New pyrrosia plantings (can't stop, won't stop)

Some of you may be familiar with local Plant Nerd extraordinaire Mike Darcy. I ran into Mike at last weekend's Salem Hardy Plant Society Sale at Sebright Gardens. Mike writes a column for the Oregon Association of Nurseries magazine and was working on one about "favorite plants" of the summer. He asked what mine was, I only had to think a moment before I said pyrrosia. Of course I was referring to the entire genius, but for Mike I broke it down to the most commonly available pyrrosia, P. lingua. Last winter was very hard on all of my in-ground pyrrosia collection, but after a long summer they've all bounced back and I am again planting them with confidence.

Here's a wide shot of the shade pavilion area, photo from late August.

Photo annotated with my thoughts...

The neighbor's backyard studio is new construction and is a fun shape echo to the shade pavilion, and it's a little dark on the far right of the photo, which tells me the wall of laurel and hazelnut hadn't yet been pruned (massacred). 

Finally, the pyrrosia! A close-up...

Exhibit A; the container is three separate parts that I happened to have laying around and managed to fit together. The base is a vent cap, the lower cone shape is a piece Andrew bought home from work, something they were getting rid of, it is VERY heavy. The top cone shape is... can you guess?

A funnel...

The plant is a fantastic Pyrrosia polydactyla I picked up at Secret Garden Growers (it's not readily available there, yet).

Exhibit B; is part of a jack stand, topped with the same dish I use for my other dish planters—it's the top of a chicken feeder.

This pyrrosia is a "sp" (species) I purchased at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden. The leaves (fronds) are a little wider, more glossy, and the veins are much darker than your average pyrrosia.

Exhibit C is that "planter" on the far right. Okay, it's actually not a planter, but rather a vintage metal bucket shape that used to be in grocery stores for weighing produce (at least that's my memory).

I picked it up at a reuse shop last month.

I was thrilled to finally have a use for this heavy-duty hook I brought home when we cleaned out my dad's shop.

The bucket shape has been a handy catch-all for plants in waiting (you know, plants you buy but don't have an immediate place for); some of them at least. 

That's where this cool Pyrrosia hastata 'Storm Watch' has been hanging out since I brought it home. I'm still scheming on where it's going to end up.

Finally, remember the new step I "unveiled" last June? What I didn't point out back then was the narrow empty space between it and the wall. There's a piece of metal that runs along the edge of the patio pavers that made snugging the step up against the wall problematic. I was toying with growing moss in the planters I squeezed in there, but then I thought...pyrrosia!

It's Pyrrosia lingua and it's an experiment (kind of like my whole garden) but so far they're doing fine.

What I know about these says they'd probably like a little more light than they're getting, but we shall see. I'm keeping a close watch on them.

I definitely like the look of their leathery fronds peeking up at me.

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