When
HFF Webinar
Fern ID – Identifying Common Fern Genus with Richie Steffen
Thursday, June 12, 2025
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM PST
$10 Members (with coupon code) / $15 Non-Members
Watch for HFF email for members only coupon code.
Figuring out what ferns you have can be such a mystery. Is it a Polystichum or a Dryopteris? Even the botanical names can seem daunting to many gardeners not to mention terms used by fern lovers to describe fern anatomy. Join, Richie Steffen, HFF Past President and executive director of the Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden, as he shares key characteristics and traits of common fern genera in our gardens.
Few people have a passion for plants or an excitement about gardening more than Richie Steffen. Richie is the executive director for the Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden, overseeing the development of the garden, its programs, and the rare plant collections. His expertise comes from over thirty-five years of experience in the horticultural field, with the last 24 years spent at the Miller Garden. Ferns have become a specialty for him, and he maintains extensive collections at the Miller Garden and his home garden. He has traveled to Europe, Japan, Chile, New Zealand and Costa Rica as well as numerous trips around the US studying ferns and other plants.
He is active in the gardening community and is currently past president of the Hardy Fern Foundation and the Northwest Horticultural Society. A noted lecturer, writer and photographer, Richie is the co-author of the “Plant Lover’s Guide to Ferns” with his friend and fern mentor Sue Olsen.