You too can grow fabulous ferns

Perfect for highlighting a shady spot in the yard, ferns are a welcome addition alongside a pond or in a rock garden. Here are a few care tips, as well as a list of different ferns you can add to your garden.

Ferns may require supplemental water in dry weather, but once established, they often prosper for years with little care.

• Most hardy ferns prefer dappled rather than deep shade.

The amount of sun a fern tolerates depends on the moisture content of the soil — the wetter the soil, the more sun the plant can handle.

Ferns develop dust-like spores rather than seeds. Unlike seeds, spores have no food reserves and they need a wet environment in which to grow.

• Instead of trying to grow new plants from spores, divide ferns to increase your supply of plants.
• The best time to dig them is early spring, when the new fronds unfurl.
• You can dig and successfully move wild ferns pretty easily, provided you have written permission from the property owner.

• Before you create a new leaf pile in the fall, turn and mix what's left from last year and spread the crumpled, half-rotted leaves over your fern bed.

This mimics the natural habitat of most hardy ferns, which grow in the cushy leaf mulch that covers the forest floor.

• The dry fronds of deciduous ferns protect the base of the plant.

Once the cute, curled fiddleheads show in spring, clip off old fronds at the soil line.

Christmas fern: Evergreen, hardy and great for north-facing slopes.

Cinnamon fern: Tall, reddish-brown "cinnamon stick" fronds followed by tall green ones.

Japanese painted fern: Silvery fronds tinged with red and blue; a great foliage plant for the shade garden.

Japanese red shield fern: Coppery young fronds mature to green, with red spores.

Maidenhair fern: Dark stems and feathery fronds; needs constant moisture.

Ostrich fern: Tall plumes; likes marshy soil beside garden ponds.

Bear's-foot and hare's-foot ferns: Long,"furry" rhizomes at base of fronds; great for hanging baskets.

Bird's-nest fern: Rosette with lobed, flat fronds; easiest fern to grow as a houseplant.

Boston fern: Easy to grow in outdoor hanging baskets; sheds badly when brought indoors.

Japanese holly fern: Shiny, leathery foliage; easy to grow as an indoor-outdoor patio plant.