A practical step-by-step guide to
Ferns
for home and garden

John Skillcorn

Author: Gillean Dunk
Publisher: Bookmart Ltd., Enderby, Leicester
ISBN: 0-207-17530-6
Price: £8.00 second hand (Amazon)

The Publisher says:
A warning comes with this book - if you're not a fern fancier already, you will be once you've explored its pages. And, as most diehard fanciers will agree, there's no stopping at one species once you've lived successfully with a feathery fern.

With an entertaining text and lavish colour and black and white illustrations, Gillean Dunk tempts us to indulge ourselves and, in a look into the fern's fascinating history, points out that our forebears in Victorian times showed little restraint when faced with the same temptation.

Once you are captivated there is a wealth of practical information on how to propagate and successfully grow ferns in the house, greenhouse or garden.

Ferns are among the oldest known plant forms and there are many thousands of species found throughout the world today. Gillean Dunk has selected and described over 200 species that are most readily available throughout the world through nurseries and specialised growers.

Gillean Dunk is gardening correspondent for the Melbourne Sun-News Pictorial and also writes a monthly column on gardening for Australian Home Beautiful.

My comments:
I've had this book for some time now, and I like it very much.  Although based on the Australian way of life, it is equally applicable to life in Britain and the States.

Many ferns are tolerant of damp conditions, and some of wet conditions.  These are the environments most often met with in vivaria housing Dendrobatid frogs and hence many ferns could serve as cover and decoration in the Dendrobatid environment.   Some filmy and aquatic ferns are dealt with, albeit briefly, but these may prove to be survivors in a warm and wet environment.

The life-cycle of ferns is strange in the plant world.  There are two alternating generations - each one quite different from the other.  This life cycle is covered in this book for those who are interested, as is cultivation techniques for the ferns themselves.  Even hybridising is dealt with although not many people would want to delve this deeply into the keeping of these plants, especially as the techniques involved are not straightforward.

As I said, I like this book and I often delve into it when I have problems with the ferns I grow.  In fact, it is the only book I have that deals specifically with this group of plants.  I can thoroughly recommend it.