When it comes to the maidenhair fern, there seem to be two types of people, says Allister Girvan – those who can keep them alive and those who can't.
His family are definitely the former, as demonstrated by the 100-year-old maidenhair fern that's passed through three generations.
maidenhair fern Photo: Allec Gomes / Pexels
Allister Girvan's grandfather Eugene at home in Nelson with his maidenhair fern Photo: Supplied
In the 1960s, Allister's grandfather Eugene was given his mother's maidenhair fern when it was already over 30 years old.
In later years, the gigantic soft fern was a fixture of his Napier home which Allister regularly visited.
'Every visit to Nana and Grandpops was to that lounge where he's sitting."
When Eugene and his wife went into care homes and their house was left vacant, the maidenhair dried up, he says, but when his aunt placed its pot in her garden, it sprang back to life.
As to why some maidenhair ferns seem to have more of a death wish, Allister isn't sure. He and his friends from the Indoor Plants NZ Facebook group joke that they react badly to attention.
"It's kind of a joke between us all that you need to not ever talk to [maidenhair ferns]. Don't look at them, don't take photos of them, don't skite about them … just ignore them and let them do their thing."
Allister says he does nothing special in caring for his antique maidenhair fern and his other 67 plants and cuttings. He just keeps their soil damp - but not moist - and waters them from the bottom.
Don't panic too soon if your fern is looking bleak, he says – it may not be the end.
"I often wonder how many [maidenhairs] get thrown out just because they look like they've died.
"If they die back just keep the soil damp and eventually they start sprouting again."
Allister – who has looked after plants since he was a child – says his own growing adventures don't compare to other members of the Indoor Plants NZ Facebook group.
"There's some amazing stuff and some amazing people who are doing much better than I am."
Listen - Aotearoa's 19th-century viral fern craze
Photo: From whatsthatpicture from Hanwell, London, UK, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
