Crested Surf Ferns - Back for Year Two - May 2022

Last Summer, one of my big-box-nursery white whales was the Crested Surf Japanese Painted Fern.  I saw them a few times, but always wanted to wait until they went on sale.  Then they started to disappear from the shelves and I figured it wasn't meant to be for our garden.  Right after the 4th of July, I found three of them on sale and decided to plant them in the little Japanese garden-inspired section on the south side of our backyard.  Two of them seemed to be fine, but one suffered.  I watered them and watered them.  And they still went into decline.  That first year is always tough.  I figured I lost one or two of them.  

And, so imagine my delight when Spring comes around and all three of them have fronds that begin to unfurl.  You can see them in the photo below, planted in a triangular shape around a hosta:

I really like these double-tipped ferns, so my plan is to give them as much water as they need this Spring/Summer.  My experience is that if I can get a Japanese Painted Fern established for two seasons, it can (mostly) go on autopilot.  That means we have eight-or-so hard weeks ahead of us:  get these to navigate the hot, dry Summer.  And they'll be here for a while.