I have had an issue with the darker parts of my front garden (refer to previous post) and two days ago I was very much of a mind to just abandon the area under the hedge to its own devices because it was my view that no self-respecting flower would want to live there never mind actually enjoy growing there.

Hostas love the shade but slugs and snails love hostas and we’ve had our fair share of those molluscs in our garden in the past so there really was no point in parting with my money to feed those creatures that can sniff out a hosta or a lupin from miles away.

So, are there any plants that both look interesting, if not beautiful, enjoy the dark and aren’t on every snail’s radar?

I doubted it two days ago but when I thought about it, of course there are. Not everyone needs a giant ball of fire millions of miles away beating down on them to thrive. Some people actually like to be curled up safely in cosy, dark corners in a dressing gown with the blinds drawn. Cue the fern family ((Pteridophyta).

Ferns are rather fabulous plants in their own strange way. They love shady, damp patches (though they have been known to flourish on rocky mountaintops and open plains too), they are one of the oldest plant species, have medicinal properties, are self-sufficient, have no flowers or seeds and, something I didn’t know, they are often used to remediate contaminated soils. They are a joy to behold with their fronds unfurling gradually from a tight spiral. But above all, they are happy and even thrive in shady spaces.

It doesn’t seem to bother them at all that they are rarely even noticed, they don’t seem to hanker after the “oohs and ahhs” so craved by the big-blossomed peonies or fragrant and perfectly formed hybrid teas. They are happy in their own skin, happy beneath a hedge, quietly, unobtrusively useful in many, many ways and, if you take the time to seek them out in their dark, damp corners, get to understand them, you’ll find that these shy, retiring plants really are rather special.