While mooching around the garden centre this morning, as mentioned in my previous post where I said I had bought
Ipomoea Sweet Caroline Green, I noticed that they had a clearance section with things going at half price. I don't know about you but I often find that the things that garden centres are selling off as clearance are either diseased, out of shape and beyond rescuing, or have given up the ghost altogether. But I found a little treasure today: Cyrtomium fortunei. Now, I don't think I've mentioned before but I love ferns, it's the memories of happy times that they conjure up, they stimulate the senses. I remember them as swaying green borders on shady paths in shady areas of parks where the fragrance of the damp ground rises up and you can smell the earth. When I see a glorious fern, this is what I think of. Of course, some ferns can turn into absolute monsters reaching many feet high but any I choose has to keep within the limited confines of the space I can spare it in my small garden. I already have
Dryopteris filix-mas 'Euxinensis' and I have to tell you it is looking mighty fine in a plastic pot inside a terracotta pot right next to my wooden gate. It has a sheltered spot and the leaves are thrusting up out of the pot now that the warm weather is here and are a dazzling green in the sunlight. I keep it in a partial shade situation. Cyrtomium Fortunei is the same: it likes partial shade with shelter from strong winds, in a fertile, moisture-retentive soil. It can be grown in a shady border or in a well-watered tub in the shade. It grows to 60cm x 60cm (24in x 24in). It has brilliant green leaves (especially when the leaves are young in spring) with striking leaf shape. It's also known as the Japanese Holly Fern.
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| Cyrtomium Fortunei |
It is said to be a hardy perennial so I am looking forward to seeing it for many years to come.
