The Perfect Spot

I have a confession to make. I go through a lot of maidenhair ferns every year. I buy them all the time to keep inside the house, knowing that they will only last a few months, if I'm lucky. But to me they are so lacy and airy and pretty that I consider them a necessary expense. Just like a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers that brings me joy for a week or so. I am capable of keeping them thriving in the house for quite a while. They do need light, but the most important thing they need is constant moisture. If they dry out they die, simple as that. Because I get busy and travel, I do lose them regularly, or they just start looking shabby and I stick them out in the garden and let nature take its course. But look at this one that has found the perfect spot in the Moonlight Garden. It has been there for years and is just as happy as could be. It is simply a matter of a temperamental plant in the perfect spot.

Determination!

I honestly don't even know what kind of fern this is growing in the crack of a retaining wall in my Laguna garden, other than a very determined one! I have planted so many ferns over the past 15 years here that it could be almost any kind, but doesn't look familiar. I do like it though! A nice surprise.

Tree Ferns

Some of the easiest, most reliable plants in the garden we have a tendency to take for granted. That is true of the Australian Tree Fern (sphaeropteris cooperi) for me. It is the go-to plant I always use for shady circumstances where I want a large, easy plant to fill in space. It will tolerate wet or dry shade and makes a nice understory plant to my tall palms that can lack eye level interest.
I love the lacy foliage and the airy feel that it adds to our 'Palm Alley' in SJC where it tolerates less than ideal conditions planted among the tree roots. They can grow quite large with ideal conditions, but I have a couple in Laguna that have been there 20 years and are still only about six feet tall. They will survive almost near death (as I have witnessed while planted in some neglected pots) and come right back to their former glory in no time. They are a nice solution for difficult spots that are shady and somewhat dry, although they will flourish with regular water.

Mossy-Ferny Things

I love mossy-ferny things in the garden, but this time of year they are few and far between in our SJC garden due to the lack of rain. I have to create little vignettes in shady spots to satisfy my cravings for a woodland feel, like this faux-faux bois birdbath. Once the rainy weather returns (hopefully) in a couple months the mosses and ferns will return naturally to some of the shady spots for the season.

Embracing Art

This staghorn fern seems to be enthralled with this tall art structure from artist Gerard Basal in our Laguna garden.

Painted Japanese Fern

When I first planted this Painted Japanese Fern 'Pictum' there was no ground cover around it and it just kind of blended in with the soil. Now that the Australian violets and volunteer wild strawberries have embraced it, the colors really stand out and attract the eye.

Not My Favorite, But...

I must admit I never would have picked out this color of azaleas if I were buying them at a nursery. They came with the house and were planted in all the wrong places. This was a grassy area that was shady and damp most of the time until we removed the grass and put in a flagstone walk. I needed plant material so I moved the azaleas over here and added tree ferns, ferns, Australian violets and a number of other shade plants. I am actually enjoying the bright, bold color this time of year and they are performing beautifully so I guess I can live with the cherry red.

Palm Alley

This is one of my favorite spots in SJC. We call it Palm Alley because it is a narrow strip connecting the pool area with the meditation garden that has about a dozen queen palms lining it, creating a shady canopy. It is one of the few really shady areas in the entire yard and I love shade gardening. When we moved in here a couple years ago it was a soggy, wet, grass area and of course the palm trees. My son put in the flagstone path to keep our feet dry and we added hydrangeas, foxgloves, azaleas, ferns, fuchsias, baby tears, ajuga, Australian violets and a number of other shade-loving plants. As planned, the moisture loving plants suck up the water that accumulates in this low area of the property and it is no longer a swamp, but a pleasant path to enjoy the lovely plants that I can't grow anywhere else on the property because they would require too much water.

Spores!

This holly fern is producing enough spores to cover the earth in ferns!

Sorry Birds, The Fern Has Moved In

I purchased this faux - faux bois birdbath from a catalog a few months ago and was rather disappointed in it as a birdbath. The bowl was really deep and the birds just sat on the side trying to figure out how to get into the water without drowning. It was hard to clean and still even worse, the paint was peeling off in the water! A trip to the nursery and a small tree fern, a couple maidenhair ferns that were looking a bit ragged in the house and some Scottish moss and viola! A lovely planter! Sorry birds, I promise to buy a new birdbath.