Six fantastic ferns for the home
Ferns comes in all sorts of forms, from frilly and airy to glossy and structural. There's a wide variety of ferns highly suitable for use as house plants. What's more, these are excellent plants for filtering the air being highly effective at removing toxins from the home and office. Caring for ferns
Most ferns require very little in the way of care, provided you follow some basic rules. They generally enjoy low light conditions, which is a great bonus as they will be happy in situations that don't suit most house plants. The other important element is water. You only have to look into a shady bank or ditch outside to realise that
ferns enjoy damp conditions and although indoor ferns are slightly different to native ferns, they also like damp soil. Consistency is key don't allow your fern to dry out if you can avoid it. Here's six of the best ferns for style and presence:
Epiphyllum anguliger is the fishbone cactus or zig zag plant. It makes a great hanging house plant fern and looks good spilling from a shelf. This fern is also known as the fishbone or moon cactus. It has zig-zag foliage that looks rather like a zip and it responds well to a hanging environment where its fronds can splay out in a pleasingly structural manner.
This staghorn fern has been set into a hanging kokedama pot, which gives it an extra special appeal These ferns are highly unusual and a real talking point if they are mounted on something interesting such as a piece of driftwood. These plants are jungle dwellers that are
epiphytic, meaning that they live on other plants and trees, extracting all they need from the air and the environment.
They have two types of foliage, the fronds which look rather like antlers and overlapping shield fronds at the base which are there to protect the roots. These should not be removed when they turn brown.
Microsorum musifolium 'Crocodyllus' are also known as the crocodile ferns because of the distinctive markings on the foliage. This delightful plant is known as the
crocodile fern. The texture of the leaf is very much like a crocodiles skin because of its curious veins. This fern is another epiphytic plant which lives on trees. It comes from New Guinea and Malaysia jungles and loves high humidity. It looks great spilling from a shelf or a shady windowsill.
Nephrolepsis exaltata 'Green Lady' is a charming indoor fern that has lush fronds. This is a fern that everyone will recognise.
The Green Lady fern is so easy to care for and is one of the best for absorbing toxins and producing oxygen. Great in offices and near computers because it helps to absorb radioactivity and static energy, the green fronds are lush and beautiful.
Looking for a graceful fern? Adiantum is the one for you. This house plant is known as the
maidenhair fern. It is a graceful little number with finely divided foliage which shimmers in moving air. Another shade lover which likes damp (but not boggy) soil, it acts as a highly effective air filter and looks so beautiful too.
The Asparagus Fern, Plumosus, makes an interesting house plant which can also be used for flower arrangements. This fern is also known as the
Asparagus fern. It makes a highly effective house plant and in fact it can tolerate higher light conditions and drier compost than most other ferns. It originates from South Africa and is an elegant, wispy plant. The foliage is popular for flower arrangers.
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