Joan sows fern spores that she collected on a recent trip to Linden, Virginia

She and Chris Carley traveled to the G. Richard Thompson Wildlife Management Area  a few miles this side of Front Royal. It's a large site, just under 4,000 acres, and apparently a hot destination for hikers and nature enthusiasts.Trilliums were the target species and they collected a good quantity of Trillium seed,  but they got a number of other things as well, including a white Monarda and this Fern. Joan managed to get completely permitted....for collecting plants and seeds. She did mention to me that there's something that they just missed and she'd like to go back and get it. Lopseed?

There seems to be a lot of Fern production via spores at the USNA lately. I noticed Stefan has produced 3 different flats of plants, Joan has started this flat, and Amanda is going to sow spores from a wonderful Asian Fern that live alongside the path to the Pagoda. First grafting, now spore sowing....we're all over the board.

Hedychium yunnanense just started flowering at the top of China Valley

It's the first Hedychium to flower, even beating our old Hedychium coccineum which has always been first. The more I know this plant, the better I like it. The flowers are colorful without really having any substance and they're pleasantly fragrant, strong but not overwhelming. The plants are shorter and hardier than most species and seem to multiply more rapidly.