Autumn Ferns Planted - May 2021

The fourth piece of this little newly planted bed section on the southside of the property are a trio of Autumn Ferns.  First, I transplanted 15 green hostas.  Then, I planted a dwarf Japanese Maple Tamukeyama tree and just yesterday, I posted photos of three Dolce Apple Twist Heucheras.  All in the same section.  Dryopteris erythosora is the cultivar of these Autumn Ferns that I planted from 1# nursery containers that you can see below.  I bought these at Home Depot and thought they'd be a nice fern diversity away from Ostrich Ferns.

The Missouri Botanical Garden has a nice listing for these - and mentions that they have a Japanese-gardening-related name: Japanese Shield Fern.  

Dryopteris erythrosora , commonly called Japanese shield fern or autumn fern, is an arching, evergreen (semi-evergreen in cold winter climates) fern that grows in a vase-shaped clump to 2' tall and as wide. It is native to woodland hillsides and mountain slopes in Japan, China and Taiwan. New fronds unfurl in striking shades of orange-red to copper-pink before eventually maturing to glossy deep green by summer. Triangular, bi-pinnate fronds grow to as much as 2' long. Young sori are covered by bright red indusia.

I love that name - Japanese Shield Fern - and thought these three would look good nestled in with the other woodland/Japanese garden-inspired pieces.   Here's what they look like in the ground (below).  You can see the very bottom of the Japanese Tamukeyama Maple at the top/center of the photo.  These are planted in front of that little tree.

My Ostrich Ferns spread out via rhizomes and when you plant one, in a few years, you'll have a couple of them in adjacent spots.  These Autumn Ferns spread the same way, so hopefully we'll see these things spread out a little bit over time.

Full set of posts about [ferns] on the blog.  I planted a Lady Fern last year that I haven't seen come back this season, but I'm still holding out hope.