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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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Here everything is topped off with a layer of moss...
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Ditto for the Goodyera oblongifolia.
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The Adiantum aleuticum var. subpumilum is dormant at the moment.
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One more look at the finished planting.
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Before I show you what it looked like for the rest of the month of October...
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As well as a few lichen and the Linnaea borealis (small round leaves) I bought to go with the goodyera.
I look forward to the return of those gorgeous green fronds.
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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