1 The covered porch on the side of my house that overlooks the farm is the perfect place to hang big baskets of ferns, in particular, Boston ferns and staghorn ferns.
2 I love the way these lush green ferns catch the sunlight.
3 Now that autumn has arrived and the temperatures are growing cooler, these ferns, which are native to the tropics, will soon be moved into a heated greenhouse for the winter.
4 The staghorn is one of my favorite types of ferns, and probably one of the most unusual. The leaves of many of the members of the staghorn genus - Platycerium - are antler-like in appearance rather than like a typical fern’s foliage.
5 These hanging ferns are growing on wire baskets filled with sphagnum moss. They were attached to the basket with monofilament, or fishing line.
6 Like orchids, staghorn ferns are epiphytic, which means that they don't need soil to grow in.
7 This staghorn is sharing its hanging basket with another fern called a maidenhair, a delicate variety.
8 And this one has trailing ivy cascading down.
9 Native to the jungles of the Philippines, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Australia, Madagascar, Africa, and the Americas, these plants are well suited for growing in warm and humid climates.
10 In their natural environment, staghorns attach themselves to tree trunks, branches, or rocks and get their nutrition primarily from air and water.
11 The leaves of ferns are called fronds and the staghorn grows two very different types of fronds.
12 Sterile fronds are flat and roundish and are located at the base of the plant.
13 The sterile fronds start out green and fade to brown.
14 Emerging from the basal fronds are long and leathery antler-like fertile fronds, which form reproductive spores on the underside.
15 Here's a good example of those reproductive spores, which are brown in color and are produced on the undersides of the fertile fronds.
16 In their natural habitat, the spores are released and carried by the wind. If they land on a moist and suitable location, they will begin the next generation of staghorn ferns.
17 But staghorns can also reproduce by means of 'pups' which are small plantlets that mature plants produce.
18 This was a pup, detached from its parent and is now growing mounted on a wooden board. It hangs on the house on a brass screw with strong picture wire attached to the backside of the board.
19 The pups were placed over a bed of damp sphagnum moss and secured to the board with monofilament. The fern will eventually attach itself to the board and will also form new growth, covering the fishing line.
20 This is a great shot of a sterile frond with the emerging fertile fronds. The flat shield covers root-like structures that attach to supports.
21 As the sterile fronds turn brown, it's important to leave them intact. Besides holding the plant in place, the spaces between the layers of sterile fronds attract water and decaying vegetation, supplying moisture and humus to the plant.
22 This is a good example of how new pups were formed and allowed to mature into adult plants. This staghorn will need to be mounted onto a larger structure - perhaps a hanging wire basket.
23 Spanish moss is another kind of epiphyte which absorbs water and nutrients from the air. In fact, it's commonly referred to as an 'air plant.'
24 This Spanish moss shares a piece of bark with an small orchid, another epiphyte.
25 This gigantic and incredible staghorn fern was a gift from my television crew about 15 years ago. It was a specimen that had been growing in an old greenhouse for about 80 years.
26 This mass of ferns has been living all that time attached to an old ceramic drainpipe. Because of its size, the greenhouse is its permanent home.