The Plant Lover's Guide to Ferns - Hardcover

by Richie Steffen (Author), Sue Olsen (Author)

Ferns are easy to grow and readily available in big box stores, garden centers, and mail-order nurseries, making them a popular ornamental among new and advanced gardeners. Perfect for containers, borders, layered gardens, foliage accents, and shady areas, ferns come in a range of colors and varieties. The Plant Lover's Guide to Ferns, by fern enthusiasts Richie Steffen and Sue Olsen, is packed with information on these reliable plants. The book includes profiles for 134 plants, with information on growth and propagation, advice on using ferns in garden design, and lists of where to buy the plants and where to view them in public gardens.

Front Jacket

Ferns are renowned for their diversity and shade tolerance. But these captivating foliage plants can also play many different roles in the garden. They add rich texture and detail to shady landscapes, and are perfect for softening edges and creating pleasing transitions. Their often brilliantly colored new fronds delight the eye with tones of green, gold, bronze, and copper. Experts Richie Steffen and Sue Olsen offer astute advice on how to get the most out of these versatile plants and highlight the most rewarding varieties.

Author Biography

Richie Steffen is curator of the Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden in Seattle, Washington where he oversees development, manages the special collections, and oversees greatplantpicks.org. He travels extensively to collect plants and visit gardens, and regularly lectures and writes. Steffen also serves as president of the Northwest Horticultural Society and the Hardy Fern Foundation.
Sue Olsen developed a love of ferns in the late 1960s and has been studying, propagating, and writing about them ever since. Her fern nursery, Foliage Gardens, has introduced numerous ferns to North American horticulture and is the oldest mail-order nursery in the United States for spore-grown temperate ferns. Sue was a founding member and first president of the Hardy Fern Foundation, and has served since then as editor of Hardy Fern? Quarterly. Her interest and joy in photography date back to childhood and the gift of a simple box camera. She has shared her photos and plant knowledge in lectures in England and throughout North America. Sue is a graduate of Cornell University.