Why I Oughta...

That photo (above) shows the five Ghost Ferns (Athyrium 'Ghost') that I planted (as a set of four) in the Spring of 2021. They were from the Morton Arboretum Spring sale and they've thrived since they were added to our backyard shade garden.  Why are there five Ghost Ferns when I planted four?  No...they're not spreading ferns like the Ostrich Fern that sends out underground runners.   The reason that there are (now) five of these ferns is because last Fall, I divided one of them into two .   At that time, I only divided one because I was a little afraid.  I didn't want to kill all of them off. I did the same dividing with some Shaggy Shield ferns and my fears were well-placed as not all of the divisions made it this year.   But, the Ghost Fern division not only survived, but it appears to have had a good year and is a vigorous, healthy fern.   Why do I bring this up?  First...to remind myself and to help prioritize my Fall d...

Number 10 on my 2023 to-do list was to keep going on my 'fern upgrade' project.  That means that I need to say 'so long' (not goodbye) to my first fern love - the ostrich fern.  And begin to replace them with better performers.    I've written a few times about ferns that 'look good' after a full, not Summer and documented all of the various ferns in our garden in September .  At that time the Ostrich Ferns look tired and burned out.  The Autumn and Japanese Painted ferns do NOT.  Then, there's Winter - when the Autumn Ferns stick around and add some visuals to the mostly barren garden .   So, replacing Ostrich Ferns with other ferns is something that I've been trying to do - both through divisions as well as new additions.  When I planted the Inaba shadire Japanese Maple, I removed six Ostrich Fern clumps and put them in the far back.  I planted the tree a step-back from the border, allowing for a little planting near the edge of ...

Late last Fall, I went on a Home Depot end-of-season-plant-sale binge and bought a number of very small Autumn Ferns and planted them in a few spots in the backyard.   I planted twelve of them in three different spots including a number of them in the far back, right in front of the Hicks Yew hedge. How many are left back there?  Certainly not all of them.  Based on this layout, I'm thinking that I planted ten-to-twelve in a staggered layout.  Today, there are six that have survived Winter, Spring and thus far into Summer.  One is decent sized, the rest are BABIES.  In the photo below, you can see the six survivors in the orange circles. One of the things that I learned this Spring is that I have to be more careful with late season watering.  I fear that I disrupted the roots and exposed them to the winter elements.   I'm thinking that if I nurse these six to the end of the year, they'll turn into something more signficant next growing ...

A couple of years back, I submitted some photos of a volunteer plant to the Morton Arboretum Plant Clinic and they came back and said that it was 'likely Wild Geranium'.  I left the plant to just 'be' and it has come back the past few seasons ever since.  This year, however, it is blooming pretty prolifically.  See below for the light-purple blooms that are standing up on tall stalks with green foliage: This small colony of Wild Geranium seems to be thriving along the fence.  The tree trunk in the middle of the photo is a tall/lanky Kentucky Coffee Tree .  And you can see some of the spreading Ostrich Ferns mixed-in there.  

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 showed a photo of a series of Ostrich Ferns that have worked a little and naturalized along the long, linear mulch bed that runs between our garage and the Bluestone chip gravel path that leads to our backyard.  After planting one (or maybe two) transplants, we now have eight Ostrich ferns of different sizes that have begun to fill the area in.  In that post, I mentioned that I also planted some bare root Ostrich Ferns a little further back along the garage (behind the fence gate) .  Here's what those ferns now look like clustered close to the little stoop outside our sidedoor.  Below you can see the ferns that have unfurled in this little, narrow bed: In this post in 2018, I said that I planted three bare root Ostrich Ferns here , but thanks to them spreading a little bit, we now have nine ferns of varying maturity.  See below for an annotated version of the same photo/area showing the nine now in orange circles: There's also some Creeping Jenny M...

Over on the side of the garage - in the long, linear bed that is sandwiched between the house and the gravel path, there are a few different plants that I've tucked in here and mostly left alone.   I talked about this area earlier this Spring when I talked about (potentially) planting some trees that I can espalier against the house to kind-of 'break up' the large mass of wall .  When I posted that photo in mid-April, none of the perennials had emerged just yet, but with Spring turning to Summer around here, this spot has started to come alive.  And, what's showing up strong?  Ostrich Ferns.  See below for a photo showing some of the Ostrich Ferns that have spread and naturalized in this area: Here, below, is an annotated photo showing the location of eight Ostrich Ferns - some tiny and some more mature.  Based in the location, the larger stand of fern fronds that are just above the large rock were the ones that I originally planted and the rest have s...

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...

Yesterday, I posted a photo of some transplanted Ostrich Ferns in the south bed .  Today, I'm sharing a photo of some of those same, harvested Ostrich Ferns in the north bed - just past the Oak Tree with the swing.   I transplanted the four ferns you see along the border in front.  One of them is large - and came from the north side of the garage.  The other three came from around the Dawn Redwood. Also, in the photo below, you can see three or four other ferns - a little further back in the bed.  Those are a few of the ten that I put in this area last year .  It seems like NOT all ten of them made it.  But, this little section should fill in with Ostrich Ferns in the coming growing seasons. 

I recently planted our first Japanese Maple Tree (Tamukeyama) and a trio of Autumn Brillance Ferns in the newly expanded south bed.  The plan in this area called for Ostrich Ferns, so I was able to scavenge five of them from the north bed - around the Dawn Redwood - and transplanted them in a little drift or colony to the east of the Maple.   You can see this little fern section come to life below.  Autumn ferns in the middle.  Ostrich Ferns on the left.  These are survivor ferns as I've not bought Ostrich Ferns in Downers Grove.  These came with the lot and even after being cut back and buried under sod, they...ummm...survived.   They spread out, so I'm hoping that these five make it through this growing season and (if they do), that means we'll have more than five here next year.  

Looking back on my 2020 gardening season, one of the things that was a success was determining some of the 'priority areas' in the yard that I wanted to address.  Last year, I picked three areas ( Area 1 , Area 2 , Area 3 ) and that forced me to be selective in the materials we bought and what I added around the yard.   In terms of success, I feel like I moved things forward in Area 1 and Area 2 quite a bit.  Area 3, not so much .  That seems like an area to revisit, but before I do that, I'm going to lay down a little marker on a 2021 Priority Area - let's call this one 2021 Area #1:  Behind The South White Oak Tree.  (That's the big dot on the far right of the plan you see below.) The planting area that is called for in the plan is quite simple.  Just 15 total plants of two varieties: 7 Ostrich Ferns 8 Summer Beauty Ornamental Onions (Alliums) We have a series of BOTH of those plants already in our yard currently, so adding these will be a natur...

I've posted a number of times - across houses, towns, years - about Ostrich ferns .  We had them back in Elmhurst at our old house .  And when we moved, we transplanted a few clumps of them over at Nat's Mom's house in Naperville .  When we bought our lot in Downers Grove, we inherited some of what I've been calling " Survivor Ferns " that lived through the construction and re-grading of our lot. As part of my 2020 to-do landscape list, I identified area #2 that includes the planting of a series of Ostrich Ferns - along with other items.  One of those 'other items' is the planting of hostas around a large Oak tree - in an area adjacent to where these Ostrich Ferns are supposed to be planted.  I posted about those variegated hostas yesterday .  The plan calls for Hadspens, but I decided to go with Variegated hostas because I had quite a few of them on hand. In that Priority Area #2 post, I mentioned that the plan called for 12 Ostrich Ferns in t...

Over the weekend, we experienced a mid-May late (and hard) frost.  It has been cold for a few days ( some are calling it a polar vortex ) and it sure doesn't feel like Spring around here right now.  We had ample warning on the frost - the local news was talking it up for a few days - so I sprung into action and tried to cover/protect as much as I could.  Anything that was budding/on the edge of flowering, I tried to protect.  That means the Rhododendrons and Disneyland Roses were covered.  I also covered our new Hellebores (that I seem to have failed to post about) and even attempted to cover *part* of the Japanese cherry blossom tree that was/is mid-bloom . But, I have far too much to cover everything and it seems that I've learned a lesson here:  the newly emerged, unfurled tips of Ostrich Ferns are far too delicate to deal with a hard frost.  See the photo above - these things were hit pretty hard.   This pair of ferns is loc...

This is the third in a series of posts all addressing some transplants that are now in what I have been calling ' Priority Area 2 ' between the Hornbeams and the Oak tree swing.  First was this post showing some hostas being added under the Hornbeam hedge . Yesterday was a photo showing four transplanted hostas under the Oak tree and Flowering Pear . Today I'm showing a recently transplanted Ostrich Fern that you can see in the red circle below.  This is in the area between the Oak tree - swing tree - and the River Birch tree .  It came from the area in the yellow circle where there are a series of "Survivor Ferns" that I first documented in April of 2017 while our house was still being constructed .  In the blue circle below, you can also see another hosta that was planted around the large Oak tree. The plan calls for eleven (11) Ostrich Ferns in this area - so I have more transplanting to do.  You can see some grass poking through the mulch in thi...

In the photo you see above, you'll see a large "vase" (at least that what I'm calling them for now) of Ostrich Ferns and if you look at the bottom of the photo, you'll see a smaller, second Ostrich Fern in the foreground.  The one at the top is what I've been calling the "Teardown Fern".  Here's a post showing this same Ostrich Fern a year ago in June of 2018 .    The top photo in *that* post is from when it was just un-furling and the photo at the bottom of that the post is what it looked like in mid-June.  Here's the original post when I pulled them out of our neighbor's yard in October of 2017 .  Hence...the whole " Teardown Fern " moniker.  This year, you can see that it has more fronds and is larger.  But...that's not the most important part.  That's the second fern that has popped up.  This thing has multiplied.    How nice.  These things do, indeed, multiply and I'm glad that it has matured enough to ...

I was out back cleaning up some things and I came across this clump of plant life that was sticking out of the ground.  I was about to step on it when I noticed it amongst a bunch of leaves and what I think is leaf mold.  In looking at it, I'm pretty sure it is a clump of pre-furl'd fern fronds.  This clump is all the way in the back of the property close to where the kids climb a tree.  When climbing there, they also stomp around on plants and things, so I'm going to mark this with a stick or something to keep the kids away from it when the weather warms up. What makes me unsure if this is a fern is the location.  I planted a whole bunch of stuff that we took out of my sister-in-law's lot before she tore her house down .  One of those items was a big fern that I transplanted that seemed to take last year , but that was on the other side of the lot. I'll keep an eye on this to see if I'm correct and this is, indeed a fern clump.  This is an area...

Just five days ago, I posted for all to see my top 10 to-do items for our yard and garden in 2019 .  There were some significant items on there like dealing with trees and adding another espalier, but item #10 talked about planning for the 'outer walking path'.  I posted about considering a path like that in August of last year and then also discussed the idea of what material is right:  decomposed granite .   That path would wind all the way to the back rear portion of our yard.  And that's where this post comes in.  To get my head wrapped around some items in the yard this Spring, I pulled out the landscape plan and revisited parts of it.  Our plan was drafted by our landscape designer and I've shared portions of it here on the blog.  Here's the links to the various snapshots: Our southern fence line with Hydrangeas and allium One of our rear foundation beds outside of our kitchen A look at the north fence line that we p...

The last time I covered our fern and hosta(s) that have been fostered by Nat's Mom in her garden out in Naperville was October of 2017 when the hosta had ridden out the hot summer and the fern had died back for the year.  That post is here .  The photo above is one I took recently when we took a trip to Naperville.  You can see that both the hosta and the fern are HUGE.  They've been there for two full growing seasons - and this is their third.   The hosta again has some tip burn, which is disappointing, but it does get some decent sun due to the Bald Cypress that is located close leafs out later than most trees.  The size of those two are the good news.  The bad news?  The tiny Hosta Venusta that I planted back in 2016 doesn't look like it survived this harsh winter.  According to this post , one of the best times (besides early Spring) to transplant hostas is early fall - so I'll look to taking this one in September or so. ...

Back in May, I posted a photo update on what I have been calling our 'teardown hostas' that came out of a yard down the block .  They've subsequently grown quite a bit and have leaf'd out to be nice sized hostas that are really in their first year of growth in our yard.  I mean... I put them in the ground in October , so there was really very little opportunity for them to grow/put down roots before they died off for the Winter. In that same post back in October of 2017, I mentioned that I grabbed a fern or two as well from the tear down lot.  I planted them right amongst the hostas and guess what?  They, too, came back.  I took the photo above at the beginning of the month - and that's one of my favorite stages for these Ostrich Ferns - when they begin to unfurl.  But, because I'm just getting around to posting about these ferns, I went back and took another photo to show the progress/growth.  Look at how tall and proud it is standing now. ...

I've documented quite a bit of the new trees that we've planted over the past year of living in Downers, but I haven't really documented in my [ garden diary ] any of the existing trees that we inherited with the property.  I'd consider the lot we're living on to be 'wooded', so it would be a mistake - in terms of garden diary-ing -  to document only the eleven little, young ones I've planted in the past twelve months .  One of the trees we inherited is this three trunk River Birch - which according to the Missouri Botanical Garden  Plant Finder  is "generally considered to be the superior growth habit for this species."  This tree is located on the north side of our lot, about ten feet from the fence, right where the six-foot-fence section transitions down to the four-foot section.  You can see the Mason Bee House that I hung on the fence in the background and like many of the other existing trees that aren't clinging to the fence lin...