A few of my ferns

Ferns are one of the most versatile plants in the world. Where there is water there are bound to be ferns somewhere! Some grow in trees in the tropics and subtropics, others grow as trees providing a beautiful canopy in exotic forests and beautiful gardens, and the rest grow close to the ground. Here are some photos of my ferns. I have a few species of ferns not included in this post because they are young and not as photogenic. I'll make a separate post for those soon!

Here is my Staghorn fern. It's an epiphyte which means it gets its nutrients from the air and does not grow in soil. Because of this you can do lots of cool things with them like mount them on a piece of driftwood, hang them from a tree (or mount them to trees like they grow in the wild if you live in a warm climate). I have mine is growing in a tiny glass pot which makes it look really interesting. It grew FAST this summer and the plant is now swallowing the pot. I'll be repotting it in the spring for sure if I can keep it happy inside my house this summer. I have no idea how I will manage to repot it so stay tuned in the spring for that!

I just brought my Staghorn Fern inside today. It's going to spend the winter in my bathroom where it should be happy. It's got a skylight so there is plenty of natural light and it is of course pretty humid in there. We will see how it holds up! 

This next fern is the most common fern growing in yards around here. In cooler climates they can handle some full sun but in my yard they definitely are lovers of the shade. They can actually get pretty large. Unfortunately they do lose their leaves in the winter. Ostrich Ferns are their name if you want to get your own. I warn you that they are a little weedy but they are native! I have them growing in a confined bed so it doesn't act up. The light green fronds are called sterile fronds and make up the majority of the plant. The funky looking fronds in the center of the plant are called fertile fronds and that is how this fern species releases its spores to reproduce. Ferns have been around for a VERY long time so they are sometimes a bit weird and primitive which makes them all the more interesting to grow.

Here's my newest fern planted this past spring. It's called a Tassel Fern (Polystichum polyblepharum) and it is reported to be evergreen in my climate. There are not a lot of evergreen fern options for my area so I think this will be a really valuable addition to my landscape. It'll definitely add some tropical vibes to the winter garden. 

I am very surprised that it is growing this time of the year. I wonder if the new, tender growth will survive a hard freeze.

The "trunk" reminds me a lot of a young tree fern. The fronds do too actually. This is a very tropical looking fern. Not sure if it will prove to be evergreen but it is reportedly hardy down to -20F so it will definitely survive the winter if that is true. Looking forward to finding out!

Plumerias Loving This Heat

Often by mid September the plumerias are starting to show some signs of cooler times ahead. The oldest leaves might drop off, the blooms might get smaller, or maybe they just aren't blooming as vigorously as during the summer. The past few Septembers have been really hot and muggy and so far this month has not been an exception. Dew points in the upper 70s with days in the 80s and 90s and nights near 80F is enough heat to keep plumerias in full color and bloom! 

The tropical palms love it too! 

 

Close up of some orchids and Staghorn fern relaxing under the shade of the plumerias.

Plumeria Melody in the background and Crazy in the foreground. Melody is a late season bloomer and Crazy really almost never stops blooming! I enjoy both quite a lot! 

Snuck a hibiscus shot in the foreground of this photo. Hibiscus and plumeria are such a perfect combo! 

Thanks for looking!

Lots of July Photos around the yard

Here's a collection of the photos you haven't seen of my yard this month!

A Few Close - Ups

Hibiscus "Mandarin Wind"

Hibiscus flowers look especially beautiful in the early morning when they first open up.

Another hibiscus closeup

A close up on some of the elephant ears and cannas in the front yard bed.

Colocasia "Nancy Revenge" Looking very full and healthy

These lantanas survived the winter well inside the house and are blooming beautifully!

Water makes a great back drop for anything, especially these canna blooms!

Cleome closeup

The butterflies love these fuzzy blooms

Passiflora incarnata is definitely a winner! 

My potted confederate jasmine did most of its blooming in March but it is throwing up a few blooms now which is great! I love the fragrance.

I got this oleander on clearance last fall. It's a heavy bloomer!

Underneath my Crape Myrtle, daylilies provide some extra color.

I got these orchids in January and they won't stop blooming. There are lots of new buds ready to open. They are in full shade.

New Things

It's Gardenia season! I got this Frostproof Gardenia from home depot a few weeks ago for only $30. There are a ton of blooms on it and the fragrance is really incredible.

Chuck Hayes Gardenia only blooms once a season, but when it blooms you can barely see the leaves. Here are a few of the blooms. 

A local nursery had heliconias in stock so I had to get one! They did not label them, but it looks like it may be Heliconia psittacorum "Lady Di"

Some NYC Winter Survivors

My Livistona Chinensis is coming back from another NYC winter. It completely defoliated this winter as it does every year, but they are very good at coming back. The Purple hearts have also survived 5 winters. 

Petnas, azaleas, camellias, and hardy hibiscus. A surprisingly nice combo and other than the petnas, completely hardy! 

Can't remember the ID of these striped shade loving plants but they survived their first winter and are coming back with a vengence. They are in complete shade so I highly recommend these for bringing the tropical look to the shade garden.

Here is my Sabal Birmingham and Cleomes and some very dwarf cannas. The birmingham really struggled with it's first winter. The cannas survived without any issues. 

One of my Sabal minors survived the winter without any issues but this one struggled a lot. I've had it for 6 years now and it's very tender but also fast growing.

These are "Summer Storm Hibiscus" which are supposed to be an improvement to "Kopper King" (which you wouldn't think even needed improving!). I got them last summer and they were sending out blooms into NOVEMBER which is really impressive for a hardy hibiscus. I am excited to see what these plants are capable of! 

These castor beans are volunteers from last year. They are a purple variety but look green right now. I think they'll become purple now that they are starting to outcompete the cannas for sunlight. I might have to move my basil since it's very close to the castor beans and castor beans are very posionous! 

Southern Magnolias are about as southern as it gets. My tree has been transplanted several times in the past 4 years and is still in some shock. The foliage is pretty sparse, but it is definitely blooming normally!

Other Scenes around the Yard 

My potted Livistona and bottle palms.

My Staghorn fern is filling out nicely. They can't get enough of our east coast humidity! 

My front stairs.

Definitely disappointed with the growth rate on my Musa Basjoo in the front yard. It's newly planted and already has a lot of pups which is great. I think it will start to push out more growth as the season progresses but I am not expecting it to be too impressive this season.

These cannas will hopefully cover up this machinery by the end of the month. It's a bit of an eyesore right now.

My favorite spot to sit and relax! 

Everything is starting to fill out but there's definitely more growing to do!

I counted 9 plumeria plants in this photo! 

I will end with one of my favorite views in the yard this year. The Ensete banana is doing amazingly well in its second year especially considering how hard of a time I have getting them to overwinter. I feel the spanish moss and farfargum add a lot of texture and character to the scene.

A close up on my Ensete banana with a combination of potato vine, begonias, and caladiums underneath. The potato vine always gets way out of hand so this year I planted it in its original nursery pot to keep it contained.

Thanks for looking!