Finlarg Hill: a fernery

Dryopteris filix-mas from Kohler's Medizinal Pflanzen

This 19th Century botanical print gives a taste of the elegance of Male Fern, one of the most widespread ferns of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the commonest shield fern native to Colorado (which is a bit of a joke--there are only two shield ferns native to the state--and the other is extremely rare!). Male fern is actually quite local and sporadic in its occurrence in my state--and I have always enjoyed stumbling on new colonies (of which only a few dozen are known to tell the truth). And even in its most lavish Colorado presence--around Boulder for instance--you are not apt to find more than a dozen or so specimens at a site, and these are modest in size and stature. So you can imagine my delight and amazement when I found THESE a few days ago while driving through Angus with Carole Bainbridge, president of the Scottish Rock Garden Society:

 

Male ferns on Finlarg Hill

 This is actually a closeup--the full scope of the hillside is shown a bit more fully in the next two pictures--and even they don't take in all the hill or all the plants. Each one of those clumps of male fern are probably over a meter tall and many a meter wide or more. The magic of the Web is such that you can click on this link and you can get a precise map of this hill--so you can wend your way there one day and marvel as I did at the profusion of ferns!




Male ferns on Finlarg Hill photographed from Lumley Den

Mind you, this is only half the hill--check out the next picture for the other half (including the carcass of a car that got distracted--possibly by the ferns?). I have been beguiled, becharmed and just generally besotted by Scotland since I first visited in April of 1981. I am not sure what delights me more: the verdant countryside and quaint villages, the grandeur of Edinburgh and the wonderful history, the incredibly melodious and poetic Scottish burr--and the friendliness of the Scots (I think I find the style of the Scottish people just about the most congenial of any nationality: they are incredibly friendly without being overly effusive, they are constitutionally cheerful and very funny and there is an authenticity and a power in their interactions that is utterly unique: the Scots are simply wonderful). And the Scottish place names! Finlarg Hill and Lumley Den are just the start...do scan that map: Tarbrax, Huntingfauds, Gallowfaud, Brighty...on and on they go--one more colorful name than the next. That's Scotland in a nutshell!

 

During the week I spent in Scotland I doubt the daytime temperature rose much above 20C a single time (that's roughly 66F): I came back to Denver with near 100F temps and warm nights not much below the warmest temperature I experienced in Scotland: it was like coming back to a blast furnace!

 

Last night it rained quite hard--if only for a few minutes (maybe a quarter inch precipitation) and this morning I felt a gentle kiss of Scotland on my cheek as I looked out at my garden. I suspect I shall be treading Finlarg hill in my imagination quite a bit in the coming, toasty weeks!