Four Easy To Grow Ferns

Northern  maidenhair fern

Ferns add a delicate touch to your shade garden. Their foliage is very fine textured. Group three or more ferns 2-3 feet apart. Select the specific fern for the garden site, e.g whether it is likely dry or moist soils. Some grow surprisingly well in full sun, but most prefer partial to full shade. Select ferns according to their light and soil moisture requirements.

Here are four species which are easy to grow:

• Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)
• Autumn fern (Dryopteris erythrosora)

  

  Autumn fern

• Lady fern (Athryium felix-femina)
• Northern maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) - (pictured)

All four ferns prefer a well-drained, highly composted soil and supplemental moisture during long summer dry spells. Keep soil near pH 7.0 (neutral) by occasional liming every few years if soil pH drops.

All four are not finicky, demonstrate good drought tolerance and grow in soil with little to no additional soil prep. Ideally, you should grow ferns in a richly composted garden soil along with adequate moisture over long dry spells. Bi-monthly feeding with a water soluble fertilizer such as Miracle-Gro™, Jack’s™, or Nature’s Source™ from April thru August will get all off to a good start in the first year.

Keep Your Eye on Red Buckeye

Spring blooming Red buckeye

Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) is a large shrub or low branched tree maturing to a 15 - 20 feet in height and spread. This southeastern U. S. native is becoming more recognized as a good selection in small urban landscapes.

The red buckeye tree flowers young, either in full or partial sun. Numerous 5- to 9- inch long floral heads sit at the ends of branches like decorative candles in late April and May. Flowers open just before the leaves begin to emerge. Flower color on individual trees varies from dark pink to scarlet red. A yellow flowering form is known to exist. Hummingbirds arrive to pollinate the individual funnel-shaped blossoms.

Lovely dark green, palmate compound leaves clothe the branches in the spring and early summer months. The polished dark buckeye seeds fall from the tree beginning in late September, quickly grabbed up by squirrels and others. Seeds are poisonous.

Disease and insect problems are of little consequence in the spring and early summer months. Disease blotched foliage that may also be scorched on the edges, the result of dry summers, results in a premature leaf drop by late August and September. Expect little to no autumn foliage color as branches are typically bare.