In 2015, Eduardo Berti spent several weeks in residence at the University Hospital Centre in Rouen, France, observing and conversing with the staff of its palliative care department. From that experience he created this series of lightly fictionalized testimonials from nurses, nursing aides, doctors, administrators, social workers, volunteers, and the other people who make the unit tick. The result is a distinctly intimate and often poignant portrait of sickness and care, an unflinching look at death through the eyes of the people who work with it every day - but also a profound reflection on what it means to be alive.

The Complete Book of Ferns is filled with botanical information, indoor and outdoor growing and care information, details on propagation, display ideas, and even craft projects. This gorgeous book is authored by Mobee Weinstein, the Foreman of Gardeners at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx and a veteran guest on the Martha Stewart Living TV show and other media outlets. Houseplants in general are in ascendance, but no category is hotter than ferns. From the otherworldly Staghorns—mounted like antler trophies in homes throughout the world—to the classic Boston Ferns and newer varieties like Crispy Wave, ferns are definitely back in fashion. And to no one’s surprise. After all, ferns are among the very oldest plants on the planet, with a long and storied history. There are tens of thousands of known varieties of ferns. In the Victorian Era, ferns created an absolute craze for more than 50 years. They re-emerged as integral home décor accessories in the '50s and '60s, and who didn’t spend time in a "Fern Bar" back in the '80s? And they are back again. This comprehensive reference starts its examination of ferns 400 million years ago, when the first species of this group of spore-reproducing plants appeared on Earth, exploring their evolution and eventual incorporation into human culture, including the powers associated with them and their practical and ornamental uses. Then, after an exploration of fern botany—its parts, how it grows, its variability in size and form, habitats, propagation, etc.—you'll learn how to green your indoor and outdoor environments with ferns. Every aspect of fern care is covered: potting/planting, watering, fertilizing, pest and disease control, and more. With this knowledge absorbed, explore creative planting projects, like terrariums, vertical gardens (living walls), mixed tabletop gardens, and moss baskets. To make your survey of ferns complete, create pressed fern art, fabric wall hangings with chlorophyll-stained designs, cyanotypes, and hand-made fern-decorated paper. In the end, you will understand why this ancient plant class continues to be all the rage.

An up-to-date reference lists and describes more than nine hundred ferns for gardens in a range of climates, with concise descriptions, habitat information, cultivation, climate conditions, and nearly seven hundred full-color photographs.

Three hundred million years ago, ferns dominated the earth's surface, forming extensive marshes and forests with heights of over twenty-five meters. Today, ferns and their allies are still abundantly represented in the plant world, with somewhere between 10,000 and 12,000 species identified and recognized. These nonflowering, nonseeding, highly vascular plants make up a major and ancient division in the plant kingdom called Pteridophytes. In the state of Pennsylvania, one can find more than 100 species of these highly specialized plants. While ferns are by far the largest division of the Pteridophyte group in the state, horsetails, clubmosses, spikemosses, and quillworts are the lesser-known members, frequently misidentified as relatives of more modern flowering plants. With more than 190 color photographs and descriptions of 96 different plants, recognizing each Pteridophyte is a relatively easy matter. The photos of the plants show them growing in their natural settings, which helps to establish a clearer picture of the common characteristics of the families and their likely habitats. Maps illustrate the distribution of the various species throughout the counties of Pennsylvania and across the United States. Taxonomic keys are also included for each of the groups to assist in identifying the plants based on their biology. Finally, the book provides the most common local names for the plants, making it useful for both the amateur naturalist and the professional botanist.

"A fascinating literary foray" - Canadian Gardening "This rarefied botanical pursuit is usually considered a British eccentricity, but Ms. Whittingham has turned up much proof that it reached American shores." - The New York Times "One of those remarkable tales you never knew you needed to read and that, once begun, you never want to put down" - Dallas Morning News Pteridomania or Fern Fever took a frantic hold in Britain from the 1840s. It was a craze fostered by an array of books and magazines and special equipment designed for fern hunting trips and the cultivation of the finds in delicate fern cases. Sarah Whittingham has searched every nook and cranny for her subject, finding ferns in splendid glazed ferneries, Pulhamite grottoes and decoratively across every imaginable surface in the Victorian home. You would sit on your Coalbrookdale 'Fern and blackberry' garden bench and sup from your Ridgway 'Maiden Hair Fern' dinner service. The industrious Victorians lavished much love and care (and knowledge) on their beautiful fern albums. This ravishing book shines a sympathetic light on an enthusiasm that looks as if it might well take hold again.

Ferns are easy to grow and readily available in big box stores, garden centers, and mail-order nurseries, making them a popular ornamental among new and advanced gardeners. Perfect for containers, borders, layered gardens, foliage accents, and shady areas, ferns come in a range of colors and varieties. The Plant Lover’s Guide to Ferns, by fern enthusiasts Richie Steffen and Sue Olsen, is packed with information on these reliable plants. The book includes profiles for 134 plants, with information on growth and propagation, advice on using ferns in garden design, and lists of where to buy the plants and where to view them in public gardens.

Fern Fever (or Pteridomania, to give it its official name), hit Britain between 1837 and 1914 and peaked between 1840 and 1890. Although in previous centuries ferns played an important role in customs and folklore, it was only in this period that they were coveted for aesthetic reasons and that man's passion for them reached its zenith. The craze for collecting ferns reached such epidemic proportions that it affected the very existence of some species. The fern craze started to gather momentum in the 1840s; books and magazines maintained that fern growing was a hobby that anyone could enjoy as ferns would grow in the glazed fernery, garden, shady yard, window box or even indoors in Wardian Cases. The mania also spread from the living plant to depicting it in architecture and the decorative arts. Even roads, villas and terraced houses were named after the fern. This book, the first to deal exclusively with the subject for nearly forty years, looks at the how the craze developed, the ways in which ferns were incorporated into garden and home, and the spread of the fern through Victorian material and visual culture.