← Writing

Garden 9 min

Polystichum munitum

On sword ferns, an eponymous hybrid, and learning to see what is everywhere

---

Becoming inured to its beauty is a sad thing. We are blessed to have this plant growing here and cursed if we can't see it. As a foreigner himself — from southern California — I suppose Art never lost his appreciation for this beautiful fern the way I had. It was important to the Kruckebergs to maintain as much of the native flora as possible as a sort of scaffold upon which to build a garden of specimen plants.