Once, my sweetheart and I were coatless in the middle of Sunnyhurst Wood when a sudden downpour threatened to drench us. A young girl and boy appeared out of nowhere, shyly offering each of us the largest bracken frond they could find to pick, gesturing that that we should use them as makeshift umbrellas.
We accepted, thanked the children (who, satisfied, ran off to their parents) and carried the fronds over our heads as if they offered a magical form of protection, which they did – the kindness of young strangers.
I suppose drippier umbrellas have been used by smilier people, but we had a good try for the world record.
Good old ferns. They are so common where I live that it would not be surprising if I never saw them. (I’m using ‘saw’ in the sense of ’noticed’.)
It’s a tribute to their poise and perkiness that I so often find myself standing before a clump, entranced by its sway.
When we do pay attention, these ancient plants tap into our instinct for pattern. We can trace movement around clearly defined planes created by a central rib plus an array of secondary ones.
Some forms gently cup or ruffle. Segments ordered in descending size taper into waves and curls as if with some knowledge of physics we (make that I) lack. Each segment harmonises with its neighbours to harvest available light, whether the fern finds itself in an open field or in a shady dell.
We witness fiddleheads in the act of unfurling.
Fronds spill out and around like green fountains.
Many delicately bend at the tips.
Their shadows can be alluring too. Ferns don’t flower except in folklore where spotting one in bloom would have been like winning the national lottery today, except with a lifetime happiness guarantee.
Ferns combine well with flowering plants and garden art, providing elegant lines and filmy green screens, so I wanted to share pictures of them in garden settings. The three below were taken in private gardens in my sweetheart’s neighborhood of Fondren in Mississippi.
Breeders have selected out interesting forms where bolder colours accentuate their lines. I love the painted ferns, although it can be a struggle to pick out the differences between them at flower shows.
Plant collectors have moved specimens around the world.
It may be an exaggeration to claim ferns offer year-round interest, but their outlines can persist after many perennials have collapsed for the year.
While some ferns are tender or deciduous, others are evergreen and hardy as they come.
I’ll end with the 2023 version of a shot I attempt every year, amazed over again that the baldness of winter has fully returned to leafy, elfin greenery. Every ingredient in this scene is simple and wild, assuming the meadow counts. I love seeing this particular combination, even though the balsam is persecuted. I’m not sure how I feel about that – a post on the subject may be due.
Shared for Denzil’s Nature Challenge: Ferns.
Susan Rushton 
Beautifully expressed thoughts about these fascinating plants, and what a great story to open with – a very special and memorable encounter! I love your photos too, especially the shapes and patterns in the first three and the back-lit autumn bracken 🙂
It was very memorable. I’m glad you liked the bracken – that was an afterthought.
That last view could be just down the lane from us… ferns, oaks and Himalaya Balsam are growing on the edge of our mostly evergreen woods too. Lovely photos! 😃
Familiarity makes a scene like this even better.
I very much like the word “poise” applied to ferns. Indeed. They have a ballet to them, yes? Also I very much covet that painted fern. As usual, I learn from your post — I did not know there was such a thing as a tree fern! I love the play of light in and around that in your photo. The story of your young benefactors is well timed; a gladdening of the heart is especially appreciated these days! Thank you!
It was all the better for being so absurd. Luckily we both have the spirit to enjoy the magic of the moment, even with the heavens opened.
A lovely informative post accompanied by beautiful ferns. A great story to start with, magical umbrellas. So many ferns, as I have said on my post, often unappreciated.
I was thinking that about hosta flowers yesterday. Some of them are so fine, yet you always feel we see them as afterthoughts. I tried to photograph three different ones the other day, all with stunning clumps of flowers on sturdy scapes, but didn’t get anywhere with them. Could be me, but it could also be the leaves are easier to capture than the flowers.
Some hostas have lovely flowers, but yes
Hit the wrong key! 😂
but yes we see them mainly for the foliage, same with Heucheras and yet the dainty flowers are quite a show.
Beautiful post! I love ferns. Where we used to live, near a rainforest, we pulled some of the bracken ferns that grew like weeds. My kids threw them at each other, like spears – a different way of using them then your peaceful encounter. 🙂
That must have been a fascinating place to live. We used to make houses out of grasses – just floorplans, really – then we’d sit in them. It sounds like less fun than your children’s bracken spears, but I often think back to it, so it must have been better than it sounds. Any food for the imagination at that age. There would have been a temperate rainforest near where I live at one time, and you can still see hints of it.
Yes, leafy, elfin greenery! Such a wonderful description. Living by the edge of the woods, we are in fern central, and I never get tired of them. Your pictures capture the wonderful diversity, and the fern tree left me agog
Tree ferns are very architectural and quite weird when they are frondless in winter. I often see them wrapped up in northern gardens.
A lovely hymn of praise to one of our most ancient plant forms.
I’m often to be found looking for four-leaved clovers but it has never occurred to me to look for fern flowers. Perhaps that’s lucky in itself.
A beautiful post. I have always had ferns everywhere I lived from north to south.
They’re a backdrop to our lives, for many of us.
A marvelous celebration of ferns! You’ve captured some truly unique and beautiful ones, Susan.
The ‘plain’ ones are just as interesting. Humans have mathematical minds, even those of us who think we are ‘no good’ at it – we notice symmetry and order, half despite ourselves.
A super gallery of ferns Susan, thanks for contributing to my challenge.
My pleasure. Thanks for hosting!
Ferns always had my heart, and this gallery is so beautiful with all the different shapes and colours, Susan! I love them in every season you have captured them, and in every garden as in nature. Thank you for the tour!
Green elegance and beautiful detail – a very enjoyable post! 🙂