Re: moss

Hello Ralph,
    You will find that moss is partial to cerrtain rock types and
formations.  I find it very easy to encourage the native mosses here at the
base of the Cascade Mountains to grow on all types of coarse lava, tufa, and
crumbly granite.  The smooth boulders on  my river bank, basalt,
seerpentine, and other very hard polished rock types aare not conducive to
moss colonization.  I can drape moss carpets peeled from the lawn or the
Acer macrophyllum on them but they never really adhere to the rocks
themselves.
    If you can incorporate some of the wonderful limestone that I have seen
in the southeastern US into the garden I have found that the pieces I have
brought home have been colonized quite readily by the native Pacific
Northwest mosses.  I have even sown spores directly on pumice, tufa, and
scoria, covered with a plastic cover and grown ferns directly into the
rocks.
    Providing lots of pockets and overhaging ledges with your rock work will
provide wonderful habitat for the small rock ferns.
Happy ferning, Judith@fancyfronds.com

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