After a winter uncovered, I can see at least some signs of life in a little over half of the ferns that were alive last fall. However, it’s still early, and I would expect it to take a while for some of them to burrow out from under their blanket of pine needles and fallen leaves. I’ve done one light fertilizer feeding and will do another later. There will be a future update when I have a better idea of how many survived (fingers crossed). These holly ferns seem exceptionally hardy.
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Most ferns are pretty harty. I’ll make a prediction that you’ll have a pretty good crop this year.
Hopefully, you are right, Ken. There were some recently added that were struggling last fall. Those are the ones I’m concerned about. Thanks!
To start with I love the image! It looks so delicate and yet a hardy life it is living. I hope you have a lot of them that did well through the winter and this Hillside Fern Project will be a success. Nature has a way of surprising us and showing us what tenacity looks like.
Thank you, Monte. Last winter, I covered and uncovered them based on the weather and temperatures, which was a lot of work. Last summer, I decided it was time to let the “little birds” fly on their own and allow them to do their natural thing—what ferns do in the winter. I’m hoping they will pleasantly surprise me. We’ll see in the next month or so.
Hopefully you’ll find some new ones popping up! I imagine I’ll be waiting a bit longer to see if mine come back.
I hope you’re right, Mark! I’d love to see some new ones. We’ve experienced a warm winter and an early spring. I’m concerned about how hot and long the summer might be.