I didn't find this fern to be too particular about humidity indoors, but as Rhizo stated....it does prefer a cool position in the winter. I usually put ours in the bedroom where it never got any warmer than about 65 degrees, and mine received very limited indirect light from a west window. It does sit rather 'dormant' during the winter and it will likely lose some lower fronds, but still fares pretty well as opposed to other ferns! I might add that it is a very, very *thirsty* fern, even throughout the winter. I put mine outdoors during the summer on our rear deck where it did get some direct morning sun.....but no sun in the afternoons, though it was receiving 'bright light' all day since it was outdoors. Like Shiver, I feel that this fern just isn't more commonly grown because it isn't commonly found. I think it's another one of those 'old and commonly cultivated' plants that has fallen to the wayside in the past couple of decades.

holly fern is a bold evergreen, with fishtail palm type fronds. it can get fairly big. painted fern is really pretty with silver, purple and wine in each frond, and is deciduous. a really unusual one is climbing fern. it has very distinctly different sterile & fertile fronds. if you give it something to climb, they get about 15' long each season, growing clear through fall, or they trail along the ground. it is also deciduous. and southern maidenhair fern is quite interesting with 5 or 7 fingered fronds around a horsehoe shaped stipe. sort of llike the shape of a compound aroid leaf, but with fronds with individual pinnae instead of the fingers. it spreads slowly to form a nice clump. some of the maidenhair can spread fairly quickly (not neccessarily a bad thing as they are so beautiful!!). another favorite for me is peacock fern/moss. not sure if it's technically a fern, but it has a weird combination of metallic turquoise blue, green and golds on the low growing leaves when it's happy, and spreads in moist situations. great groundcover. selingella uncinata. sorry i'm not doing better withthe other latin names this morn. i'm burnt out and they are evading me. i like all the others mentioned as well. at any rate, lots to choose from!!

Yes both responses from George and Ron are correct. Keep in mind some varities are easier to root than others. Do you have any idea of the name of this holly? Here is what I did two years ago. Build a small "bed" in the corner of the yard in a partially shaded location using concrete blocks or landscape timbers, 2' X 3' is plenty big for several cuttings, bury the blocks or timbers about 4-5" in the soil. Work in a bag of non salted builders sand, (be careful it is not beach sand as it contains salt) and a bag of a good quality potting soil. Sand will ensure drainage and some aeriation and the potting soil will provide some water retaining quality, nutrients etc. (good quality compost would work here also). Water it all in well and let set for a week or so to settle. Take your cuttings about 5-6" of current season's growth that is hardening off for the summer. Depends on your location on when this occurs. Here in West KY it will be about end of June through July depending on weather and rainfall. Clip off about 1/2 of the lower leaves. I like to leave about 4 leaves on the cutting. don't let the cuttings dry out during this whole procedure. Dip into either a liquid rooting hormone or I used hormodin 3 for woody plants. (This stuff comes in different concentrations for soft plants and for woody's). Stick the cuttings in your bed, label each row if different types. Water in lightly, don't overwater. I then took softdrink bottles and stuck them in the soil inside the bed (anything will work, I just wanted something inside the bed to hold the plastic up off the cuttings). Cover the bed with a sheet of plastic and staple it to the landscape timbers keeping a tight fit to retain moisture. WARNING: If direct sun hits this your cuttings will cook in short order. I placed a shade cloth above the plastic so the heat would not buildup too bad in the bed. I have saw in some literature where a flap is cut in the plastic to help aeriate it, but this requires very close monitoring to be sure it stays moist. I monitor the cuttings every day for the first 2-3 days to be sure there is adeqate moisture on the plastic, when it looks dry water by unhooking the plastic and use your water hose to gently mist the plants and soil. You will get a feel for how much water is needed after 3-4 days. It took 6 weeks to see new growth on the cuttings. At that time I cut small openings in the plastic and increased watering daily until I could cut the holes larger until I could eventually take the plastic off. I mulched heavily with leaves in the fall and low and behold I now have 10 or so large 2-3' plants ready to plant out in my yard. Good Luck! Tim

hi I can't tell from the pic but it looks like Adiantum capilus veneris, venus maidenhair?? There are over 200 types . they range all over the world from temperate to tropics so obviously would have much different conditions. I grow them in pots in my deep shade garden area . IME they will tolerate very deep shade but no direct sun. they seem to like a LOT of water but will rot if too much croak if too little . The usual wisdom for them is bright indirect light ,moisture retaining ,organic soil but well draining temps above 60 even for the temperates . While I follow all that mine always tend to look a bit sparse . When I was in Costa Rica I saw them growing by the gazillions in "seep" areas as well as rock faces constantly sprayed from waterfalls. have no idea which kind but they were gorgeous!!lol I've moved mine to a dedicated fern bed underneath some tree ferns where I'm using only rainwater. I'm suspicious of my very hard alkaline tap water. too soon to tell if effective but the tree ferns are responding as well as some other types, Time will tell i guess Good luck gary