Fern Feathers

When I was at Brookside Gardens in late March, I thought at first I was seeing feathers sticking out of the brown bald cypress and moss mulch. But it was dried ferns from last fall! They were close to the boardwalk – protected from being stepped on because they were lower than where everyone walked.

I looked at the structure more closely and it was obvious they were ferns that had simply dried and remained standing.

Some of them almost glowed in the dappled sunlight that

Made its way through the still bare branches of the trees above.

I wonder how long they will last into the spring and summer. I’ll look for them again each time I go to Brookside.