Athyrium - Lady Fern, Painted Fern

(Athy'rium)

DESCRIPTION: This is a large group of hardy ferns. They are found throughout the temperate and tropical regions. A. Filix-femina, the Lady Fern, grows wild throughout Europe, Asia and North America. It has rich green fronds, from 1 to 3 feet in length. A. niponicum, the Painted Fern, has deciduous, oval leaves that are divided into many segments. The fronds are grayish-green, tinted with purple, with dark purple stalks and midribs.

POTTING: These Ferns need moist, neutral to acid soil. A mixture of equal parts of loam and leaf mold is suitable. Athyriums grown in a greenhouse or home should be planted in peat and loam with a bit of sand.

PROPAGATION: Athyriums may be divided in the spring or spores may be sown in the summer. The spores must be fully ripe; to test them for ripeness, a frond is gathered when the spores are brown and placed in a paper bag. This is hung in a position with good ventilation for a few days. The spores that are found at the bottom of the bag are ripe enough to plant. A deep pan or pot is almost filled up with crocks over which a layer of rough peat or moss is placed. The rest of the space is filled with peat moss and finely chopped sphagnum moss. The spores are sprinkled on top of the soil and are kept moist by setting the pot in a saucer of water. Growth is very slow, but when they're large enough to handle, they can be pricked out in little clusters and planted an inch apart in a deep seed pan filled with finely sifted compost. Moisten the soil and lay a pane of glass over them for a few days so they can become established. When they're large enough to be potted separately, do so in 2-inch pots and later on to larger pots.

VARIETIES: Hardy kinds - A. Filix-femina (Lady Fern); A. Goeringianum pictum; A. alpestre; A. crenatum; A. macrocarpum; A. niponicum; A. spinulosum; A. umbrosum.

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