Fern Haven

When I first arrived at home in 1994, my front yard was scarcely more than a mound of hard, arid clay barely capable of sustaining grass--proven by the anemic smattering of thin grass clinging to it.  What followed were years of turf building and soil conditioning all with an eye to transforming it into a grassless yet verdant garden.  At some point I began to dream of ferns.  Today I can see with my eyes that which was once only a phantom in my mind.

In this broader view you can see 5 different varieties of ferns now thriving here.  They include: Japanese Beech Ferns, Autumn Ferns, Lady Ferns, Japanese Painted Ferns and Cinnamon Ferns.

 All the Japanese Painted Ferns, Athyrium niponicum 'pictum', in my gardens are the result of a single purchase of a Japanese Painted Fern at the Du Pont Estate Museum Winterthur in Delaware back in 2003.  I was just getting into ferns as the time, and this one proved to be very prolific.  It's also a very showy fern.

The Lady Ferns, Athyrium filix-femina, were purchased in bulk mail order to transform the shady area on the north side of the garage in 2000.  After a few years they were so successful that I transplanted a few to the front.

 This is the first fern that I got to successfully "take" in the front yard.  It shares it's little plot with some epimedium.  They seem to get along just fine.

The Autumn Fern, Dryopteris erthosora, was the first fern species that I tried to establish.  It was toch a go for the first couple of years, and the first colonizers didn't make it.  Now it's the most hardy and hale of all the ferns.  It's also one that best handles the dry times and remains vibrant through most of the winter.  I love this one for its fortitude.

These Japanese Beech Ferns, Thelypteris decursive--pinnata,  have colonized the edge of the yard and embankment with the driveway. They are complete accidental immigrants.  The original 4 plants were mistaken included in the mass purchase of Lady Ferns.  But they have come to love their home here and I love their lush beauty.

Finally, there is this pair of Cinnamon Ferns, Osmunda cinnamomea, which were given to me by my next door neighbor.  He didn't like how they performed in his garden.  So let's call them refugees--or even better, grateful refugees!  They always do well in mine.