First ferns of the season

I've returned home today after spending a couple of days away to discover that the first of the fern spores that I sowed on Easter Sunday have already started growing enough to show up as green fuzzy patches. I don't think I've ever managed to get any to develop this quickly before, but my previous attempts have been in a cool north-facing room whereas they are now in a warm south-westerly facing room. Dyce says that they can appear within a week or two (or take months) so whilst this is unprecedented for me, its clearly nothing special. This knowledge does not, of course, make it any less exciting.

Species that have shown up are:

• Dicksonia antartica
  
• Dryopteris cambriensis
• Dryopteris carthusiana
  
• Dryopteris oreades

none of which I have grown before.

At the moment, the polythene bags preclude any good 'photos, but one there are some real prothalli to show, I'll take some pictures and upload them.

My A. hispidulum seems to be doing well and has really brightened up my desk. The new fronds (there are 3 at various stages of uncurling) are very pale, though, with no real brown colour to them. Altman says this may be a sign of too much water, so I'll hold back on the water for a couple of days - the compost is still just about moist to the touch at the moment.

Robert Harris: The Ghost

WOW

read it!

That's all I'm going to say.