Evening star., 1940-03-23
Fern Border
for
Shady Spot
April Good Time to
Bring Plants From
Their Woodlands
BY EDITH M. HUSSEY.

II you have q northern exposure
or space by your house that is
too shaded for the growing of flow
ers for cutting, don't despair-plant
fern border!
Fern fronds, especially of the
maidenhair fern, are lovely either
with flowers or alone in q slender
glass vase; the cool greenness of their
graceful sprays is often more pleas
ing than the gayest of flowers.
Ferns are not only beautiful but
are easily grown; they need very
little care and are always sure to
uncurl from their downy spirals in
the spring and delight you all
through the summer. All they ask
is to be let alone and to be given
little moisture.
In April you will find making a
fernery real pleasure; almost the
best part lies in the trips to the
woods to look for material. Take
with you some bags and baskets. a
trowel and small shovel. Tramp
along stream, and there you will
likely find its banks mossy, but
unless your eyes are sharp you will
not see the ferns, for in early April
their fuzzy heads are still curled
down in the messy bed.
The maidenhair fern is easily
taken out with trowel and fingers
under its roots. Be sure to take as
much Of the soil as you can with
the fern and shovel up as much of
the leaf mold as your containers
will hold, for your ferns must have
their own woodsy loan. The taller
ferns and the evergreen ones are
not SO hard to find, yet they, too,
are still wound up like snails.
You will find on the uplands and
In the open spaces the lovely starry
whiteness of the bloodroot and the
dainty hanging hearts of the flower
whose name, although descriptive, is
not beautiful. the lovely Dutch
mans breeches," with its lacy leaves,
rake up as many of these as you
can, as both of these flowers trans
plant well and are just right for
the front row of your fern border.
They will disappear soon after
blooming, but next April they will
be In the front row ready to cheer.
AS you walk along the woodland
path or down the slope to the brook
look out for some patches of moss.
Take some of this to cover the earth
around the roots of the bloodroot
and "Dutchman's breeches."
1t usually is better to make two or
more trips to the woods. First get
the leaf mold and have the bed
ready, so the ferns and flowers can
be transplanted Immediately. While
getting the loan you can search for
the sleeping places of the ferns.
Perhaps you already know, per-
haps you will have to find out, as I
did, the way to keep the cut fronds
of the fern from whitening. I cut
the fronds and placed them around
the centerpiece of the table. Before
dinner was over they had curled
and withered; even those I had put
in water did not keep well. The
next time cut the ferns the eve
ming before they were to be used
and laid them fiat in pan of water.
Next day I shook them free of
moisture, placed them on the white
damask, the stems of the maiden
hair fronds under the table mirror,
on which was a clear glass bowl of
double white petunias and sweet
alyssum.
At each place was a single frond
under the white flower nut CUP and
place card. There were fern fronds
under the groups of white candles
at either end of the table, 50 cool
looking for a summers night!
These ferns out of water kept
beautifully and stayed crisp and
green for hours.