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Bracken Ferns
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Posted by tomasincas Z5NWPA (My Page) on Fri, Jan 18, 08 at 22:05
| Just wondering, I have a friend who gave me a few Bracken ferns..I also have heard they contain carcinogens and your not supossed to eat their fiddleheads ( which I dont anyways )I planted them last year in the fall ,that is if they make it thru the winter..Does anyone else have them in their woodlands garden or shade gardens ? also, if they do, do you keep them separated from other ferns ? I will try and keep them in check ( heard they can be invasive )but its a fern from around here and would compliment some of my other local ferns...Tom in Pa. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Bracken Ferns
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Tom in Pa....
I think Bracken Fern is native everywhere! But I choose not to grow it, since I have several other species that are invasive; New York, Ostrich, Japanese Beech, Bramble & Tongue or Felt Ferns.
I have found Bracken in the wild and when growing on rather dry slopes, it doesn't appear to be that invasive. But when found growing in constantly moist locations, such as stream banks and edge of bogs or ponds, it had formed huge colonies.
I collected some from a construction site once for a friend, who wanted it for his Fern collection, of more than 200 species! We are experiencing snow again today, for the second time this week. Only a couple of inches, but that is a big deal around here! Temperature warmed a few degrees and snow turned to rain and it is beginning to melt. Roads will be treacherous by morning, since the temperature is falling into the teens tonight.
Good luck with your ferns. As long as Asparagus is available, I find no great compulsion to harvest fiddleheads!
Rb |
RE: Bracken Ferns
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Rb,thanks for the input.I still have a few Ostrich ferns left,I started to thin them out when others started popping up fairly close to the original ones ,must be via a root system and not spores.
My New york ferns are all in one little area just outside my little woodlands,and they seem to stay in check. I may have to do the same ( one little area )if any of my Brackens survive.Japanese beech and Bramble I dont think are around here..so I wont worry about them..my section of a small hillside is really dry..to much slope to hold water I guess ,so I wouldn't think Bracken would form any large colonies .Time will tell.
I just thought they kind of looked neat. Tom in Pa. |
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