Ferns Having A Good Year In The Stumpery - August 2026

We have had a wet couple of weeks here in August.  I haven't watered anything in the garden since early August.  Not even the containers.  That's because we've had deep rains that have come every few days.  That's good for most things.  It has also made it easy on me in terms of lugging around the hose.  

And, before that, according to the Illinois State Climatologist blog post, we also had a wet July.  So, add those things up and it seems that some parts of the garden are loving it right now.  And, one of those is the Stumpery.  

This year, I added 15 (yes...fifteen!) Autumn Ferns to the Stumpery.  These were planted amongst some existing Autumn Ferns.  And, three Godzilla Japanese Painted Ferns that went in the garden in Summer 2025.  I picked these up at the Morton Arboretum Plant Sale last year.  I looked for them again this year, but they didn't have any.  Based on how well they're doing, these go on my 'plant re-buy list'.  

They joined three Crested Surf Japanese Painted Ferns that went in the garden in 2021.  I said that Godzilla Ferns have done well.  Well...These struggled the first few years.  They had trouble surviving the heat of the Summer (despite being planted in deep shade) and went dormant early each of the first few growing seasons.  When I bought these, I LOOOOOOOVED them.   I wanted them to do so well in the garden, so when they underperformed, I was disappointed.  

That all comes together to create a very.happy.and.thriving Stumpery right now in mid/late August.  

Below is a photo showing the current state of the ferns in the Stumpery. 

The All Gold Hakonechloa Macra Japanese Forest Grasses in the bottom of that photo are happy this year, too.  And, their chartreuse color pops against the fronds of the fern.  

Here, below, is an annotated version of that same photo.

Green circles: Crested Surf Japanese Painted Fern

Teal circles:  Autumn Brilliance Fern

Purple circles:  Godzilla Japanese Painted Fern

Yellow circle:  Little Honey Oakleaf Hydrangea

Earlier this Summer, I upgraded¹ the Stumpery.  Adding some stumps.  And, I installed a garden bench.  Although...not permanently.  It still needs some hardscaping and a little path to get there. 

The rains cost me some things this year - like some containers and annual Vincas.  But, it has given me a rich, happy and thriving shade garden stumpery.  

As The Stranger once said:

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^{1. [I am using the term "upgraded" loosely here. ]↩}