I live in a predominantly shady area, and ferns play a large role in my garden. Fortunately, Mother Nature provides quite a few species, and I supplement that stock with a few others. Here is one of my favorites, the Autumn Fern (Dryopteris erythrosora). This species was introduced into the garden.
Another introduction, the Victoria Fern, Athyrium filix-femina 'Victoriae'.
This is the Hay-Scented Fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula). It is probably the only fern that I have that can irritate with its exuberance. It grows anywhere, including in full, baking sun, in which case it turns a very striking light green color. This little colony of smaller ones grows in somewhat more shade, but still has a nice bright green color. I have larger ones that approach three feet tall in other parts of the garden. If you rub its fronds between your fingers, it does indeed smell like hay, making it easy to identify.
I am lucky to have Cinnamon Ferns growing everywhere on my property. This is a nice mature clump during the summer, after its fertile fronds have disappeared for the season.
A different stand of O. cinnamomea in June of this year with its fertile fronds visible.
This is a wild Christmas fern, Polystichum acrostichoides.
Who could forget the Bracken Fern? This one has fallen over, as they often do around here towards the end of the summer. It is a very top heavy fern with a precariously thin stem to hold up its mass. They can be invasive, but I only have four or five growing in two different parts of my property, and their numbers don't increase. It is an interesting fern with a sophisticated arsenal of natural insecticides to keep would-be pests at bay.
Another of my favorites, this is the Maidenhair Fern, Adiantum pedatum, a fern I see growing wild in many other parts of the country, but rarely locally. I planted this introduced specimen in a boggy area, and it seems very happy.
I am recycling this photo from another thread I started on the Netted Chain Fern (Woodwardia areolata). This is its fertile frond, the equivalent on this species of the brown fertile fronds on the Cinnamon Fern. These are wild ferns in my area, sharing space with Royal Ferns (Osmunda regalis), and my beloved Skunk Cabbage. Some people that have seen these on my property say that they get the creeps from the fertile fronds. I don't get the creeps from them, but I can see how someone would think they are a little scary. They are quite big and they poke out of the sterile fronds, reaching close to three feet tall.
Here is a clump of the sterile fronds of the Woodwardia areolata. They can be difficult to distinguish from common Sensitive Fern, Onoclea sensibilis.
Here is a picture of what happens to Sensitive Ferns when they grow in the sun. They turn a chalky bright green color which reminds me of the old Crayola crayon called "Sea Green". This picture is really just an excuse to show off the wild Lobelia that decided to sprout next to my stream, but the ferns in the background are Sensitive Ferns.
That's all for now, but there are more ferns to come when I sort their pictures out. I hope others will share pics of their ferns as well!
-Greg
Greg,
Thanks for putting these pictures and your annotations up. I have just begun planting (and planning to plant for the future) ferns, relying primarily on what I read. Your first picture of the Cinnamon Fern really caught my eye: all the books have pictures showing the fertile fronds, which I take to be less captivating than most of the authors. Now that I see what it looks like the rest of the time, I'll seriously consider adding it my wish list.
I appreciate your explanations also.
Suzanne
Suzanne, Thank you for your nice words. I would suggest trying the Cinnamon Ferns. They grow relatively quickly to an impressive size and require little care. They do, however, require a lot of water, and would probably need extra water if it is dry where you are in the summer. When they don't get water, they sulk badly, with individual fronds withering and just looking kind of ratty. This year has been very dry in Massachusetts, and even my wild, well-established Cinnamon Ferns were stressed badly, some even going into early dormancy.
If you don't care for the look of the fertile fronds, they are used a lot in flower arrangements, at least around here, so you could just clip them back and give them to someone who likes to arrange flowers, or trade them with a florist.
-Greg
Greg, thanks for sharing your fern pics. I love your huge clumps of Cinnamon. I have a planted a few ferns the last couple of years and love them but some of them are quite contrary in this heat.
Terrie
Another.
Terrie, Thanks for the pictures! It wasn't unusually hot up here in MA this year, but it was very dry, and it was tough to keep the ferns happy. The cinnamon ferns, which the woods surrounding my property are full of, are especially sensitive to the dryness, and many of them just seemed to quit for the year during the August drought that we had. Those that live in boggy areas, though, are still looking nice. The cinnamon ferns in those pictures are wild ferns that gardens were built around, so I water them and they stayed in good shape all year. My transplants, though, had a tough go this year, even some of the the second year transplants, and most have gone dormant for the year already. I had to spend a lot of time watering this summer to keep my garden ferns happy. Fortunately, the cool weather has started up here, and the ferns seem relieved. I have a few cultivars of the Japanese Painted Ferns, and during the summer heat, they all look very similar and pout when they don't get a good long drink every few days, but the cool weather is bringing out their colors again, though not as intensely as when they first sprout in the spring.
-Greg
Greg, what kind of summer heat do you have? I think I have the misconception that you don't have hot summers like we do. :-) Sometimes I can't figure out if my ferns are getting enough or too much water. Here are some pics. I took today. (this one actually looks good)
I realize when I look at this picture that I've planted things too close. Need to do some work this fall.
I like this one.
This baby is tropical so I don't expect it to come back next year.
This stuff spreads like crazy.
last one ;-)
Oh what gorgeous ferns. I love that hay-scented fern. All of these ferns are great.
Your ferns are so beautiful! Thanks for sharing them with us.
Pati
Terrie, the fern posted at 7:43 on 9/9 is pretty hardy. I have it and comes back.
I don't think you can overwater ferns! With our freakishly dry weather this summer I had a harder time making them look like they're supposed to because they thrive on humidity.
I have a couple as houseplants and they are doing best in those AV pots (1 pot inside another one). I keep the reservoir full of water and they drink like crazy. Your ferns are gorgeous. I have found quite a few unique ferns in Dallas. I can't remember the name of the place that had an exceptionally good selection (another place in time?) off Henderson?
Thanks, Pati! Nery, I hope you're right about that button fern but it said hardy to zone 9 which is usually too tropical for here but I have my fingers crossed! I don't know about a place off Henderson but I'll check into it. Come on up and we can check it out together. :-)
Terrie, I'm glad that you like the Royal Ferns too. They are really beautiful plants, and it's hard to believe that they are so closely related to cinnamon ferns because they look so different. Your ferns look healthy and beautiful. I agree with Vossner that is hard to overwater ferns. Most of them let you know if they are getting too much water by sagging but staying green, but you don't seem to have that problem, as your ferns look great. The only fern I have that likes to be dry is one of the Spleenworts, an Asplenium platyneuron that likes it dry and cool, and which I treat as an alpine.
Our summers aren't as hot as yours by any stretch, but they aren't as cool as some texts I have read say they are. They often say that New England has cool summers in gardening books, but that is more for the northern stretches of New England. However, it can certainly get very hot in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine too, easily into the 90s, and sometimes triple digits. I did a check on weather.com to see what our average August high temps were. In Plano, it said the average was 93F and in Bridgewater, MA, it is 83F. That might be the average, but there are usually stretches in July and August where the temp is consistently in the low to mid 90s for a week or two, and the highest spike I had was up to 102 sometime around late July or early August. It is very humid, so it stays somewhat moist, but it is hot enough to require watering every other day to keep the ferns in good shape. Lately, it has cooled off, but I saw 93 degrees today, and it is expected to be similar tomorrow. So, the weather isn't as hot as yours, but it is definitely hot enough to stress the ferns, and humid enough to make me wilt along with the ferns too!
-Greg
I'm finally having some spare time to catch up on DG and threads that I have missed. We have had our first snow of the season this week. I too love ferns. I would love to share some pictures of mine.
Dryopteris Affinis 'Crispa'
I love the textures that ferns have to offer. This fern looks more fragile than it really is.
Here is Dryopteris f.-m. 'Linearis Polydactyla'
Polystichum setiferum 'Proliferum'
Love that Dryopteris f.-m. 'Linearis Polydactyla'! Beautiful!
What ferns are good in the Houston TX area? Semi shade?
Caraboof,
I just did a google seardh for Texas ferns and I found this site, you might find it helpful: http://www.rwsarchitects.com/fern.htm Another one of my favorite sites is:
http://hardyfernlibrary.com/ferns/ but they are only showing the low end of the growing zones not the high ends. I would think that you grow some neat tropical type ferns?
One of my favorite ferns that came to mind was: Dryopteris pseudo-filix-mas (mexican male fern), but I just read that it grows in the mountains of Mexico.
Hope this helps you.
Shady
I am growing a couple of the Mexican Male Ferns. They are the last of my ferns to come out in late spring. They are slow growers but will get 3-4 feet tall, depending on their environment.
