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bakingbarb
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Joined: Jul-02-2004
Location: Washington, Western
Posts: 366
bullet Topic: Lady Fern
    Posted: Sep-05-2008 at 8:45pm
I do believe I have a few of these in my yard. One place is sort of a rocky moist, shade garden and it is reproducing at an immense rate. The other place is next to the spigot and it is close to complete shade. It is reproducing quite well also.
What I need to know is if it is possible to move these babies and if so how? I have always heard they are difficult to move, is this true?
TIA
~BakingBarb
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greenmann
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Joined: Jan-13-2006
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posts: 534
bullet Posted: Sep-05-2008 at 11:36pm
In my experience, these aren't particularly difficult to move around, but they ARE easy to loose as little ones, so I usually pot them up as babies to grow them on so I don't loose them.

Lady fern (Athyrium felix-femina) is generally tough and pretty easy to move, as are sword fern (Polystichum munitum). The other species you may have is wood or shield fern (Dryopteris expansa). It's slightly trickier, but still generally pretty easy going so long as you don't let it sit too long before planting it again, and don't let it dry out the next year. Lady and wood ferns are deciduous and twice dissected (twice as "ferny" as a friend puts it :P), where sword ferns are evergreen and once dissected, which is the easiest way to tell the seedlings apart between them. For the two deciduous ones, in the adult leaves, lady fern has "broad hips" where the leaflets come nearly down to the base of the petiol, or over 2/3rds of the way down, and are broadest in the middle. Wood fern by contrast usually has at least 1/3rd to often half the petiol bare at the base, and the branchlets closest to the base are usually the widest for a more or less triangular outline of the leaf as a whole. Lady ferns are more often seen in moist to wet forest, wood ferns can be found in drier areas, but usually associated with decaying wood (like on old stumps and nurse logs) or moist spots in the drier forest. Both are happier in shade I think, but lady fern in particular can grow in full sun in wetlands without too many problems. I've seen it growing with cat tails to a height of 5-6 feet in perpetual wetlands, and in dryish forest only a little more than 18 inches.

At any rate, this is a good time of year to move them, any time between when the rains start up again in fall, through to when spring has truly sprung, but the new fiddles aren't unfurling yet. I prefer fall transplanting to let the roots reestablish, but have salvaged enough of them in the spring to know it works fine too.
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bakingbarb
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Joined: Jul-02-2004
Location: Washington, Western
Posts: 366
bullet Posted: Sep-13-2008 at 7:29pm
I must admit I am a picture person so next time I go to the library I will look for a book with ferns in it.


I dug most of them up today and potted them up. One though is the largest and it seems to be rooted under the fence. I don't want to leave it there as the flower bed isn't large and I think it will take over. I'm not sure but I think I have 2 different ferns, one is more lacy then the other. Its going to take pictures for me to figure this out. I am looking at thissite http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/PI/Go-Native/ PlantSearch.aspx and even though the pictures are good I still am not sure. Actually I am more confused.
Anyways I potted up about 10 of them. They get morning sun and then shade for most of the day, it isn't thick heavy shade, just right for baby plants.
~BakingBarb
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greenmann
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Joined: Jan-13-2006
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posts: 534
bullet Posted: Sep-14-2008 at 10:00am
That link wouldn't work for me Barb *shrug*

If you can post a pic of the individual leaf blade, I can probably identify them, assuming they are natives. There aren't too many non-native ferns around, but locally there can be some. Anyway, if you can sacrifice a leaf of the two different forms, take a picture of them on a light even background and I will do my best to id them for you. You can either post them here or send them to me directly, either way works for me.
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bakingbarb
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Joined: Jul-02-2004
Location: Washington, Western
Posts: 366
bullet Posted: Jan-26-2009 at 10:22pm
Greenman, well this response is a bit late!!! Obviously I will have to wait until they regrow in the spring to get pictures of them.
But I wanted to respond even though its been a few months
~BakingBarb
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