fern secrets, fern sex and fern gardening, with tony avent

Ferns have been on the planet for more than 300 million years—about twice as long as flowering plants—and in recent years breeders with sophisticated eyes have introduced extra-showy varieties for our gardens.

No wonder there is a focus on ferns, since they are naturally deer-resistant, mostly adapted to shady gardens, and hey, you don’t need to deadhead them since they’re not flowering plants. You can’t attribute any of those qualities to, say, a daylily.

On my radio show and podcast, Tony treated me to a 101 on ferns and how to use them in the garden (that’s a tiny section of the 28-acre private nonprofit Juniper Level Botanic Garden, below, which he founded in 1988). Our chat included some of his favorites, propagation how-to–and we even covered fern sex, ferns wearing petticoats, and other trash talk, lest you have the mistaken impression that ferns are boring because they are so old.

Read along as you listen to the March 2, 2015 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).

Q. Do you remember the first fern you grew—or maybe the first one you collected on a plant-exploration trip? How long have you been into ferns?

A. I probably collected my