Q:On a garden tour of Santa Barbara, I saw a large, flourishing staghorn fern, a veritable green fountain mounted on a wooden plank on a wall. I was so impressed that I bought a small one, which is on ...

Q. We have a large staghorn fern that has become hollow inside and is hanging from a tree. Should I fill the hollow and what type of fertilizer is needed? A. Hollows and voids inside older staghorns ...

If you”ve ever seen something that looks like a hunting trophy but is in shades of green, you can rest assured that it is not of animal origin. More than likely you”re gazing upon a staghorn fern, a ...

Staghorn ferns (Platycerium species) are epiphytes, plants that hold on to tree trunks or branches. They have two kinds of fronds: flat, roundish sterile ones that turn brown and papery as they age, ...

Staghorn ferns hang from trees or rocks and glean nutrients and moisture from the air. At home, they can be mounted on wood or fit into wire baskets with wet sphagnum. (Submitted photo) One of my best ...

I have a huge staghorn fern that is getting too big for me to protect during the winter. Can I divide it and share it with friends? Yes, and in the process you can delight friends who have been ...

Q. I have a large staghorn fern that needs to be separated but before I do this I would like to get rid of the ants that have infested it. How can I do this safely? Is there any way of keepng them out ...

A question for Dan Gill: A dear friend gave me a staghorn fern four or five years ago, and it now seems to have fallen on hard times. The round ball out of which the antlers grow seems to be ...

QUESTION: I’ve been told to feed banana peels to my large staghorn fern. Should it also be given a regular fertilizer? ANSWER: Banana peels can contribute lots of potassium and a little phosphorus to ...

BIG DOGS: In the 1970s, a co-worker gave Jerry Becnel Sr. a few little staghorn fern pups, the small reproducing pieces of the unusual tropical fern. More than 40 years later, Becnel and his wife, Jo ...

Otto von Bismarck, the powerful diplomatic deal-maker of 19th century Europe, is famously quoted as saying that politics is “the art of the possible.” Horticulture, by contrast, could be defined as ...

Q. I have a large staghorn fern attached to a tree in a southern exposure, but the sun is blocked by the house next door. It started to get brown spots, and I was told they were aphids. I bought a ...