Osmunda

The first picture is Osmunda claytonia, or Interrupted Fern, so called because if the spaces where there arent't pinnae where you would expect there should be. This one is rather new to the garden, just arrived here in the last 2 years. Like most of the Osmundas it can get quite tall, up to 4 feet. It prefers moist woods to more wet places. Easy to grow and native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.

This one is Osmunda regalis, Royal Fern. This one can get quite tall and does so here, sometimes almost reaching 5 feet. Royal is probably a good name. It is also less fern-looking and maybe more like something else because of the more divided fronds. This is another of those that will grow from zone 2-10. It is native to swamps and other wet sites in North America, tropical America and Europe. There are also crested and purple stemmed versions.

We also grow Osmunda cinnamomea, Cinnamon Fern but I don't seem to have a picture of it. It is called Cinnamon Fern because of the cinnamon colored fertile fronds. Unlike some of the others where the fertile fronds persist into the winter and are good for dried arrangements, there come up in late spring and are gone by midsummer. This one likes swampy or damp areas in lime-free soils. It can take a little sun, but will be smaller than if grown in a shadier site.

Only a few ferns to go - most of mine seem to have occured at the beginning of the alphabet :-)

Jane