Fern Resurgence
Ferns are enjoying a resurgence of interest and popularity recently, primarily because of fitting into older shady landscapes and their superb deer resistance. The wetter climate that we have experienced in the last couple of years is also a factor that makes people look at this class of plants with renewed scrutiny.
Ferns like shrubs and other flowering perennials have their specific uses and applications for the landscape, and many are garden worthy. Interrupted Fern, Christmas Fern, Rock Fern, Tassel Fern, and Maidenhair Fern are all great ferns, but the one I find going back to time and again for its versatility and adaptability is Ostrich Fern, Matteuccia pensylvanica, a native of northern North America. Quickly forming a mat free of weeds, this fern should be used more as a ground cover for shade.
Landscape Value
Tolerating both wet and drier situations as well as some sun to shade, this fern colonizes an area by spreading rhizomes, and you can easily propagate it and spread to other areas, by lifting the rhizomes and separating them into pieces. Great for damp areas and erosion control, like a drainage swale, I use it frequently in my designed landscapes as a water-loving plant for soggy areas or beside streams. Best planted in masses, forming a towering backdrop for other shade-loving perennials, it is wonderful on sloping sites that are hard to mow.
Wonderful in dried flower arrangements, I collect these brown fronds and dry them. Wonderful additions to fresh flower arrangements also, I cut the lush fronds in the morning and plunge them into a pail of room temperature water to hydrate for several hours. Then I use them for vase arrangements mixed with flowers, for a dramatic effect.
Fiddleheads-Collecting and Cooking
The fiddleheads which are simply the curled or coiled young fronds emerging in the spring are considered a delicacy. Collected in early spring, look for a tight coil (1-1.5 inch in diameter) held close to the ground with only an inch or two of stem showing. Sometimes there is a brown papery case that surrounds the coil and you remove this by rubbing it off before cooking. Wash the fiddleheads several times in cold water to remove any dirt or grit and you can store them a few days tightly wrapped in the refrigerator before preparing. But the sooner you cook them after harvest, the better.