A fun fern find

One of the fun things about collecting teawares is the search for Just The Right Piece that represents a special hobby or collecting passion. I suppose that might be a problem if you collected, say, spark plugs, but any tea lover passionate about a particular plant or flower is likely going to be in luck. For me, that means I was on a quest last year to find a vintage teacup with a fern on it. Spring and summer turned up zilch, but while out Christmas shopping at a local antique mall one day, I came across this fun fern find.

This cup and saucer set appears to be pretty old, and the backstamp features the word Germany in the letter "S" with a crown on top. I'll have to research that one day when I have more time!

For now, I was just happy to get to use my new teacup, because I made a deal with myself at Christmas that I would not use or write about this fern teacup until spring arrived. It just seemed the right thing to do, and so of course when I test drove (test sipped?) my new teacup, I had to go outside and see if any ferns were popping up. And I was so happy to see this Japanese Painted Fern doing well!

The design and structure of ferns is just so pretty to me. I love to see the dips and curls and whirls.

I've heard fiddleheads can be eaten on salads, but I need to study the safety of that first before I tuck into a plateful. I also think the plants at this stage look like little space aliens.

And finally, this variety whose name I have completely forgotten is a rather fat fern that grows wild along the banks of the creek behind my house. I tried to transplant some last year but a) they didn't survive and b) I almost didn't either after the bugs and poison ivy got to me. Know how I think I'll enjoy my ferns this year? On a pretty teacup full of tea!