Japanese Painted Fern - Northside Porch - 2019

All the way back in Spring of 2018, I planted a couple of ferns on the northside of our screened porch - in a spot that is in (I think) total shade all day long.  It felt like the right spot for ferns and hostas - at least as a temporary measure until I figure out the path/pavers that will run alongside the little bed.  One of them was an Autumn Fern.  The other is this Japanese Painted Fern. 

Last September - almost exactly a year ago today - I posted a photo of this fern that was trying to establish itself after a rough Summer.  It was showing just.a.little.bit of growth then, but I was hopeful that this fern was going to make it. 

The photo at the top of this post is from this week - and you can see that this Japanese Painted Fern has really come back and is spreading itself out in a big way. 

I had a Japanese Painted Fern back in Elmhurst - that came back for a few years (when it wasn't smothered by mulch!) - so this isn't my first one of these varieties that has survived for me.  But, I don't have as much faith in these as much as I do with my Ostrich Ferns (which seem to be very resilient).

With my interest in Japanese gardening only growing, it is kind of interesting to see this fern in our landscape from a time when I wasn't *thinking* about Japanese Gardening like I am today. 

Also, that hosta that is on the left of the photo in this post is, I'm pretty sure, a Bressingham Blue Hosta that I planted in April of 2018 - around the same time as this fern.  Glad to see it has spread out and grown a bit along with the ferns.