Friday, March 10, 2023

New shady planting; natives and ferns

I'm not one who does a lot of fall planting, and by that I mean ANY fall planting. I just don't trust winter to be kind. That said, the natives I purchased last September at Bosky Dell (Wednesday's post) made it into the ground before winter—mid October to be exact. Here the area is prepped and ready for planting.

I'm targeting the area to the left of the stock tank because I've been so happy with the small planting I did there of Asplenium trichomanes and Pyrrosia lingua 'Kei Kan' back in 2021. Time to expand it!

Prepping the space mainly involved removing the final traces of an Acanthus mollis. It looked great in the spring but would go dormant in the summertime. I don't have the patience for that.

All gone and ready to plant! Hahaha. Right. If you've ever tried to remove an acanthus you know I'll be finding bits popping up for awhile, no matter how great I thought I did at removing it.

Because Goodyera oblongifolia is particular about the soil it grows in I mixed up lots of organic matter and fir tree debris and added it to the planting area, keeping it all tucked in with large rocks and a couple of branches. I moved a Pyrrosia lingua 'Hiryu' out of the stock tank and into this planting too, tucking it under one of the branches on the far left (P. lingua 'Kei Kan' is on the far right).

The dwarf maidenhair, Adiantum aleuticum var. subpumilum that I picked up last fall at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden got an elevated planting in a open-bottom galvanized planter (aka piece of ducting) at the back of the planting.

Here everything is topped off with a layer of moss...
As well as a few lichen and the Linnaea borealis (small round leaves) I bought to go with the goodyera.

The old planting runs from the Asplenium trichomanes to the mossy rock on the far right, I love how the new and old plantings just flow together now.

A pulled back shot. Damn but I can't wait for the garden to look like this again, it's been a very wet and cold winter and early spring.


I am pleased to report that even though many pyrrosia have suffered in my garden this winter, 'Hiryu' has done well in it's new home.

Ditto for the Goodyera oblongifolia.

The Adiantum aleuticum var. subpumilum is dormant at the moment.
I look forward to the return of those gorgeous green fronds.

One more look at the finished planting.

Before I show you what it looked like for the rest of the month of October...

That's protection against the squirrels. They love to dig in the moss around the garden, but then also take things up several notches in the fall when they're buying their food treasures for later. I wanted this new planting to get established before they could paw at it and the trays and rebar definitely did the trick.

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11 comments:

  1. Love, love, love it... sort of a ground level fern table. No surprise, this shady corner is my favorite in your garden... This new addition turned out fabulously!
    How did it hold up in winter?
    Chavli

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    1. Glad you like it (when are you going to come visit my garden in person?) Oh and everything held up great through the winter, yay!

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  2. The vignette is beautiful, Loree. I love the Goodyera (even without flowers). The foliage makes me think of a fancy, but tiny, hosta. I discovered that the plant is also native to California, albeit not the southern part of the state. Re Acanthus, it goes dormant in my current garden but never did in my old garden - the old foliage died back but was simultaneously replaced. It's dormancy here drives me crazy and I'm still trying to remove it.

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    1. I can definitely see the hosta similarity, Hoover Boo also compared it too cryptanthus which I never would have thought of, but I can definitely see.

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  3. I am so happy to have your blog back, Loree! My eyes have been needing all you beautiful greenery! I love the desert but I need to see your garden too. Creative idea to use "elevated planting in a open-bottom galvanized planter (aka piece of ducting)". You have such terrific ideas for the garden!

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  4. You make me want to try more ferns or a stumpery. We’ve got a bunch of stumps and rounds I could use, and after seeing the price of a little chunk of bark in a Portland houseplant shop, I think I could sell it all and retire rich. Love the flats and rebar. The things we do!

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    1. You should definitely plant more ferns, and build a stumpery too!

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    2. Time to get out the axe and make some planting pockets.

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  5. My first thought was also that this was a fern table concept down low. Inspirational on all levels. Wish I could keep moss alive on rocks in that kind of arrangement. But it gets too hot and dry here. Just lovely.

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    1. Is it really more hot and dry in your garden than in mine? We get no rain for months in the summertime and temps in the 80's and 90's regularly. Some of the moss goes dormant, but it always comes back.

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