Monday 15 October 2012

A fern expedition

Friday 12th
Weather: Mainly sunny with the odd spit of rain. 


I have calculated that a general tidy up & deadheading of the Exotic Garden takes me one and a half hours. If there is any extra clearing or staking needed it would usually take me up to two.

Today I did cuttings of Salvia confertsiflora - the red velvety Brazilian sage, using similar principles as yesterday - see Cuttings post, cutting off any flowering parts.

Then me and gardener Graham went on a fern expedition and collected spores from approximately 40 different species. After each specimen we would clean our hands on a towel, so as not to contaminate one type of spores with another. We will be matching up the names and information with the photos also. Most ferns were ripe but there were the odd ones that we have marked to keep an eye on for when ready. A new greenhouse is being built down at 'The Farm' complex a couple of hundred metres from the garden where the ferns will be propagated and be housed. It was very exciting because it was looking at a known space with a new perspective, so there was a sense of adventure even in the familiar.

Examples of what we collected, I will be matching all of these with their names soon:

Dryopteris cristata





Graham drew a map of the garden & marked them on there. But we would consequentially take photographs of the ferns close up & of the location too, as well as noting as much helpful information on a sheet as possible and on the bags we were individually putting them in.



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