polypodium aureum mandianum in florida?

15 years ago

Does anyone know of any nurseries that carry the Bear's Paw type ferns such as polypodium aureum mandianum or crested/crisped blue bear's paw fern and its relative the phlebodium ekstrandii) in Florida (preferably from South Florida which is where I'm at; if in Homestead even better!)?

I'm thinking there must be some fern nurseries in Florida...is it in Ocala, FL?...which supposedly has many fern nurseries (Fern Capital of the World?).

I saw that fern a year ago in an Orchid show at the Dade County Fairgrounds and the Louisiana orchid/plant grower had just bought it from an "Orlando area nursery" (I'm thinking she may have meant one of the fern nurseries up in Ocala, but I made the mistake of not asking her for specific information regarding that) just as a background plant for her display and she sold out of the two or three large plants she had in the first few minutes after the orchid show opened (unfortunately, I went there late and missed out).

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Comments (7)

garyfla_gw
15 years ago
Hi
Not familiar with that species but polypodiums are a definite "WEED in epiphyte plantings . They come up everywhere. You must have evn more in your area??
Have never studied the family so will have to look up the name. had always thought they were native??
gary
paulope
Original Author
15 years ago
If they are a "weed", then they are a very pretty weed (at least in the case of this variety). It is, by far, to my eye/taste, the prettiest fern I've ever laid eyes on. The fact that it sold in a matter of minutes speaks to its appeal to many people (the Louisiana nursery person continuously got asked about it and she lamented she hadn't bought more since she would've "made a killing" selling many of these).
I think the town in Florida that has the many fern nurseries is actually Apopka, but I haven't been able to find one that actually carries this fern therefore I turn to this forum for help.
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So much of "easy" or "difficult" depends on growing conditions. Carlisleliverpool finds "Boston" ferns easy in the UK; I bet folks in Tucson would have a very different view! Since you're Z5, I'll assume your conditions are similar to mine. Dry air is my ferns' biggest enemy much of the year. As a general rule, the thicker and more leathery the fronds, the lower humidity the plants can tolerate. The commonly available staghorn ferns with their big thick antler fronds can get flat out dry in humidity that's low enough to be uncomfortable for us humans, and they sail right along. (But give one to an Excessive Nurturer - i.e. overwaterer - and it won't last so long.) The most commonly available Pteris ferns, though (and there are something like 250 different species, so this is a generalization), with their paper-thin fronds will tend to look ugly pretty fast when the humidity is low. I grow in conditions of very good light (including some direct morning sun), humid summers with cool nights, quite cool winters with low humidity, and I let all but the most delicate ferns dry out a bit between waterings. That said, in my conditions, most difficult to easiest, with some duplicate commonly-grown forms separated out: 1) Adiantum (raddianum & similar sp.) 2) Pteris 3) Adiantum (again...hispidulum and similar species) 4) Nephrolepis (Boston types and curly cv's thereof. Not so difficult to keep alive as difficult to keep looking nice. They need a fair amount of grooming & cleaning up after.) 5) Asplenium (Look for the thicker-fronded species and cv's to be more durable than those with thin, broad fronds.) 6) tie- Nephrolepis (Lemon Button or Kimberly Queen - a little messy, but very tolerant) 6) tie- Phlebodium aureum (syn. Polypodium aureum Some of the crested or fringed cv's are a little touchier. I left my huge P. pseudoaureum dry in the dark garage all last winter. It froze, it died back to ground level, but it came back like a trouper this spring.) 7) tie for easiest- Davallia (..and again, there are many species, some of which I find quite difficult, but I'll assume we're taling about the one most common in cultivation, a variety of D mariesii often mistagged as D. trichomanoides. Easy if you're careful not to rot them. If it gets too dry, they'll go dormant, but they come back out of it nicely. It's not a bad idea to let them dry a little in late fall as they're normally semi-deciduous. 7) tie for easiest - Platycerium bifurcatum (They'll tolerate heat, cold, dry, almost anything but soggy poorly-aerated substrate or prolonged cold/wet. Hey Toni-- how goes it? Still got the large (and beautiful) citrus collection? Microsorum musifolium (Crocodile) is pretty durable (the fronds are used in flower arrangements, so you can tell they're not overly delicate) but they are vulnerable to leaf spot & die back from overhead watering. I know you like to mist but it's not this particular fern's favorite thing. If you are going to mist it, I'd suggest limiting it to times when you know the plant can dry again quickly (like mornings) and using distilled water.
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Howdy, HMC. About Ebay, sellers can no longer leave Negative feedback for a buyer. I think that's wrong, 'I've never sold anything on Ebay, only bought.' It doesn't sound fair. Say a buyers buys an item, clicks the proper buttoms, but doesn't pay. In the meantime, the seller removed the item from Ebay. Well, that's that. To top it off the seller can't leave Neg feedback? I don't understand. I believe I'm still a paid member on Dave's, but I paid some time ago. Maybe a year or more. They never sent a letter saying it expired unless the email went to Spam. LOL, no, the Citrus ban takes place in Fl, not IL..lol. Fl cannot ship citrus anywhere out of state. IL doesn't export citrus. lol. Funny you should mentioned the fern. I have a Rabbit's Foot Fern. A couple wks back, I bought one called, Giant Davillia/Rabbits Foot Fern, don't know if there's a difference. I have a 19-yr-old fern that resembles leather. I don't know its Botanical name. Wonder if that's the plant you mean. BTW, I took your advice and bought Irene Nuss and Grey Feather. lol..'no more plants, right!' lol What are the two plants you posted? They're lovely. Very pretty. This is an older pic of the fern, and it's next to two others, maybe you can make heads, and let me know if this is the fern you mean. Hey WoeBegonia. Shux..I got antsy, so sowed the luxurian seeds..ended up setting them in small Peat Pellets. They're inside a plastic bag, but the end is open for ventilation. So far, nothing. I should have waited till spring to sow. The house has been cold, and with a zillion other things to do, I didn't look for the heating mat. So far I brought two plants in, now, only 300 more..lol. The ants are gone, for now..but what's been happening is, they return in spring/summer. The only thing I can figure out is they lay eggs in plant pots, then hatch when the weather warms. How in the world can people want ant farms? Sheesh. lol Are the fires out? I hope so..sounds terrible, and had to be..Hope nobody got hurt. Funny, Jerry Baker was the second author 'James Underwood Crockett, from Victory Garden's being the first,' I learned about basic plants. This was longgg ago. Late 70's, early 80's. He's got some weird ideas..using urine for plants, lol. Can you imagine. Friend: you're plants are gorgeous, what do you use to make them so healthy-looking. Me: Oh, urine. Just feel the texture. lolol Back to luxurians..I don't know how moist to keep the pellets. Too wet they rot, too dry seeds die. What a pain. I also sowed Bottle Palm seeds, but they can take a year to germinate, if they germinate. We're supposed to get several days of rain. I'm worried about succulents. Don't want to lose any. Friday and Saturday, I spent the day cleaning windows and areas plants will be wintered. A lot of work. If it wasn't raining, I'd bring in baby Euphorbias..hope it stops some time today..these grey days are driving me up the wall. Oh, H, you asked if I'd like to be outside at 49F degress, w/o a coat, etc. I wouldn't like to be outside at 60F degrees w/o a coat. lol. I'm always cold. Actually, plants are doing great outside..it's after coming in I'm worried about. Dry, stuffy air, less light, etc. Funny, some days/nights I think, my poor plants are probably cold outside, lol. Some more than others. Certain plants need a certain amount of cold to produce winter blooms, and it hasn't been under 32F. Thank God!!!
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razorback33
15 years ago
Is this the Fern you are seeking?
It is listed as Phlebodium aureum 'Mandianum' (Lettuce Fern, Golden Polopody, Goldfoot Fern & various other common names)

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Checked Agristarts, Apopka, Berneker's, Goulds & Casa Flora, Dallas, TX and didn't find it listed.
Hopefully, someone in FL can provide a local source.
Rb
paulope
Original Author
15 years ago
razorback33,
I've found at least one grower in Apopka: Central Florida Nursery. The problem is that they're a wholesale nursery (I'll find a way around that somehow though). The two owners weren't there (they are attending a professional meeting, TPIA I think is the name, in Fort Lauderdale. Unfortunately, I could not get in touch with them to ask if they could bring a few plants to that show so that I could buy them. My alternate plan is to ask a nursery to buy some for me. I wish there were closer sources since I live in the Miami area. There is one guy on Ebay who sells them and he's based out of northern Florida (I think), but he is selling tiny plants and I'd prefer to get a large specimen like the one I saw at the orchid show last year. Thanks for the effort of looking for me in those nurseries. If I find out other sources, I will post them here.
garyfla_gw
15 years ago
Hi
Gardinos nursery in Palm beach county lists them by the exact name . Seems to be a color or form variety??
Is it a hybrid??
How do they vary from the native??
Like all ferns they seem to have a thousand names lol
I object to them as they pop up in the orchid baskets soon crowding them out. They are very pretty just agressive lol gary
harrywitmore
15 years ago
I do think the name is Phlebodium aureum mandianum but who knows. It's listed that way in the Fern Growers Manual. This form as well as the standard form come up in my pots constantly. Most of the time taking over the pot. It's very easy to grow from spore but I will be happy to send you both forms after it gets warmer for the cost of shipping.
paulope
Original Author
15 years ago
I'll have to check Gardino's website (it's too bad since I ordered a few fragrant plants from him and picked them up at the Redlands Festival last weekend). He is still closer than Central Florida Ferns and, can probably get some bigger specimens from them. Don't ask me too many questions about ferns since I haven't really delved into the topic other than inquiring about the name of some cool-looking ones that have attracted my attention (mostly the above and the staghorns...some of the lycopodium ferns are neat-looking too).
I haven't started collecting orchids (only have three), but maybe that will change as soon as some of my trees get bigger and I have the branches to hang them from (as well as having the time to look into these and how to successfully grow them).
Thanks Harrywitmore. I'll get in touch once the weather warms up.

polypodium aureum mandianum in florida?

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polypodium aureum mandianum in florida?

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