Off to Far Reaches Farm, to see ferns

Ah Far Reaches Farm, such great plants, so far away. Thankfully Kelly Dodson and Sue Milliken (owners of Far Reaches) aren't afraid to hit the road, and have brought plants down to many a sale in the Portland area. I've also made the trek up to the nursery, first in 2012, then 2013 and again in 2018. They've not kept regular retail hours since COVID though, so getting to visit with the Hardy Fern Foundation (and tour those off-limits greenhouses!) was a fantastic opportunity...

screenshot from the Far Reaches Farm website

The group gathered in the former sales area of the nursery (Andrew dropped me off just inside the gate and I took this photo as I walked in) and enjoyed snacks and tables of plants available for purchase.
Gladiolus 'Ruby'
You'll notice there are a few of those gladiolus in the flats of plants our group had purchased in advance.
I remember a talk Kelly and Sue gave years ago and Kelly telling the story of a customer's spouse building this shade building so he'd have a spot to wait for his wife to shop. True? I have no idea, but it's fun to imagine.
Crambe maritima
Under the shade structure...
Once we were all gathered Kelly and Sue spoke and then turned things over to Silas Zoeller (collections manager for Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy) who shared his thoughts. After that we toured the crevice garden (that will be Monday's post) and then walked to the new shade house, which you can see in the photo at the top of the post on the far left (although I think that might actually be a temporary structure, pre-lathhouse).
Inside the shade structure...
Looking the opposite direction...
And a few close ups, this gorgeous thing is labeled as Drynaria sp. MD 12. 
You'll see similar throughout this (extremely long) post. MD is for Sue Milliken and Kelly Dodson. They are very upfront about not being fern experts and never setting out to collect and grow ferns. It just happened, cause ferns are cool. They are still trying to get proper ID on a lot of the ferns they've collected in their travels.
This one is Drynaria sp. MD 17-69. It's actually available for purchase and I almost took the leap, almost (questionable hardiness being the issue, and money, of course).
The first drynaria from another angle. The hypertufa wall was inspired by a talk given by Remko Beuving for the Hardy Fern Foundation last winter. Free talks as part of the HFF + BPS + DFS Winter Lecture Series are a great benefit of HFF membership!
Lepisorus cf. macrosphaerus MD 15-09, it's worth mentioning this plant lived through last winter in my garden with no protection.
Pyrrosia sheareri - Doonan Collection
Check it out! A ginger blooming at ground level, possibly Zingiber mioga 'Crug's Zing' BSWJ4379.
And a beautifully variegated Fatsia polycarpa...
Time to walk on to one of the greenhouses (scanning the treasures as I go)...
This fern-heavy avenue had been set-up for visiting experts from Dutch and German fern societies.
If this area was all I saw during this trip my eyes would have been very very happy.
The tall guy there is Pteris wallichiana.
There were a lot of pyrrosia, many with only tentative ID.
Selliguea cf. YuGu 373

Aeschynanthus tengchungensis
Lemmaphyllum microphyllum
Drynaria sp. MD 12-32
Labeled as Fern sp, I believe this is a neolepisorus sp.
The label had elaphoglossum written on it, followed by NOT! So...who knows, but it's HOT!
Handsome pyrrosia...
Another...
The tag on this one said Pyrrosia angustissima with a “?” but when I posted on Instagram Silas commented saying it was  likely a Vittaria sp. not pyrrosia. Makes sense to look at it.
Pyrrosia lingua ‘O Kan’
Another possible elaphoglossum.
No clue, but wow.
A few dryland ferns, starting with Notholaena californica.
Bommeria hispida SBH 9550, collected by Sean Hogan in AZ.
Notholaena aff standleyi
I think this is Pleopeltis lepidopteris. I have no memory of taking this photo and I know I told someone that I didn't see any pleopeltis at Far Reaches. Huh.Moving on to another greenhouse...
Bam! There's my love, Dryopteris polylepis! I've only seen this one previously at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden, and the last time I visited it was not looking good. I am thrilled to see it here. Now hopefully spore will be collected and someday... plants will be offered for sale.
I did warn you this post was going to go on forever, didn't I? Well...