Why I Oughta...

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...

This big happy fern is loving things back in the deep shade of our far back yard.  It is now almost in bush form and has doubled year-over-year from what it looked like last year.    I yanked it out of Nat's Sister's lot before she built her new house in Downers last Summer.  It was the middle of the Summer, so there was certainly some transplant stress.   I haven't done much to tend to this fern aside from a couple of what I'll call 'strategic' waterings.   Those were deep waterings of areas during the deep heat of July/August when I started to see things droop and wilt.  This is located behind the yew hedge that I planted earlier this Summer and will (eventually) be in the shadow of some Canadian Hemlock trees that I planted - if they grow! 

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 ...

Ferns are shade lovers.  And, as you know, I'm a shade gardener.  This is a big fern that I harvest out of Nat's sister's yard earlier this Summer  and it is happy in this photo.  I took this earlier this month on one of my after-work walks as things started to head into their Autumn state and the plants start to die back.  This fern weathered the transplant shock and is now thriving with new growth.  It is very different than our Ostrich Ferns, but I'm not sure what variety it is quite yet.  I ended up tossing it into the ground all the way in the back and you can see it mixed in amongst weeds - for now.  Next Spring, I'll see how big this clump comes up and maybe I'll be able to split it into two ferns - and think about putting one down as part of the garden walking path that I've sketched out in my own mind somewhere along the northern fence line.  In my head, next Spring (of 2019) was going to be the season of building out more hard...

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. ...

That pile of stuff in the photo above might not look like much, but it potentially is a bountiful harvest from down the block.  There's a family that is tearing down a house four doors to the south of us and the lot had a decent perennial garden.  So, the new owners put out a note to the neighbors to 'come and dig' what you want/can out of the yard before the heavy equipment rolls in and everything is tossed.   I went over there with my spade shovel and this blue trug and found a half dozen variegated hostas, a few what I think are going to be ostrich ferns, and a hydrangea bush.  Dug them out, walked them home and put them in the #newoldbackyard with some water to give them a chance to survive.   Back in Elmhurst, I did the same thing a few times when homes were being torn down in our neighborhood.  On one occasion, I grabbed a few peony plants and irises and one other time when a house across the alley from Equation Boy/Man's house...