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Giant Staghorn Fern

Articles: Giant Staghorn Fern

John Ziesenhenne (center) together with Jaime Jensen (left), lead gardener at MCBG, and Peter Baker (right) gardener at MCBG, pose with the fern before the botanical giant was installed. Photo: Roxanne Perkins

An unusually large, award-winning epiphytic fern has found a new home at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens (MCBG). John and Monique Ziesenhenne gifted the 51-year-old Platycerium bifurcatum, or staghorn fern, after reaching out to the garden community. They sought an organization that would keep the fern intact as an educational display for the public. The couple chose MCBG from a number of interested gardens and arboretums as the most suitable recipient for the impressive specimen.

John raised the fern from a single frond given to him as a boy by his uncle, world-renowned begonia grower Rudy Ziesenhenne. “I brought it home and made a wood backing with chicken wire holding the plant onto the board and added peat moss behind the plant to keep it moist,” John explained. “Occasionally, I would throw banana peels into the plant for food when it was smaller.”

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