Where to purchase or harvest salal and sword ferns?

Hi,

I am wondering if anyone has a suggestion on where to legally harvest, or purchase, salal and sword ferns close to East Vancouver.

We are unable to make it to native plant nurseries such as Nats, as they are not open on weekends or evenings.

Is it legal to harvest off of forest service roads/on crown land?

thanks!

 

Even if it is legal to dig up salal, it would be very difficult to establish it in your garden. Salal grows from a long, woody rhizome with a few smaller roots attached. You'd need at least a couple of feet (60 cm) before you'd even have a fighting chance of keeping it alive. Summer would be the worst time to attempt transplanting salal. As for sword fern, the smaller, the better. These ferns grow quickly when happy and are much easier to dig up and transplant when they are young. I wish you lived near me . . . I could give you lots of both salal and sword fern. Maybe someone who lives near you could do the same.

 

Sword ferns come up all over my yard as weeds. I'm located in Burnaby near the PNE, and you're welcome to as many plants as you want. Send me a private message if you're interested. Thankfully, I have no Salal.

 

Here's an article about the legalities with respect to salal harvesting: Shrub at centre of B.C. backwoods ‘black market’

 

Gardenworks Lougheed sells both Salal and Sword fern. You can also try BC Wild Heritage or Thimble farms, who will ship plants to your home.

 

Both salal and sword fern can also be found at Phoenix Perennials on No. 6 Rd in Richmond