Hi Not sure I can be much help as I grow these outdoors . I soak the entire plant whenever I water and it also gets natural rainfall. >They LOVE water!!! lol gary

It certainly pays to hang on to a dormant tree fern for quite a while. One of my D. antarctica lost its fronds in January 1996 and I gave it up for dead, but left it where it was growing. In September 1997 it put out a frond and I moved it to a better position where it grew a full head of fronds. A few years ago I noticed that the crown looked a little odd, broader than usual, and to my delight, the crown began to split into two. So if damaged, this can happen although the self-sporing can also happen too in a very moist environment. Eventually my fern will, I assume, have a beautiful twin crown. Most of my tree ferns have been sporing for some time and I was very pleased a couple of years ago to find little Dicksonias all over the place - before long I'll have to hack my way through the jungle! Referring to the discussion about the basal regrowth, I don't know of any evidence that Dicksonia antarctica is capable of doing this. Dicksonia squarrosa certainly can - my 5ft specimen lost its crown through a falling branch and began to grow a basal shoot. I cut off the stem above the shoot and potted it, leaving the shoot to grow in situ, and to my surprise the potted stem grew another basal shoot, so I repeated the process and it grew a second shoot! I think now that it's had enough and the trunk is now beginning to rot! Still, two freebies was worth the trouble!

Do you have anywhere warmer? Perhaps with more sun? Tree ferns are often left fully exposed on sunny hillsides after logging and do just fine, even after being battered by logging equipment. Or along roadsides. They're pretty resilient, normally. The main part that needs protection is the crown, which is where the new fronds/fiddleheads begin. You'll know it's still alive when you see bumps covered in silky brown 'hair' coming from the crown. In at least one species they may also come from the trunk. Now that summer has tentatively begun just keep an eye on the plant. It could well respond to the warmer weather. I'm wondering about cutting back the fronds for winter. D fibrosa usually has old dead fronds hanging over the trunk to provide protection from various hazards (not least of which are stray seeds which start growing on the trunk.) If they were left on and bubble wrap added. If the previous season's fronds were tied together at the top, like you do with cauliflowers, then there would be something to start the season with, perhaps. They're evergreen. Fronds die off, maybe several if there's a drought running, but they don't usually drop the lot. They can come back after fire or being stripped by equipment. They can stand being the only stems left upright - although they clearly do better with more shelter and humidity. When they're tall enough to have a trunk then the crown shows above the surrounding bush, particulary in regenerating cutover or a revegetating area after weather events have caused slips. Fairly tough. While it's little - could you make it a shelter as you would for establishing a lemon tree? Something sturdy enough to take the weight of any snow, or strong winds. Wrapped with sacking/hessian, or fleece. With horticultural plastic and fleece over the top. Then it could keep its fronds.

Winter kill, followed by fermentation of the dead sap. Sorry, but they're dead, and have been so since the December freeze. The severe winter has caused a massive wipe-out of Dicksonias across most of Britain (so you're not alone, if that's any consolation). Resin