Southern Maidenhair, Adiantum Capillis-veneris

FERN LORE:    This fern grows all over the world in tropical to warm temperate climates.  The stems were used in basketry by various peoples.  

CULTIVATION:  Prefers alkaline soil.  Woodland leaf duff mixed with limestone or ground oyster shell works well. As with most ferns it should have good drainage and be kept moist at all times.  This fern is very popular for its propensity to produce volumes of delicate graceful fronds.  It will grow quickly to fill its container, and can be divided as many times as you wish.  Cut off the existing fronds when (re)potting sections of rhizome.  Most books recommend a shady placement, but mine get a good deal of morning sun and seem to love it.

 

1 maidenhair3.jpg (143581 bytes)2 Last summer(2000) this fern got a major infestation of black aphids. I won't use poisons in my house, so after battling the critters by hand for months, the final solution was to cut all the fronds off, right down to the rhizome. This image is of the fern three months later, in the flush of rapid growth.

Thumbnail 1 was the fern shortly before the Battle of the Aphids began.  Number 2 is the fern one year later, the summer of 2001.  
maidenhair4.jpg (145148 bytes)3 Thumbnail 3 is my other Capillis-veneris.