Maidenhair Fern.....

 "It is morning, and in the morning when the light drips through the shutters like the dew, I arise, I face the sunrise...." ( all quotes from From "Morning Song" by Conrad Aiken 1889-1973. Amercian
Pulitzer Prize winning author)

 The Maidenhair fern sprawling awake is one of my favourite  early spring things. 

 I have only one maidenhair fern, (Western Five Fingered) and I plopped it with all the other ferns  up on the hill, a few years ago.And promptly forgot about it.It was buried  with all the rest. Turned my back on it and plundered on with other  less delicate green things. Sad state of affairs.


 And still it thrived. Along with the Cranesbill, that  seem to  propagate profusely at will, like little bunny rabbits.  And that's a good thing. At first I thought THEY were weeds. Poor Cranesbill. Now I know better. Like with the Maidenhair fern.

 The Maidenhair fern(Adiantum aleuticum) is so light and feathery;  poofs up over the summer. I ended up moving it into its own container, so I wouldn't lose it, or step on it, or chop it down. By the time I found it under all the ground covers, it had dwindled .

 In its own pot it  comes back every year. Again and again. Even though one year I tipped the pot over and it lay upside down for sixth months , in the dirt. It's  fronds are something of a marvel,  since rain will shed leaving the leaves dry. It also produces some sort of  lovely scented oil that is used in shampoos. Some believe that it will help baldness or dandruff sufferers. It was often made into  soap to be  scrubbed into the scalp.Would cure any scalp sores. Well well.....awesome little plant.

 "Vine leaves tap my window, Dew drops sing to the garden stones, the robin chirps in the chinaberry tree repeating three clear tones."

 
 The fronds are supported on long dark "sticks" which at one time Native people used to weave into baskets. Fronds  were also used to stop bleeding  wounds.

 They can grow in the garden alongside sweetpeas. Neither of which are very demanding.  Just don't step on them. They don't like that.  If the fern gets too much water it will lead to root rot. It doesn't like that either.

 If you do let it get too dry, or stomp on it, or cut it back, or tip it over, over water or underwater, you can make a quick save by giving it a good soaking in water. Then leave it alone and it will forgive. And grow.


 If you put it into a pot, don't  repot it into a larger one. It doesn't like that. Likes small pots in which to  feel comfortable. Not great grown indoors.  I keep mine outside in its pot,  under the rhododendrons.That way I won't step on it, or squash it, or destroy it in any way.

 Tolerates CATS eating its leaves, or being smothered by snow and ice. Very forgiving fern.

 Grows well beside HOSTA.....in the dapple corners of the garden. Will be happy all summer.

LEAVES are used to make teas, which are said to treat a number of ailments like colds, kidney stones, swishing out  the liver, any number of lung ailments, jaundice, bladder gravel  and a some say a great diuretic. But don't go stripping your fern of leaves.  There are a number of websites where you can order  Maidenhair tea leaf concoctions.

 "There are horses neighing on far-off hills tossing their long white manes, and mountains flash in the the rose-white dusk, their shoulders black with rains."

 "Vine leaves tap at the window dew drops sing to the garden stones, the robin chirps in the chinaberry tree repeating three clear tones...................................." 

Photos: Michelle McConachie Woods ( idylldirt.blogspot.com)
QUOTES from "Treasury of Great Poems" 1942 publication