It's in the ground!

When last we saw my new tree fern (a Dicksonia antarctica) I was working out exactly where I was going to plant it...

I tackled the planting job on August 15th. Removing the container I was curious to see what the root mass would look like.

Wow, it had definitely been in that pot for awhile.

I cut a slice off the bottom, about an inch, inch and a half thick.

Sometimes when you cut away the roots at the bottom of container the soil just falls away, because the roots were only circling at the edge of the container and not growing in the center. I was glad to see that was not the case here...

So which of the potential spots did I decide to plant in? The one I'd always thought would be a great location. The one I abandoned earlier in the spring when I decided not to plant out my oldest tree fern (I wrote about that in the middle of this post). 

X marks the spot...

Of course my biggest concern was Clifford's roots. You can see in the photo above that I was planning to dig a good size hole just 5-6 feet away from the Magnolia macrophylla trunk. 

Tying up the tall Adiantum pedatum fronds at the back of the planting area, next to the garage wall, revealed a bit of empty space.

I started digging. The ground was quite dry, even though I'd been watering the area all week in preparation for planting. I ended up with a hole roughly 14" deep and 13" wide. It doesn't look that big in the photo does it?

As you can see there were lots of roots damaged in the process, thankfully none larger than my index finger. I hope Clifford won't be too upset.

Andrew helped me pick up the tree fern and drop it into place.

Here the Adiantum pedatum fronds were set free...

Then I returned the tall bromeliad to it's pipe pedestal against the garage wall.

Finally it was time to untie the tree fern fronds...

It's interesting what an impact the small Dicksonia antarctica I planted this spring (on the left, with only a 4" trunk) has in these photos. The new plant on the right is a double, twins, with a 12" and 14" trunk, yet the small one isn't being overshadowed.

This is also where I should share that we've named the new twins; Fern.

There's the oldest of my Dicksonia antarctica, around the corner, at the back of the garage, in the metal container. It's put on a lot of new growth this summer, thanks to a brighter spot, some new soil and fertilizer.

I decided not to fertilize Fern, since we're heading into the colder part of the year. I'll wait until spring for that. She has however thrown out a couple of new fronds since being planted in the ground.

I've been talking with local gardening friends with Dicksonia antarctica planted out, ones they've overwintered successfully. I'm thinking on my winter protection strategy so I won't be caught unprepared. Who knows what lies ahead for winter 2026-27?

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All material © 2009-2026 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude. 

Around the Amazon Spheres, post Snowpocalypse...

It was during the 2018 Northwest Flower & Garden Festival that I first visited the "understory" plantings at the Amazon Spheres in Seattle. I remember walking around in awe of what they'd planted and hoping the coming winter would be good to them.


Fast forward to the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival 2019 and Seattle was just coming out of a very snowy and very cold couple of weeks. I took advantage of a sunny afternoon and strolled up 7th Ave to check things out...

Sinopanax formosanus and Schefflera delavayi, both looking fine.

I found this reassuring, since I've got one of these I haven't put in the ground yet.

There was another one nearby that had some foliage damage, I wonder what caused it?

Oh my! This looks like it might have been a Genista aetnensis.

There were several beschorneria looking just like this...

I'm not an expert on these, but I don't think that's happy new growth.

Hopefully I'm wrong.

The Agave ovatifolia looked good.

As did the Yucca rostrata and Agave parryi.

Even the Rhodocoma capensis held up pretty well.

Oh the poor pyrossia!

In some places it looked like they bore the burden of all the snow as it slipped off the dome and landed on the ground below.

The Mahonia eurybracteata doesn't appear to mind a little adverse weather, the tree ferns however were still wearing their winter coats.

On my previous visit I'd spotted several Fascicularia pitcairnifolia tucked into the trunks of the tree ferns. Looks like they didn't take them off before they wrapped everything up, you can see a few leaves peeking out.

From what I could see all their tree ferns got a wrap of bubble wrap and then burlap. There were also caps to keep snow and ice out of the crown.

Some of the foliage looks rather toasted...

But as long as the trunks are still alive they'll be able to cut off the dead fronts and a new flush will quickly replace them. Fingers crossed this is the case.

The burlap wraps—so expertly done—reminded me of Martha Stewart's posts about wrapping her shrubs every winter.

Oh! That's a happy astelia.

Sadly the Ochagavia carnea suffered.

They look like they'll be fine, just cosmetic damage.

Going to be hell to clean up though, all those barbs along the leaf margin...ouch!

The last bit of burlap drama...

All the Pseudopanax ferox and P. crassifolius were covered.

If you hadn't seen the plants before they were wrapped this would be quite the head scratcher.

Looks like there are bamboo stakes providing support.

We've left the Amazon campus now and I have one last example of Seattle plant protection to share, a volunteer effort. This tree fern has been growing at the open-air University Village shopping area as long as I can remember. Someone I know via Instagram made sure it was warm during the freeze. Aren't plant people the best?

I plan to revisit all these plants sometime this summer and file a follow-up report, I hope it will be a happy one!

Weather Diary, March 27: Hi 56, Low 39/ Precip .22

All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

How long does it take to forget?

Last week as I was planting this gorgeous 5-gallon phormium (picked up at the orange big box for only $24.99), it hit me how far backwards I’ve slid, and I paused for a moment to reflect.

When we moved to Portland this area was midway through a historic period of mild winters. I jumped in with both feet when planting…phormium, cordylines, yes and yes! Then the PKW’s hit (phormium killing winters) 2008/9 and for those of us that foolishly replanted, again in 2009/10. Since then it’s been pretty smooth sailing, with this last winter being particularly mild. You know what that means right? Those plants I vowed never to replant are creeping back into my garden.

First it was just a couple phormium in containers…

But now I’ve got seven phormium in the ground!

Their tall strappy foliage just can't be beat.

And of course their colors are pretty fabulous too.

It’s not just the cordy's and phormium that were hit, I lost a few sizable astelia during those winters as well. After that experience I vowed they were only going to be grown in containers. The current count? I’m up to three in the ground and I’m seriously considering releasing the containerized trio.

Am I asking for trouble? Perhaps.

I have serious doubts that the Euphorbia stygiana I posted about a couple weeks back would make it through a repeat of the PKW’s…

And no doubt the Banksia marginata would be toast...

But here I go doing crazy things like planting a tree fern (Dicksonia antartica) in the ground!

Why? It wasn’t doing so well in the container and since it’s my second I thought I’d see if I couldn’t get it to thrive here. Plus maybe I was a little jealous of the tall tree ferns in the garden of Mark and Gaz. We’ll see.

So my initial post-PKW resolve to only plant things hardy to zone 7 or lower (a full zone colder than mine) has obviously been forgotten. Or at least blurred by things like this Acacia pravissima continuing to succeed when I thought for sure it would be dead by now.

The current best example of my zonal denial? I’ve planted an Echium candicans 'Star of Madeira’ right out in an unprotected spot in the front garden.

Should make for a wonderful summer focal point, wonder what it will look like next January?

All material © 2009-2013 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.