Older than Old

This is my favorite plant waking up this spring. You can almost catch a fern first poking from the dirt, then lazily stretching out it's fronds one by one. Doesn't this one look like it's still a bit dozy---needs a cup of coffee, don't bother it yet?

Ferns are the most basic of plants---were some of the first on the planet. That makes them different and special. They don't depend on anything else to pollinate or breed---a bit of wind and everything's all taken care of; the billions of spores are carried off.

But just because the flowers are missing doesn't mean that the plants are not beautiful. There is nothing more entrancing and tropical than a landscape of ferns---especially in this section of Indiana.

Ferns---ancient plants unfolding in Indiana today.