Dicksonia-- tree fern

by kelly
(Parksville, British Columbia, Canada)

Hi doug,
I want to plant three Dicksonia in a grouping in a shaded area of my garden in parksville, British Columbia. Will they over winter here in my zonal area, and additionally without laborious amendments to prevent them from aesthetic winter damage? Where is the best place to find/purchase Dicksonia affordably? Is it possible to buy them already somewhat advanced in size? (larger than a five or ten gallon pot). Please also if you would also be so kind as to debunk the myths about how-much-or-how-little true daily (sun) light they need to successfuly grow.
My thanks,
Kelly

Doug says that "in general" you're looking at a temperature of 15F as the bottom temperature for D. antarctica. If you get that without protection, i.e. mulch or full snow cover, then the odds are you'll lose it. Having said that, the provenance of the plant is critical. If you get yours from Australian stock, then it's not going to be as hardy as if you got it right from the sub-Antarctic islands themselves.

As for growing conditions, it is a native of cool, damp forests. So the more you mimic these conditions, the better the plant will thrive. It is a remarkably adaptive plant however (hence the source of tons of differing how-to information) and will grow anywhere it doesn't freeze. The really fun thing that confuses folks is that the hotter the garden area, the more shade it demands. So the amount of sun you can give it is going to be more than the that of more Southerly gardens.

As for the "where" you can buy this kind of plant - unfortunately, I don't track sources across the Net. Way too many plants and too many nurseries to even beging to track them.