I'm in zone 5, two zones colder than you are, and I've grown ferns in pots forever. No problems, just make sure they're watered sufficiently. They'll do fine. I just planted an athyrium "Silver Falls" and an Autumn fern, but I've had a Male fern and another which I can't remember.

I have fern dug from my mother's yard (I believe it is a Lady fern) that I've had for years. It's this (under my first little bloom of my pee gee hydrangea last year - haven't uploaded a recent pic yet):

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I have it in a 10" round shallow cedar container planted in soiless container mix with added bark chips mixed in. I leave it where it is and it gets snowed on and whatnot.

If you plan to mix and match, be aware that if this would be for long term growing, all of those that you mention tend to spread. Consider what might be easier to dig out to repot or plant (eg., the carex and grasses would probably be easier to dig out and divide than a colony of fern or heuchera, the latter which can get woody and die out in the center after awhile).

Hi, I have everything in pots even hydrangeas ...just make sure they have lots of water and in winter put deeper in the ground. I like the look of a big pot stuck in the middle of some hostas or a canna lilly poking up through some low growing grasses. Make my own compost and add, Miracle Gro granules, fish emulsion,horse manure,alfalfa cubes,etc. ...and lots of WATER.

Hey Donn - Ferns can do quite well in containers:

Athryrium niponicum - 'Burgundy Lace'
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Got this one in the fall of 2004; it is currently in a 2-gallon nursery pot, in a mixture of Mircale-Gro mix and compost. It's lightly mulched - maybe 1½ inches - and gets no special protection in the winter; it just gets moved closer to the building wall, along with all the other pots. I think all the ones you mentioned will do fine as you've planned, although you might want to re-think the combinations. I'm not too "up" on grasses, but they might be a better short-term combo alternative than the heuchera.

One thing I've learned in my limited experience with ferns - they do not always come back up in the exact spot where they are originally planted. I think mine is contained to a certain extent by the smallness of the pot - it was first planted dead center in the pot, but has come back along the sides. I can only assume that in a larger pot (or the ground), it will have more "creeping" room.

PV

Good point, PV. Maybe I'll do one with 2-3 of the same fern, and another with a variety, in smaller pots buried in the large pot. Until I learn about the growth habits of the ferns, I should probably be careful.