The Rockland Botanical Garden,

Berks County, Pennsylvania

TheRockland Botanical Garden is the privately owned study garden of Mr.&Mrs. John D. Scott, Berks County Pennylvania. The Garden was createdin 1977 from four acres of old corn field and nine acres of lumberedwoodland.Collectionscurrently being developed include over 450 conifers,200 hardy ferns,and a nine acre native woodland garden with approximately one mile ofmaintainedtrails. Thepurpose of the Rockland Botanical Garden is to provide systematic andecological plant collections for study by students in the field.An extensive fern library and anherbarium of the Garden's plants are being developed. Also underdevelopment is a computer file of fern literature and fernnames.

Theproperty was selected because of the many varied microhabitats. Four acresof old cornfield provide a sunny area for the conifer collection and anorganized dicot collection. Artificial habitats include a limestone cobbleand a serpentine barrens.There is a small stream and a large spring fed bog. A nine acrewoodland contains several hundred indigenous plants native to BerksCounty. Most notable plants include Botrychium matricariaefolium, Orchisspectabilis, and Habenaria lacera. The large list of indigenous pteridophytes was made duringthe first few years of surveying the woods. To that collection has beenadded native North American ferns. There is a small section of the woodsdevoted to Japanese wildflowers and ferns.The ferns have been purchasedmainly from Fancy Fronds, Foliage Gardens., Siskiyou Gardens, andWildwood.While the hardinessmap places the Garden in Zone 6, most of the purchased ferns listed asZone 6 do not winter over or send up fronds in June and July.If the hardinesses of the fernsare correct, we have a microclimate of Zone5.5.

Winter Pictures Spring Pictures in the woods Summer Pictures

Fern Pictures Fern List Article on Christmas Ferns

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