With more than 10,500 varieties, ferns have beautified forests, fields, jungles and gardens. Learn how to grow and reproduce ferns at the next Green Thumb Education Series event set for noon-1 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 26, in the Carver Room at the Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St.

Attendees can also join on Zoom by clicking on a link at extension.wsu.edu/clallam.

Clallam County Master Gardener Sara Farinelli will give a brief introduction to ferns and the various ways they reproduce, with a focus on propagation by spores.

“(People) who enjoy growing ornamental and vegetable garden plants from seeds will find this to be another way to satisfy the urge to produce their own garden plants,” she said.

Several years ago, Farinelli took a fern propagation class offered at Kruckeberg Botanical Garden in Shoreline.

“The relative ease of getting the spore to grow and produce a fern came as a surprise and inspired (me) to find out more about this lovely, diverse plant,” she said.

Farinelli has been growing plant starts for the Master Gardener demonstration plots at the 5th Street Community Gardens for the past five years. For her own yard, she also enjoys growing annuals and herbaceous perennials, shrubs and trees from seed, layering, bare root and cuttings. Some of her “fern babies” have been sold at the Master Gardener annual plant sale.

Farinelli has been a Master Gardener since 2016 and has coordinated the creation of the annual Master Gardener Calendar (2024 now available for purchase at clallammgf.org) since 2020. She spends hours in her yard dreaming of the beautiful woodland garden it will someday become.

Sponsored by WSU Clallam County Master Gardeners, the Green Thumbs Garden Tips education series is offered on the second and fourth Thursday each month through October (in November, December and January, one program is offered).

Scheduled presentations are subject to change. Visit the WSU Extension Clallam County website calendar (extension.wsu.edu/clallam) for the latest information on upcoming presentations.

For more information, call 360-565-2679.