I may have to watch myself, that I don't become a fern addict. Having seen that they're pretty forgiving plants, easy to grow, shade-loving and largely deer-resistant, I've been planting quite a lot of them this year. The nurseryman out at the cabin is broadening his selection; when Mom & I went by there yesterday, he had more varieties than he did just last week. I love the novelty of the Frizelliae - the fronds look like they're strung with innumerable tiny fans (although most of the sites I checked describe them more as "green pearls"). The E. Indian holly fern is a rich, dark green with yellow along the main rib, the autumn ferns are just starting to turn colors, and I got a tassel fern hoping it'll be a nice contrast to the others.
I've also bought lady ferns and royal ferns this year, and Branford ramblers and a few others last year, though some of those didn't come back. (The deer mostly leave ferns alone, but apparently they find the new, tightly curled fronds quite tasty.)
The Chief wants to build a few more raised beds out at the cabin. One actually will get more sun than shade, so he'll probably put in a summer ice plant or two. The other will run across the base of the deck; perfect place for more ferns & hellebores.
I'm considering dropping some daffodil bulbs into the new beds if we get out to the cabin again before it gets too cold. I put 2 cardinal flowers in the sloped bed along the long side of the foundation of the addition for a shot of red amid all that green, but the daffodils will bloom earlier in the season. As long as they can cohabit peacefully with the hellebores & ferns, those beds should look very nice indeed next year.
The ferns I bought yesterday got planted here at the house. The 2 Frizelliae went in behind the hellebores in the bed next to the a/c compressor, while the 2 autumns, 2 E. Indian hollies and the token tassel went into a bed between the driveway and the house that already has one fern (no idea what variety that one is; might be a Branford rambler).
That stretch is one of the beds the Chief bordered this spring and now is quite the mixed bed - working from left to right, or from the front of the house to the rear, we have: a bright fuchsia impatiens; the toad lily the nurseryman gave me as a bonus after I loaded up on hellebores & ferns; a chunk of lilies-of-the-valley that I transplanted from an even shadier spot in hopes that they'll actually bloom; and an assortment of daylilies, vinca, some purple flower whose name I don't know, and the ferns I planted there this year.
I was quite busy in the garden - in addition to planting all those ferns, I moved one hellebore from the Chief's calladium bed to the hellebore bed, where it replaced one that had died. One of the 3 I bought yesterday ended up in the only empty spot in the bed under the mailbox. With luck, that will fill in the last possible spot in that bed that the local kitties could use as a litter box. (The other 2 hellebores I bought yesterday went into the stepped bed at the cabin, filling a couple of empty spots.) I even planted the huge potted mum we got from one of the guests at last weekend's party out at the cabin. Now we've got a nice, big splash of yellow on that side of the house.
Funny, I don't usually get the urge to plant in the fall, but I did have fun getting good and dirty setting all those plants. The house next door just went on the market Friday and a realtor was showing the place this afternoon as I was out there weeding, digging holes and generally making a mess. Hope I didn't scare 'em off!
I know my "gardening muscles" will hurt tomorrow, and I fed a surprising number of biting insects despite the bug spray, but it was worth it.
And if the Chief does indeed get those additional beds built next spring, then I guess I'll be forced to go back to "our" nurseryman and get more ferns. Wonder what new varieties he'll have in stock by then?
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