Canadian Gardening: Best bargain this season?, 1 by lourspolaire

lourspolaire wrote:
Hi.

Someone contacted the horticultural society in early April, indicating that they were giving away ostrich ferns to make way for grass in their back yard. When we got there, we couldn't believe it: ostrich ferns by the hundreds were going to be buldozed under if we didn't get them out of there. It was still very early in the season and the "fiddleheads" hadn't sprouted yet. They really looked like pineapples sticking out of the ground (minus the prickly bromeliad top).

I got a whole pick-up truck load of huge ferns for free. I only had to dig them up. As Martha would say: it was a good thing because I love ferns and I have a lot of shade areas where nothing else would really grow. They were promptly replanted and this is the result on June 8th: 3 to 4-foot ferns all over the place. Woo-Hoo!

Sylvain.