i would love some of your fern but, my ferns prob. won't be good to ship until spring.. would you be willing to wait a bit? I have asparagus, fluffy ruffly, staghorn(expecting some babies this spring, and elkhorn if you are interested. LMK. Thanks.

I have found these Asplenium, like most, kinda fussy. Subject to scale, overwatering issues, etc. They will grow as an epiphyte as easily as in a pot. They like air circulation. They will grow in a brightly lit office.

"Further reaserbh reveals that some are rare. Such are B. oneidense (threatened), Botrychium rugulosum (rare, of special concern)" Both of those are listed as threatened/endangered in some states towards the peripheries of their ranges, but are not threatened at a large scale. This is a common pattern in a lot of species; for instance Aquilegia canadensis is listed as endangered in Florida despite being very widespread and not in any particular danger through most of its range; calling the species rare because of the Florida listing would be absurd. "and there is very little information on B. dissectum var. obliquum..." Botrychium dissectum var. obliquum is both quite common throughout a lot of the northeastern US and, more importantly, isn't a valid taxon to start with. The varieties of dissectum represent polymorphism within a single panmictic species rather than real entities; Mike Barker & Warren Hauk were the authors on the study demonstrating this, which IIRC was published in American Fern Journal. ""There are a few characteristics that can aid in the admittedly difficult task of separating these species" The gist is... if it looks like that species, theres a good possibility that it IS rare and should be left alone!!!" Differentiation of species within the subgenera can be very difficult, but differentiation of the subgenera from each other is very easy. And nothing within the subgenera Sceptridium & Osmundopteris are actually rare. Patrick Alexander

Oh, dear. My clump of maidenhair is in about as acid soil as could be imagined. It is over 20 years old and has slowly spread from a 4" pot size to three good-sized clumps. It is in full shade in very moist but not wet soil. I never fertilize it as I have burned it several times in the past with the 5-10-10 I spread on my border early each spring. I also never cultivate it as the roots are near the surface. It does not have any competition but has a good buddy of a lower-growing astilbe that I planted at the same time and have never divided. They are beautiful together. FWIW, I see in my notes that about 12 years ago, I dug it up as we were removing a tree near it and I didn't want it to be injured. It had a very heavy, woody root system that surprised me for such a fragile-looking plant. That's one reason I have never tried to divide it. My best thoughts re yours are: this is a very slow-growing plant so just be patient; the soil may not be as moist as optimal.