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Friday, September 2, 2016

Finding Ferns

The area underneath my deck was once wasted space, nothing growing there. Over the past few years I've been converting it to a fern bed, and it's been doing well.


Yesterday I discovered something that's got me even more excited about this area. First though, let's take a look at the ferns here.


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There are lady ferns (Athyrium filix-femina) and sensitive ferns (Onoclea sensibilis) that have started to mingle and mix:


Also Japanese painted ferns (Athyrium niponicum I believe)...


...as well as this sturdy, glossy fellow whose name I always forget... tassel fern (Polystichum polyblepharum)?


The patio under the deck keeps getting runoff from heavy rains, so it's often dirty and soil gets into the cracks between the stones. You can see a bit of that at the bottom of this photo:


This seems to be a good thing though, because yesterday I noticed...


... baby ferns!


I'm not sure how many plants this is, but at least half a dozen.


I'm also not sure which fern has spawned these. Lady fern perhaps?

This must be a magical space, as the out-of-nowhere coleus grew here too:


Maybe those skylights I installed are the key? More light for just the right conditions?

Exciting!

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7 comments:

  1. Salty Pumpkin StudioSeptember 2, 2016 at 12:34 PM

    The baby ferns are adorable! Its always exciting to see plants taking off being plants.

    ReplyDelete
  2. danger gardenSeptember 3, 2016 at 12:18 AM

    Surely you've heard that ferns are the new succulents? Look how trendy you are...

    ReplyDelete
  3. AlanSeptember 3, 2016 at 2:15 PM

    Maywyn: I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks so!

    Loree: I've always liked ferns, but they're a bit fussy in our climate -- too many hot and dry spells. This year has been pretty good though (obviously). :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hoover BooSeptember 3, 2016 at 7:28 PM

    Excellent use of a difficult space. Clever and well done!

    ReplyDelete
  5. chavlinessSeptember 4, 2016 at 11:06 AM

    It must be the water run-off; similar condition in my garden produce babies too, but only of certain ferns. All the sward ferns in my garden (PNW native) are volunteers. Unfortunately, no babies from the magnificent Japanese painted fern...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kim Smith @TheHypertufaGardenerSeptember 5, 2016 at 9:10 AM

    These are all such pretty ferns. I have some of them here in Ohio. And I have a lot of fern babies. The Japanese fern seems to increase by 10 or so each year. I give them away and always have more. Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AlanSeptember 5, 2016 at 9:11 AM

    Hoover: thank you!

    Chavliness: Funny you should say that, as I just found a larger seedling of the Japanese painted fern about 5 feet away. :D

    ReplyDelete