Fern catastrophe

Earlier this year, we went to Lincolnshire to order ferns for our show garden. We ordered 50 plants, a mix of Polystichum setiferum and 3 Dryopteris species - filix mas, affinis, and dilatata, a mixture of different forms of all of them. They were nice big plants in 7.5 litre pots costing £10 each.

On Monday we went to check on the plants. They had somehow turned into 40 plants, smaller ones in 5 litre pots, and with not many leaves. And there was now 25 Dryopteris affinis, and 15 Athyriums, which are a deciduous species so not as good for a garden which is to be used all year round.

A week and a day before we start our show garden, this was a bit of a catastrophe! But we went to Cleethorpes, and ate fish and chips and admired wild orchids.

We came up with a plan. I like ferns, and I have a garden full of them, so we could try to dig some of these up. Several years ago I went to a garden centre just before Christmas and they were giving away free plants, and I ended up with loads of free ferns! They were all Dryopteris, and have grown nice and big by now, so will be perfect.

And we also phoned and drove around various garden centres and nurseries around Leeds to try and find some more. We managed to get lots of Polystichums, some large Dryopteris and also some Aspleniums.

Our fern catastrophe is over! Within 24 hours!