My Mother, Who Lives In Alabama, Has Been Wanting A…
Mary Asked
My mother, who lives in Alabama, has been wanting a fishtail fern, where the leaves look like a fishtail. I didn’t know what it looked like so I did an Internet search. A little confusing but I believe it’s a Nephrolepis biserrata furcans or Nephrolepis falcata. Anyhow, before my search I had looked in several places, some nurseries, and nobody has heard of it. I didn’t want to risk an online purchase unless I knew exactly what I was getting. So I am hopeful there is somewhere in Kentucky close to my proximity where I could find one. Please help if you can.
The Gardener’s Answer
Hello, Mary in Kentucky: Plant names can certainly be confusing, especially when their names get changed! This fern used to be known as Nephrolepis biserrata ‘Furcans’ and now it goes by Nephrolepis falcata. With forked tips this fern is commonly known as the fishtail fern. It may be considered a hardy fern for your mom depending on what hardiness zone she is gardening in. They are certainly tropicals for us here in Kentucky. They can be grown outdoors year-round in hardiness zones 9 and above. They prefer to grow in part shade and will reach 12-18 inches tall at maturity. As for purchasing one you can always contact the Mercer County Extension Office and ask the horticulture/agriculture agent(s) if they have any local suggestions for you. Their phone number is (859) 734-4378. Unfortunately I am not familiar with the garden centers in your area to give you suggestions. If I were you I would try visiting or calling around to your local garden centers to see if this is a fern they carry or may be willing to special order for you. If they carry tropical plants I am sure they would be happy to try to get one in for you as long as the growers they purchase from have them available. In some cases it is easier for the smaller local owned garden centers to deal with special requests only because they do not have to order in such large quantities. If you do not have any luck locally you might want to check out this online company: www.glasshouseworks.com/fernpage.html
. I do not have any personal experience with this company so I cannot give you an opinion in terms of reliability, but if you cannot find them in your area you might want to go this route.
