Boston Fern

Valley Gardener

I have one of these in my bathroom,and it is really too big now.
Can I put it in my garden? Will it be the same as my outside ferns? ie die off in winter,then new growth in spring. 
It really needs splitting up,so I could keep a small piece in my bathroom,I believe they are good for cleaning air.

Fran IOM

@Valley Gardener. Did you get an answer to this elsewhere? Seems to have slipped through so bumping it up for. 

pbff

Hi @Valley Gardener 

Nephrolepis exaltata, the Boston Fern, has an RHS hardiness rating of H1B, which means that they can be grown outside in summer, in temperatures of 10 to 15 degrees Celsius.
If you lived in a frost-free climate, then it would be ok outside, but if you are in the UK or any other country with a cool climate, then it will die over the winter. 

Late winter/spring is the time to separate any rooted runners, so you could reduce the size of the plant this way, keep a few parts for yourself and perhaps give away or sell any remaining pieces if you haven't the space to keep them all.

Hope this helps 

Valley Gardener

Thanks for that bump @Fran IOM

Thank you for your reply@pbff. I will have to split it,it's too big for the bathroom!
If I put it in the garden and left it overwinter,would it regrow as my other ordinary ferns do?  Ferns seem to grow well here in Wales

pbff

Oh, I'm in Wales too 
Most hardy ferns do indeed love our climate.
However the Boston fern is native to tropical zones and so is not hardy in the UK, any frost would kill it unfortunately.
Hope this helps 

Fran IOM

Maybe if you are able to split it into quite a few different plants you could experiment by putting one in the garden in a sheltered spot and protect it from any frost. If it dies you won't have lost too much. 

Valley Gardener

There's certainly enough to do that @Fran! It started a year ago as a skinny little specimen from Lidls,i will have to psyche myself to do it!😊

Valley Gardener

@pbff .Oh what a pity it will kill it.  I love finding bits of fern here,they grow all over the place,the one that grows out of the DS walls is pretty,i've stuck a couple of those in near the pond and they've taken well.
In the lane at the back we have loads of wild strawberries in summer,I love Wales!😊😊

pbff

If you like ferns, you may be interested in the British Pteridological Society's website https://ebps.org.uk/
There's lots of info on our native ferns there, including good ID guides, as well as info on fern cultivation.

Warning: once you start, ferns do tend to become extremely addictive!   

Valley Gardener

Thankyou@pbff  I'll take a look at that. There's something quite magical about ferns,i've loved them since my Dad allowed me a tiny bit of garden,which had one growing,i was six,and used to plant love in the mist seeds as well. Love of garden must have come from there!

pbff

My love of gardening came from my Mum- it's definitely contagious! 
She has always been quite partial to ferns and then I sort of became obsessed with them.
Now when we go out and about together, Mum will sigh as I take a detour about a churchyard to have a closer look at an interesting fern specimen growing from a wall 
Love-in-a-mist were some of the first seeds I started to grow too, along with nasturtiums (which I mainly grew so as to attract cabbage white butterflies, so I could keep some caterpillars as pets), California poppies, sweet peas, French marigolds and lettuces.

I always love that quote from Gertrude Jekyll 

"The love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies, but grows to the enduring happiness that the love of gardening gives."