Skip to main content

Wonderful Ostrich Ferns

I've written about the gorgeous ostrich ferns around our home before, so I thought I'd repost that information, because we're currently in the midst of a dramatic change in the landscape thanks to these wonderful plants.  It's always amazing to me how quickly the ostrich ferns unfurl within a week to two week time span.  Many of the magnolia trees around the neighborhood have already bloomed, the cherry blossoms have a few more days left before their blooms fade, but the ostrich ferns are here to stay for several months.  If you have any around your home do enjoy them!
   
.................................


Matteuccia struthiopteris or ostrich ferns, are beginning to show their glory at our house right now and it always seems like they magically appear overnight.  For me it's a dramatic event every spring when the first fiddleheads pop out of the ground and continue to grow for about a 3-4 week period into enormous, broad ferns.  This type of fern, which is deciduous, does well in zones 3 through 7 and prefers areas that receive partial shade to full shade.  The ferns will spread if given ideal growing conditions, so they're perfect for covering large patches of ground.

Here in the woodland around the house, there are several areas of the grounds that have ostrich ferns and I absolutely love them.  In the wild, these ferns can grow up to 6 feet in height, but if cultivated at home, they will more than likely grow between 2-4 feet.  This clump-forming fern grows vertically with a beautiful, somewhat trumpet shape to it.  Many people will plant ostrich ferns as a form of soil erosion control, so keep this in mind if you live in an area that is prone to flooding.  The only drawback that I can think of is that ostrich ferns will lose their beauty toward the end of summer and well into fall & winter when they become dormant.  The infertile fronds (these are the showy green parts) will brown, dry out and die down; spore-bearing fronds which stay about 2 feet tall, remain brown year round.  Take a closer look at these beautiful ferns and think about planting a few if your garden needs some ground cover.   


This photograph shows the fronds just coming out.  This was taken in mid March.

 
As you can see from this picture, the fronds are tightly wound and will shoot up anywhere from 2-6 feet.


Around this area behind our house, a colony of ostrich ferns has taken hold and will cover a good 40 feet of woodland.  The daffodils in the background (most of them have already bloomed & died) will soon be entirely dwarfed by them.

I'm standing in front of our home looking east toward the bottom of the hill.  There is roughly 100 feet or so of ostrich ferns running down this side along a stream.


An old well and a teak bench settle into the landscape quite naturally around the ferns.

Looking down toward the glade, there is a small area of ferns that wasn't there the year before.  I love it!  They seem to be taking over, but that's OK.  There is plenty of room for them here.  Our azalea is just beginning to bloom, but I'm not too hopeful for it because the deer always eat it up!

There is nothing like freshly mown grass.  This scene looking from the back of our house never gets old for me.  
 If I'm in the mood, I head down this path toward a small bridge which leads onto some trails.  

 You can see how wonderfully shaped each trumpet is if you look straight down at one.

 This frond hasn't quite finished unfurling.  I give it a few more days before it joins its counterparts.  

I couldn't resist gently prying one open for you to see.  Don't worry, I didn't damage it.

OK, a bit of cheating.  This photograph was taken last summer, but just to show you what it will look like in a month or two, the same area is now completely engulfed by beautiful ostrich ferns.  Don't they make a gorgeous ground cover?  By the way, where is the bench?  It's been swallowed up by the fronds.

 

Here I am standing next to a patch of ferns (last summer) surveying some of the trees.  You can see how high these ferns get; some will continue to grow past my head! 




Comments

  1. I have bare patches under some trees that will not, no matter how hard we try, grow grass. I'll bet some fern would be the perfect solution!
    Spring has been reluctant to come and stay in our area, but we are seeing 70's this weekend. Could it be that it's finally here to stay?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Paula! Nancy, you may try ferns or even pachysandra in areas that are bare. Both are great ground cover. As for Spring, I hope it's here to stay because I'm tired of the cold weather! I want my warm temps and nice breezes.

    ~David

    ReplyDelete
  3. wow, you have alot of ostrich ferns and they are beautiful. Did you plant all of them or are they wild in your area? We have alot of them here in the mountains of South Carolina but not like that. I have a bunch of them growing across the front of my house and they did well this year.

    I need to divide them but sure how and when is the best time. I want to spead them around our property.

    Ostrich Ferns Gone Wild

    ReplyDelete
  4. Michael,

    The ostrich ferns here are wild, so they grow wherever they want to scatter. They're nice to have because they cover a lot of ground, so I'm glad you have them in your neck of the woods!

    David

    ReplyDelete
  5. hey David,
    Would you be interested in selling me some of those Ostrich ferns?

    send me an email.

    Michael

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank You for Posting!

Popular posts from this blog

Antique Salt Cellars

There was a time when salt cellars played an important role on the dining table for the host or hostess.  As a result of it being such an expensive commodity several hundred years ago, salt was seen as a luxury and it was the well to do that made salt cellars quite fashionable & a status symbol for the home.  A single salt cellar usually sat at the head of the table and was passed around throughout the meal.  The closer one sat to the salt cellar, the more important one was deemed by the head of the household.  Smaller cellars that were more accessible and with an open top became a part of Victorian table settings.  Fast forward to the 20th century when salt was no longer a luxury and when anti caking agents were added to make salt free-flowing, and one begins to see salt cellars fall out of fashion.  Luckily for the collector and for those of us who like to set a table with Good Things , this can prove to be a boon. Salt cellars for the table come in silver, porcelain, cut glass

How to Paint a Chair

If you have ever felt the need to spruce up a set of chairs or give them a new look, why not try a little bit of paint?  Our tastes in decor and color will probably alter throughout our lives, and at some point, we may find ourselves wanting to change the look of our furniture without having to spend a lot of money.  That's where a few handy tips, some tools from the hardware store, and good-quality paint come in handy.   I know I'm not alone in paying visits to local antique shops, antique fairs and flea markets, and falling in love with pieces of furniture that would be perfect if they were just a different color.  You don't have to walk away from a good purchase simply because it's the wrong color.   My dear friend, Jeffrey, is forever enhancing his home with collectibles from flea markets and tag sales.  However, certain items aren't always up to Jeffrey's tastes when he brings them home.  He is the type of person who won't hesitate to chang

Vintage Wilton Wedding Cakes

Wedding cakes have certainly evolved over the decades just as tastes and styles have in our American way of life.  There was a time when elaborate & very formal towering feats of sweetness were the standard for every bride & groom.  Growing up in a household where I witnessed several wedding cakes take shape from start to finish, I can tell you  that every single one of these was a true labor of love.  For mom, Wilton was the go-to supplier in every aspect of cake baking, including the wedding cakes which flew out of our house every single year for friends & family.   Vintage Wedding Cake Toppers It’s fun going back and looking at Wilton’s methods and styles for wedding cakes during the 1960s and 1970s.  Back then, the shapely cakes were not simply stacked and covered in perfect fondant the way they are these days, but were iced and decorated with real buttercream, along with a multitude of accessories.  There was even a working fountain available that could b