One good fern deserves another....
One local fern that always makes me smile is the Rainbow Fern (Calochlaena dubia). It is more or less impossible to grow if you try, but just pops up in places that suit it
So many of the plants that turn up by themselves in urban gardens are (ugh) weeds, of one kind or another. They're generally unwelcome, and often extremely hard to eradicate. But there are a few exceptions that I've learned over a decade or so of Illawarra gardening, and they include some attractive and resilient local ferns that you just can't buy in a nursery or garden shop.
There are more than 100 species of fern that grow naturally in the region – everything from massive Tree Ferns to the tiny Necklace Fern – so if you've got a funny-looking fern in that damp bottom corner of the garden, or popping up in the narrow strip of land beside the carport, it could be a local native! And it might even be something a little bit rare and special!
One local fern that always makes me smile is the Rainbow Fern (Calochlaena dubia). It is more or less impossible to grow if you try, but just pops up in places that suit it, often on exposed rocky or sandy slopes. At its best it looks lush and elegant, forming broad, spreading clumps up to around a metre high.
We had it appear along our driveway within a few months of redoing our garden as 100% native, and it looked simply splendid for about five years before vanishing in a puff of spores, never to be seen again. Yet, on the south side of the hill behind our place, it's still present in absolute profusion. A fern mystery!
We generally think of ferns as delicate and difficult to grow, and I guess that's true if we accept certain gardening conventions (each plant growing more or less on its own, no leaf mulch present, poisons used to control unwanted plants). And I've killed many a Maidenhair Fern in my time. But in my recent experience, some of the local ferns are incredibly tough, Rainbow Fern among them.
With the swing to localism, there's an amazing opportunity to look round your patch and see what ferns are present, and cultivate them. There are very few introduced/weedy ferns, so most likely any ferns you can see are local natives.
They're a sign that local biodiversity is still alive and kicking in your area, and a chance to help create or recreate local habitat, for insects, amphibians, birds and mammals. They may be hard to identify, but there are plenty of local resources to help if you're keen.
Emma Rooksby is the coordinator of the Growing Illawarra Natives website
