In the garden with Nell Carr

nells fern picture

JUNE 2017 | Nell Carr

MEANDER VALLEY, with its varying habitats, can lay claim to a great assortment of native ferns, many of them endemic to our State.

From the smallest, the Azolla filiculoides - those drifts of red that float on the surface of sunny ponds, there is one beside Bengeo Road near Deloraine - to the towering rough tree fern, Cyathea australis.  This one is taller than the much more common tree fern Dicksonia antarctica, and grows on the higher slopes in northern Tasmanian rainforests.

Other ground hugging ferns are the maiden hair fern, Adiantum aethiopicum, which may be grown in hanging baskets, and the bristle filmy fern Polyphlebium venosum, whose tiny fronds thickly adorn the stems of the tree ferns beside Westmorland Falls, Caveside.   King fern, (Todea barbara) with long, gracefully arching fronds from ground level, grows along bush creeks which have not been disturbed by logging or grazing.  Visitors are able to see some local ferns in the Great Western Tiers Visitor Information Centre gardens at Deloraine.  Cat’s head fern Polystichum proliferum, as its name suggests, is almost as numerous in Tasmania as bracken fern; and tree ferns (Dicksonia antartica) are well represented there, plus kangaroo fern (Phymatosis pustulatus) pictured, growing on a tree fern trunk.

In the vegetable garden:  Sow early peas in frost-free areas, turnips, onions, and winter lettuce.

Photo | image supplied