A Walk in the Ferns

By request, some fern photos. It was terribly windy, still, so it kind of looks like the ferns are trying to run away from me. Which they might be because I have been sadly neglecting them in favour of weeding around the roses, where the weed problem is more acute.

Here's the five-fingered fern (California native), slowly growing back after its winter dormancy. I really need to get some sprinklers in there to help these guys out.

My two sword ferns. The older one closer to the camera. These were divisions this winter, and for some reason they seem to want to go through a phase of looking like they are dying before they start growing well. The newer division in the back there looks like it is about to die, but it is coming back.

(No, I have not been weeding as much as I ought to be in there.)

The Giant Chain Fern (a California native) doesn't seem to be doing much of anything, until you realize it was half this size when I bought it six weeks ago. This is another fern that gets all ratty and awful in the winter, then takes most of the spring to recover.

The foxtail fern is growing very nicely. It stood up to the spring rains very well, and is holding its own on its mound. When I lifted the fronds to see what it looked like underneath, I noticed that it has crowded out a bunch of Bermuda babies, which earned it a place in my heart.

Not ferns, but toad lilies! Growing nicely! Asking for more water, please. Two more weeks, guys, and you will have your own irrigation system.

I never remember the name of this fern, which is why I left the label next to it. But it has grown enough that the label is stuck somewhere under those big strappy leaves. Look at the fronds coming up in the middle.

Button fern looking all vigourous. Although it is placed in a spot where it basically gets wind all day long, it's also grown considerably. As you can tell, I'm not much of a traditional fern shape fern person.

And finally, the Japanese Painted Fern, which is looking very ratty. It was taking the full force of water from the roof, 35 feet up, all spring. But it's happy now, sending out baby fronds and springing back. At one point in the spring I went out there and it was completely buried in the splashed-up compost, and I thought it would never survive. But it proved me wrong, that painted fern.

Technorati Tags: ferns, native plants, plants

posted by ayse on 05/28/06