Hard Fern in my garden

There is a lot of Hard Fern (Blechnum spicant) in the Boggy Brae garden. Like several other species of fern, it thrives on our damp, acid hillside. I like them and I'm slowly learning more about them. The photos in this blog post show how Blechnum spicant changes through the year.

29 April: evergreen infertile fronds that over-wintered
and new fertile fronds unfurling

11 May: the tall red stems of the fertile fronds
show above the lower-growing inertile fronds

6 June: I took this photo because I liked the light

6 August: the largest plant –
a metre wide and a metre high

Same plant 11 Aug: different angle
near the base of a downy birch tree

16 Aug: light green infertile fronds
and dark-stemmed, narrow-leaved fertile fronds

16 Aug: if you enlarge this pic you'll just be able to see
the sori on the backs of the leaves.
Can't take a better pic at the moment as it's raining