Avid plant dad cultivates staghorn fern paradise in Tamsui

Avid plant dad cultivates staghorn fern paradise in Tamsui

2023-04-03

今天,帶大家去淡水的一座花園,一位迷上鹿角蕨的日式餐廳老闆,花了三年左右的時間,種植了上千株大小不同的鹿角蕨,現在已對外開放給民眾參觀,一起來瞧瞧。
If you are a proud plant parent here’s a story for you. Today, we will take you to a garden hidden in the mountains of Tamsui, built by a Japanese restaurant owner who fell in love with staghorn ferns. In around three years, he has grown over 1,000 staghorn ferns of all varieties and sizes in his garden, which is now open to the public to visit. FTV reporter Stephany Yang takes us in for a look!

At this garden in Tamsui, there are over 1,000 staghorn ferns. Native to Asia and Australia, staghorn ferns got their name due to their resemblance to elk or deer antlers. This one is their biggest fern, the queen staghorn. One specimen takes around 10 years to grow to its full size.

Sabrina Wang
PR
A queen stagorn fern takes about two years or two and a half years to grow to this size. The largest ones can grow to the size of a two-to-three-story tall building. There are 18 species of staghorn ferns. How do you pick a beautiful one? The main thing is to see whether the bud is healthy. It’s not about the leaves. The lighter green the bud is, and if it pops up, the healthier it is.

Another popular staghorn here is the Ridley’s staghorn fern, which greatly resembles a monkey’s brain. Coming in different sizes and shapes, these staghorn ferns were all planted and cared for by Wang Kuo-hua, a successful restaurant owner with several Japanese restaurant chains under his belt. It’s a team effort with his daughter, who is in charge of social media marketing for the garden. The pandemic had a major impact on his restaurants, which is why he decided to start planting his own staghorn ferns. The fruits of his care are now on view for anyone who wants to visit.

Sabrina Wang
PR
We started in the restaurant industry, but due to some changes during the pandemic, we started planting staghorn ferns. At first, it was my father’s hobby, but under the impact of the pandemic on the restaurant industry, it gradually became a therapeutic activity. It only took us two years from planting the first staghorn fern to now, the 1,000th.

Wang says staghorn ferns can grow both indoors and outdoors in low to medium light and moderate moisture. Outdoor plants should be located in spaces with partial shade or low light conditions, while indoor plants need bright indirect light. To water the staghorns, they submerge them into a bucket of water.

Sabrina Wang
PR
Staghorn ferns originally grow in forests, attached to trees, so they like environments that are partially shady and humid. So, I will suggest that if you want to take one home to grow, the most important thing is the environment. We don’t want it to be too hot. What it likes is filtered light. If it is planted indoors, it must be equipped with growing lights. You don’t have to water it that regularly.

Here in this greenhouse garden, one designer is in charge of decorating the staghorn ferns by putting them on boards.

Sabrina Wang
PR
In the future, we want to combine our garden with a restaurant. Our greenhouse is 200 ping, and the restaurant, which will be built outside in the future, is still under construction.

The Wang family is currently in the process of building a restaurant next to their garden, serving desserts, drinks and small snacks. Not only will there be staghorn ferns, there will also be a variety of other flowers. The family hopes that their garden restaurant can be a new scenic hotspot in Tamsui.