Week of October 20

The Florida garden has lots of shaded space under Camellia bushes, live oaks, flowering bushes, etc.  The usual solution is to add more mulch, but a much more beautiful solution is to fill these spaces with FERNS.  These lovely non-flowering plants add a carpet of green, with interesting structures of their leaves.  Nothing seems to eat them.  The most common fern in our garden is the Autumn Fern, with bronze-colored fiddleheads and leaves in the fall.  I planted many amongst the Camellias and other shady areas.  The Holly fern is the next most common fern.  It has glossy leaves and can take deep shade.    The other ferns include the fishtail fern, and the fluffy ruffle fern.  An odd member of the group is the birds-nest fern, with paddle-like blades for leaves.  They thin out during cold months but return in the spring.  Ferns provide ground cover and color all year and often don’t get the recognition they deserve.