, and I have Polypodium vulgare in mind.  The dryopteris Euchinensis is sun tolerant and there will always be a space for it in my garden, somewhere.





See my post: The fascinating sex life of ferns





More ferns (internal link)