Why I Oughta...

Last Fall, I divided two Shaggy Shield Ferns into four clumps and transplanted them to the edge of the border with the hopes that they'd take the spot of some (fallen-out-of-favor) Ostrich Ferns that I had in this bed.  I planted them in a row and then attempted to water them in all Fall.   Earlier this Spring, I stuck six (6) Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' plugs in the same bed both in-front-of and behind the locations of the Shaggy Shield Ferns .  At that time....(Late May), I thought that I had lost ALL of the divided ferns as none of them had thrown up new growth.    They all appeared dead.  A setback when it comes to dividing ferns.   Fast forward to today.  I was puttering around and realized that SOME of those Fall 2022 Shaggy Shield Divided ferns had made it.  I had two ferns last Summer, divided to make four small ferns.  Today...I'm back up to three Shaggy Shield Ferns.  See below for a photo showing the Shaggy Shields ...

Last Fall, I went around and divided some of the ferns that had been clump-growing in our backyard - including one of the Japanese Ghost Ferns.  I had four of them ( see this photo from last Summer ) and decided to divide just one of them (read: I was scared to divide all of them) and stick the new division in the ground adjacent to the other four.   How did that division go?  See below for (now) five Japanese Ghost Ferns: Pretty great to see this division take and has me thinking about dividing the other three this Fall.   However...there is another side to this fern-division story.  The Shaggy Shield Ferns that I similiarly divided last Fall?  Those divisions....didn't take.    I started with two Shaggy Shield Ferns that I split up into four ferns .  What do I have now?  Just two ferns.   Win some (Fall perennial divisions), lose some (Fall perennial divisions).

2022 was the year of groundcover in my garden.  I added dozens of various carex and at the very end of the season, I found five small quart-sized Ajuga Chocolate Chip plants and stuck them in the ground .  The groundcover of my mother - vinca and pachysandra - are out.  And sedges and Ajugas are in.  At least...for me. I was surprised (not sure why?) to find these six packs of Ajuga Chocolate Chip at the orange Big Box store - see below for the nursery tray of the six plugs:  They carry this tag:  Bugleweed 'Chocolate Chip' - Ajuga Tenorii I opted to put six on one side of the backyard and six on the other. Below is a look at the curved border - kitchen window border - with the Fanal Astilbes being (now) fronted by six Ajuga Chocolate Chip. Behind these - around the Oakleaf Hydrangeas - we are fighting Vinca that has crept over from our neighbor's yard.  I planted two of these plugs in amongst some of the vinca.  Hoping that the Ajuga can outcompe...

This Fall, I made a pretty big change in my fern thinking.  I've long talked about how shade gardening is where I find my joy and how hostas and ferns have emerged as my favorite plants in the garden.  And, my first love with ferns was the Ostrich Fern.   I inherited some Ostrich Ferns back in Elmhurst and -for the first time - had success with ferns.  They grew, stood up and even multiplied.  I shared them with my mother-in-law and she grew them in her shade garden successfully.  And, I fostered some of them over there, too .  I even brought some to our house in Downers Grove - including collecting some from my sister-in-laws's teardown garden .   Over the years, I've moved them around and have transplanted them in some spots - including under the tree swing tree and on the side of our house .  I've historically tried to use them *AS MUCH AS I COULD*.   But, then...the change I mentioned above happened.  I started n...

Yesterday, I posted about the 22 new hostas that I (now) have in the garden thanks to the magic of perennial plant Fall dividing.  I also went about dividing some other plants in the garden:  Shaggy Shield and Japanese Painted Ghost Ferns. First up, the Shaggy Shield Ferns.  I should have included these in my recent ' ferns that still look good ' post, but I missed them.   I p lanted these two - along with a pair of Tassel Ferns - in May of 2021 .  A year-and-a-half later they're doing really well.  Grew up and out.  Below is a photo showing how big and proud these two ferns were pre-dividing. They are a thicket of fronds. Because I didn't love where they were located (kind of hidden), I decided to dig them both up.  I also dug up a handful of Ostrich Ferns and relocated them back around the tree swing tree.   Below is what one of the Shaggy Shield Ferns looked like including the root clump.  (I wired up the fronds to keep the...

I have a section of our backyard that calls for a bunch of Ferns.  Ostrich Ferns, to be precise.  Last year, I transplanted a bunch of them (10) to this area just to the West of the Large Northern Red Oak tree that has our swing on it.  You can see some of those in the photo below - the Ostrich ferns are the lime green ones that are vase-like.   But, with the newly expanded beds, I also needed to fill in the section in front.  I did that by transplanting three MORE Ostrich ferns in front.  But, then I had a little gap between those in the border and the ones from last year.  So, I when I came across a pair of ferns that I've never seen before (at a good price), I grabbed them and decided to use them here.   First up, a pair of Shaggy Shield Ferns.  I didn't know anything about them, but they caught my eye.  From the Missouri Botanic Garden comes this listing  that mentions they are native to Japan: Dryopteris cycadina, com...