Burlington Garden Center
  • HOME
  • About Us
  • CONTACT
  • EVENTS
  • GIFT CARDS
  • BGC BIRD CLUB
  • Rewards Program
  • HOME
  • About Us
  • CONTACT
  • EVENTS
  • GIFT CARDS
  • BGC BIRD CLUB
  • Rewards Program
Search by typing & pressing enter

YOUR CART

3/30/2017 5 Comments

Ferns: Awakening the Shade Garden

Picture
livestrong.com
Our focus this spring is 'Renewal' in the garden and what better example of that are ferns unfurling their fronds every spring. Ferns have been a staple in the shade garden for a long time - a very long time. Dr. Oliver Sacks who spent his life hunting for and documenting rare varieties of ferns said the following: 

‘Ferns had survived, with little change, for a third of a billion years,'' he notes. ''Other creatures, like dinosaurs, had come and gone, but ferns, seemingly so frail and vulnerable, had survived all the vicissitudes, all the extinctions the earth had known. My sense of a prehistoric world, of immense spans of time, was first stimulated by ferns and fossil ferns.'

 
Picture
Another interesting part of fern history involves Dr. Nathaniel Ward, a  surgeon who lived in London in the early 1800's. Dr. Ward was also interested in botany and entomology. Quite by accident, he discovered that although ferns could not survive the polluted London air, they could thrive under glass. So he made the first terrarium in the early 1800’s for his personal fern collection. His discovery made it possible for English explorers to collect species of plants from around the world and ship them back to London. And the first plants to be successfully shipped? Ferns.

So how about you? Do you have a case of pteridomania, also known as fern craziness? We hope you will after reading about the following varieties of ferns.
Picture
How to Grow Ferns
In general, ferns prefer moist soil and part shade to full shade.
​Ferns are also deer-resistant and rabbit resistant. 
*

Picture
pinterest.com
Lady in Red (Athyrium)
•Tolerates dry soil as well as full sun in moist soil
• Grows 18-30” tall
*

Picture
gardenguides.com
Lady Fern (Athyrium felix-femina)
Grows 2-3’ x 2-3’
​*

Picture
carolynsshadegarden.com
Ferns pair well with the broad leaves of hostas. In the photo above, Hosta 'Remember Me' and a miniature hosta give a nice contrast with the Lady Fern. 
*

Picture
monrovia.com
Japanese Painted Fern (Athyrium niponicum)
Grows 18” tall and has silver foliage with hints of burgundy. 
*

Picture
cottonarboretum.com
Pair the Japanese Painted Fern with the glossy, broad leaves of Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense), a groundcover for the shade. 
​*
Picture
Try this great shade combination: (from left to right) dark leaf Heuchera, chartreuse hosta, Epimedium, and Japanese Painted Fern.
​*
Picture
gardencrossings.com
Japanese Painted Fern ‘Apple Court’
Fern with crested tips, grows to 12" tall. 
*
Picture
gardencrossings.com
Dre’s Dagger
Also known as Victorian Lady Fern, 'Dre's Dagger' is sport of Athyrium filix-femina. It is compact at 18" tall and wide and has upright stems. 
​*

Picture
plantdelights.com
‘Ghost’ fern
'Ghost' is a cross between Japanese Painted Fern and the Lady Fern and grows 30” tall. 
​*

Picture
Monrovia.com
An interesting combination for part shade: two varieties of Heuchera with 'Ghost' fern and blue blooming Ajuga. 
​*

Picture
plantdelights.com
Athyrium ‘Godzilla’
'Godzilla' is a Japanese Painted Fern on steroids! It grows 3' tall and 4-6' wide. 
Picture
Quackingrassnursery.com
Have fun with 'Godzilla' by pairing it with the large-growing 'Sun King' Spikenard (Arelia cordata shown above).
*

Picture
dixinary.com
'Bulblet' Fern (Cystopteris)
Grows 12” tall x 24” wide
It forms small bulblets in late summer that drop to the ground and grow new plants.
​*
Picture
pinterest.com
Hayscented Fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula)
This native fern grows 2’ x 3’. The fronds release a fragrance reminiscent of fresh mown hay when brushed with a hand, crushed or bruised. As a bonus, the fronds turn yellow in fall.
​*
Picture
pinterest.com
Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)
This dark green fern is called the Christmas fern for two reasons: in some zones it stays green at Christmas time and secondly, the pinnae are shaped like stockings. It grows 2’ tall and because it is native to North America it thrives in dry and moist wooded areas. 
* 
Picture
northcreeknursery.com
Autumn Fern (Dryopteris erythrosora 'Brilliance') 
Grows 18" tall and wide in moist shade. 
​*

Picture
greatplantpicks.org
An elegant lacy fern on black stems, this pretty Himalayan Maidenhair Fern is hardy to zone 4 and grows only 12" tall. 
​*
I'll close with a few landscaping ideas with ferns. 
Picture
pinterest.com
Picture
gardenia.net

​- Tracy Hankwitz
Burlington Garden Center
Horticulturist
5 Comments

3/16/2017 0 Comments

Wake Up the Garden

Picture
Wake Up the Garden
Saturday, March 11, 2017
Burlington Garden Center
What to do in the garden in March & April to get your garden off to a great start and save time later.
 

Vegetable Garden
  • Clean off beds if you didn’t do it in the fall.
  • Do a soil test.
  • Add a layer of compost and other amendments. When soil is ready to work, turn amendments under and work in a slow-release fertilizer at the same time.
  • Start pepper seeds (April 1) and tomato seeds (April 15) indoors.
  • Plant asparagus roots mid April.
  • Rhubarb: divide in mid April; spread well-rotted manure around plants.
  • Activate the compost pile (April).
 
Perennial Beds
  • Cut back any stems and seed heads left for winter interest.
  • Cut back ornamental grasses before they green up.
  • Pull weeds as soon as they appear.
  • Apply pre-emergent to control weed seeds.
  • Divide/transplant in April. Amend the soil as you go. We recommend Nature's Blend with Alfalfa & Humates.
  • Watch for heaving crowns on Heuchera (Coral Bells). Mulch them or set them back into the soil.
 
Trees & Shrubs
  • Prune non-spring blooming shrubs now before they leaf out.
  • Cut back spirea and potentilla down to 6”.
  • Annabelle Hydrangeas can be cut back to 18” from the ground.
  • Fertilize trees and shrubs in March before growth begins.
  • Plant new trees and shrubs in April when soil is workable.
 
Fruit Trees
  • Check the base of trees for signs of vole/rabbit damage.
  • Fertilize late March/early April before growth begins.
  • Check plums and cherries for black knot by April 1 to prevent the release of spores. Disinfect pruners between cuts.
  • Time to prune!
    • Remove broken, crossed, damaged branches.
    • Remove suckers and water sprouts.
  • Begin spraying apple trees to prevent apple scab and other insects/diseases.
    • Spray dormant oil when temps are at least 40 degrees.
 
Lawn
  • Rake lightly when soil isn’t wet.
  • Seed/overseed lawns mid April to mid May.
  • Apply crabgrass control when soil temps reach 52-55 degrees (do not use if you plant to seed the lawn).
  • Wait until late May to fertilize.
0 Comments

      Want to learn more about gardening? Sign up for our newsletter. 

    Subscribe to Newsletter

    Categories

    All Annuals Bulbs Composting Container Gardening Cutting Gardens Design Ecological Gardening Food Gardening Gardening Herbs Hydrangeas Native Natives Perennials Planning Pollinators Roses Seed Starting Shrubs Soil Tools Vegetables Vertical Gardening Vines Water Features Wildlife

    Archives

    February 2024
    January 2024
    February 2021
    August 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    April 2017
    March 2017
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014

STORE INFO

5205 Mormon Road
Burlington, WI 53105
262.763.2153
SERVICES

Speakers' Bureau
JUST FOR FUN

Plant Lists
Return Policy