Have you noticed that there are a few horticultural ideas that are ubiquitous staples in books, blogs and catalogues, yet you barely ever see in gardens? These range from outdoor aubergine plants loaded with fruit on our blustery North Atlantic islands, to advice on getting poinsettias to reflower year after year instead of inevitably giving up the ghost before the Christmas decorations are down. In my experience at least, I feel I am more likely to see a unicorn than any of these in reality. However, sometimes – just sometimes – you meet an excellent gardener who gives you a simple tip that changes everything. So here is why I no longer count the notoriously finicky indoor maidenhair ferns (Adiantum sp) on my “unicorn plants” list.
A few years back, I was lucky enough to be invited to record a feature for Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time at fellow panel member Anne Swithinbank’s house in Devon. Now, Anne has been one of my horticultural heroes since I was a child, so, for me, going to see her famous collection of houseplants was a bit like going to Poison Ivy’s supervillain lair. However, of all her indoor gardening wonders, I was truly spellbound to see her indoor adiantum. In a large bowl, its feathery locks cascaded down in perfect emerald green, giving me a flashback to seeing the same species in the wild in mossy jungle gorges. Just magical. But how did she do it?
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