As autumn draws on and the ferns on my allotment start to fade and fall over, I noticed the trunk on my Dryopteris x picoensis. It is now 12 inches and looks like a small tree fern. I was given this plant by Wilfried Bennert many years ago, maybe 20 years. It produces small plants on the trunk, every now and then and I now have over 10 plants in Portsmouth and in my garden in Waterlooville. The plants on the allotment seemed not to be affected by the hot and dry summer but several of the plants in Waterlooville lost all their fronds. They have recovered somewhat since the weather has returned to the more normal British rainfall

Hi everyone,
I’ve been lovingly nurturing many staghorn ferns – mainly Platycerium bifurcatums, and a few P. superbums.
I am now selling them or donating them to a good cause.
At the moment, I can’t send by mail order. I am based in Watford, Herts. As for prices, I am open to offers.
Here’s a link to photos – https://photos.app.goo.gl/pheJC5d74q1eUHAK8
You can email me for further information.

Thank you,

Karsten

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Name Rich Address 6701 colonial rd 4f Brooklyn, NY 11229 US Email richfromsalvage@gmail.com Comments I found a hand drawn picture from your society in my building. It is from 1927 and I can send you pictures of it My enquiry is about none of the above

The British Pteridological Society – October 13, 2018

He sent us this picture (if you mouse over it you can see it in more detail)

I asked our Archivist for his opinion and this is what he said:

There is no mention of this field trip in either the British Fern Gazette or the Society minutes and I am sure that it was an ‘unofficial’ trip by 2 or more members. In 1924 the BPS was very strict in confining the Society to the study of British ferns, even though members might have grown some foreign ferns in their greenhouses. It was not until the early 1930s that the first discussion of a foreign fern (Adiantum venustum) appeared in the Gazette. I do not have access to the American fern journals of 1924-5 – there could be mention of a visit in one of them.

I cannot identify the handwriting on the herbarium sheet. I would suspect W B Cranfield as a strong possibility – but all of his correspondence that we have inn the archive is typewritten. The pre-printed herbarium label might be a clue and I wonder if Julian has seen any labels of this type in the BPS herbarium collection at Wisley.

I have come across a reference to the BPS American expedition before. I think that it was this sheet or other herbarium sheets being offered for sale by an American bookseller, auction house or eBay.

Michael Hayward
6 Far Moss Road
Liverpool L23 8TQ

Julian Reed replied:

It is not Cranfield’s writing. I have seen a lot of it in the herbarium and he had his own labels.
Hope this helps
Take care Julian

It is possible to look at the old copies of the Americam Ferrn Journal and the Fern Gazette on the Biodiversity Heritage Library. I have done this and can find no reference to this trip in June 1924.
So what we can say is this is a professional looking Herbarium sheet, probably not created officially by the BPS but perhaps by a member of the BPS on holiday in America.
The fern in question is Onoclea sensibilis, the Sensitive Fern, so called because it is strongly deciduous and is the first fern to collapse as winter approaches. It is a native of the USA and widely grown in the UK

The weather has been very hot and dry in Hampshire and many of my ferns have suffered
One plant that seems to have loved the weather is Lygodium japonicum
I have had this plant for about 5 years and previously it has struggled to grow about a foot tall
This year it took off and grew over 7 foot tall
It seems to be a bit dimorphic. The early fronds are not fertile but the later fronds are nearly all fertile

with thanks to Alan Godfrey

These stamps are for sale on ebay

The variety is a crossing between a Phlebodium and a Pyrrosia fern and completely new to the market

xPhlebosia ‘Nicolas Diamond’ is the name of the new fern. The leaves are green and slightly curled at the ends. By having Pyrrosia as one of the parents, the plant is more cold and drought-tolerant. By having Phlebodium as a parent, the plant grows faster. The ‘Nicolas Diamond’ is grown for pot sizes from 12 cm

The Dutch nursery sells 26 million ferns a year and exports to 48 countries

Original post by www.hortweek.com

This house is owned by Lo Declercq and her husband Nick Bryant
Lo is the gardener and BPS members are welcome to view by appointment
The house was built as a gate-house in 1835 by the developer Thomas Cubitt, who developed Clapham Park as well as large parts of Belgravia and Queen Victoria’s Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. He was also responsible for the enlargement of Buckingham Palace
The Fernery was added in the 1880’s by an Austrian botanist and fern enthusiast, and was enclosed in a greenhouse
Through the arch is an outdoor fernery.
As you can see by the pictures there are still planting pockets in the wall and it is a listed site
There are a number of Dryopteris filix-mas and an unusual form, also a Polypodium vulgare has appeared in the rocks on the outdoor fernery
When the new houses were built it appears the greenhouse may have been removed

This is the first time in ages that Fernatix have shown at Chelsea but they are regulars at Malvern, Hampton Court and Birmingham shows
They grow a lot of plants themselves and some of the plumosum Athyrium are worthy of a class of their own, perhaps “Plumosum Fernatix group”?
The guys deserve this gold, the stand is beautifully put together and different angles give you yet another vista framing different plants and the water feature in the middle adds yet another dimension
Well worth seeing if you get a chance