Toni, you're right, there are way too many ferns in the world! The royal fern is osmunda. I'm not sure how well it will do in my yard, it probably needs more of a shade garden than I have. They can get pretty big. If I'd realized that I would have picked up another of the ferns like the one in the pic. A nursery here discards plants that are looking bad and that they can't sell by putting them outside their gates and anyone can pick them up for free. Isn't that nice of him? There was a feature item on the local news about it - a woman showed the landscaping she'd done at her house with his discards, and it looked really great. I've been shopping there probably 20 years and didn't know that. Most ferns don't do well indoors. I used to be a member of the local fern society, and everyone kept their outside in tropical settings, or in greenhouses. I may put my foundling in a basket. Medina is a plant "...soil activator with seaweed extracts high in micronutrients and natural plant growth regulators. Ideal for reducing transplant shock and making foliar sprays to stimulate fruiting and blooming". I didn't know it isn't a national product. It isn't a heavy fertilizer, its numbers are 0.50%, 0.10%, 0.05%.

Thank you, now for the task of identifying what kind of sword fern as I am reading that some are invasive. Any tips as to how I can nail this down more definitively ? Thank you so much.

Thanks, Linda, that looks like it may be the one. I like the "thumbs" on the end of each frond, and how airy it looks. Whew- I just looked up some fern terminology...and realized that I need to learn them, as well. So many plants...so many terms...so much to learn...so much fun (-:

I agree -- appears to be an "asparagus fern" ( perhaps Asparagus setaceus or Asparagus plumosus ... I think the former name is considered correct). As the common name suggests, it is not truly a fern but rather a member of the genus Asparagus.