Eight More Autumn Ferns Planted In The Stumpery - June 2026

Back in May, I planted seven quart-sized Autumn Ferns in the Stumpery, behind the row of All Gold Hakonechloa grasses on the southside of our garden.  Over the years, I've come to love Autumn Ferns and they're (maybe??) my favorite plant in the garden.  

Two items on my 2026 to-do list are relevant to this post and I'll include them both below:

19. Upgrade the Stumpery. Better stumps. Better plants. Better wattle fence?  Plus toss in continued Hosta replacement, too. The thing that I need to add here are even more Autumn Ferns. See #15. I have some Autumn Ferns and LOVE them. More is better.

15. Stay focused by using the concept of Repetition vs. new. I had this same one in my 2025 list. This is a reminder to future Jake who is staring at the tables at the nursery this Summer. Stop. Focus. More of what we have, not wandering diversity. See #1, #3, #8. That means: Sun Kings, Autumn Ferns, Ajuga, Sedums, Carex, Autumn Moor Grasses, Hakonecholas, Astilbes, Nepeta and annuals. For shrubs, it means Viburnums.

Those first seven Autumn Ferns added to the Stumpery are now joined by a few more.

I bought eight quart-sized Autumn Ferns and planted them in two groups of four.  You can see all eight of them in the photo at the top of this post.  I bought them from Menards and they were marked down to $3.99 per fern. 

The first four are going in as Ostrich Fern replacements in front of the wine barrel water feature.  Below is a photo showing a little drift of ferns.  This is the 'before'.  It includes Autumn Ferns, Ostrich Ferns and a couple of Crested Wood Ferns.  I'm trying to move the Ostrich Ferns out of the garden in this section and move them to the far back where they can naturalize.  So, I began this process by ripping out the Ostrich Ferns. 

And...into the compost bin they went.  

After removing the Ostrich Ferns, I placed the four new Autumn Ferns into spots.  Tucked in between the existing ferns.

Here, below, is the 'after' planting.  Now home to seven Autumn Ferns and two Crested Wood Ferns.  

Here, below, is an annotated version of that photo.  Green = Crested Wood Ferns.  Purple = existing Autumn Ferns.  Orange = four new Autumn Ferns.  

The other four new ones (of the eight total) went into The Stumpery.  Joining the other seven previously planted Autumn Ferns.  Below shows the placement:

And, here below, you can see them planted in their spots.  The gap between the grasses in front is where the Arctic Jade Korean Maple tree was planted (and has been removed).

Here, below is an annotated version of that photo.  Teal = seven previously planted Autumn Ferns.  Orange = four new ones.  Yellow = six Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' groundcover plugs.

A bit further back in the photo above are the three Godzilla Ferns - Japanese Painted Ferns that went in the ground last Summer.  They're listed to get almost four-feet wide at maturity.