Jinx I have never seen those!! I'm going to look them up. I wonder if I can grow them in our zone?

Tina, I think so ... they’re really tough plants! I love them. :)

ETA: I just looked up the zones, I’m not sure how they’d do for you after all. But they’re popping back up after our days of below zero temps. I’d ask at a trusted local nursery to be sure.

Love that Southern wood fern! I'm definitely going to seek those out for our patio bed, which gets a good deal of dappled light and shade. I usually have a Kimberly Queen on the front porch. There's the remains of one out there now, cut way back. Don't know if it will come back again or not this year, but I've generally found them to be quite hardy all summer and well into the winter months here.

Always a good idea to plant things that are native to your area. There are plenty of native ferns that are just wonderful. I love my Virginia ferns!

Just the native ferns that grow naturally.

I'm in the Chicago area, and we're always tempted by ferns (usually Kimberly Queen but hard to tell) around May. I buy them for our porches, and then bring them indoors over winter. But they are so messy. A few years ago, I had several that I over-wintered and returned to our porch, but the amount of vacuuming I had to do when they were indoors wasn't worth it. I'm a sucker, though... I love ferns.

I do not - they require too much water. I've mainly noticed them only along riverbeds or banks. I tried to grow a staghorn fern in my pergola here, but I was unable to keep it adequately watered. I had a large one when I lived in Venice CA, but we got more coastal fog there.

@Feathers11 i love ferns too! It wouldn’t be summer without them. They are annuals here (outside) and I don’t try to bring mine in and save them. There are some native ferns that grow in our mountain area, not sure what kind. @Jilly i looked those ferns up and it says they require shade to partial shade??? I may order one and see how it does.

I have Kimberly Queen ferns outside on the deck. They have survived at least one winter and we'll see if they come back this spring. I think I saw that to take them out of the pot and break up the roots so they regenerate?

Kimberly Queens are not known to be messy shedders, which is another reason I have sought them out for some time.

Thank you @gsciencechick, I’ll have to try that!

The frost free date here is April 15 and I watch the weather carefully the week before if I plan on buying something iffy.

It is very tempting right now for many things but I've been nipped before and had damage.

I have bought Kimberly's and Hollywood's often, not a fan of Bostons but for the past few years I've preferred flowering plants.

Tina, yes, you can grow the Southern Wood Fern in our zone with no problem. We have them at our Fern Glade at the botanical garden and have propagated them many times.

I have several outdoor natives and have planted a few of the Autumn Brilliance and Autumn fern which always come back up each year. They are all in shade and fairly damp location but most stay heavily mulched with natural leaves or straw. I have an asparagus fern I put under the house or in the garage in winter and then cut back the dead parts. It looks great every year.

Here are the deck ferns. The copper pots were an estate sale fined. Yes, deck needs major work!

I have ferns that come up each year and to be honest they are a mess. They look good for most of the summer but then they turn brown and break off. I really dislike cleaning up all the stems at the end of the season.

Lastbyear I saw some pretty frilly ferns at a nursery and planted them in planters along with some other perennials and begonias. I put the planters under my carport in hopes that they would make it through the winter. So far it appears that the heuchera are coming back, but it’s too soon for the ferns. Here’s the planter from last June.

I grow a few Japanese painted ferns (love them), Ostrich fern, etc., but I've never thought of growing them in pots! I might try that this year. :)

I’ve never really taken to ferns. Even the ones at Longwood which are undeniably outstanding. In fact, on my self-reported goals for work, I wrote “Try to like ferns.”

I love the look, but ferns kind of scare me because they seem to need extra care. Maybe I’ll try one or two on my porch this year. A Victorian porch probably requires at least one fern, right?

I planted a couple (can’t recall the variety) in a shady corner last year and so far there’s no sign of them returning.

@Bumblebeez SC Zone 7 no worries, they would be undercover and can be brought in/covered if it happens to frost. If I don't get them soon, they will be gone. I always have ferns and plenty of potted flowers too. :)

@OutsidePlaying thank you for the info! You've encouraged me to try one!!

@party_music50 I had a painted japanese fern (I think I got that backwards LOL) once and they are pretty. You don't see them here often though.

@Sueb20 I don't find ferns hard to grow. The main thing is to give them plenty of water. But yes, you need them on your porch!!

A tip - ferns love epsom salt! It's a great fertilizer for them. Mine get huge and stay green and lush.

ETA: @gsciencechick and @Ded tired your ferns look great!

@Sueb20, I don't do anything to them except water! But as I mentioned, I maybe have to free up the roots and trim what is dead.

I have quite a few. Half dozen different varieties that are perennials in my hosta beds to give some height and variety: maidenhair/ostrich/japanese/lady/Christmas/cinnamon, off the top of my head.

I prefer flowers on my porch.

Here are my babies today. Look at the curls! 🥰

This whole area (and more) will be solid soon, they grow fast. I usually cut them back to the ground around Feb to March.

Jinx, those are gorgeous! And the little curly Q’s so cute right now!

Arcy, wow! What a beautiful hosts/fern bed!

Ded Tired- I hope yours come back- your mix was so pretty!

Gscience, yours are beautiful as well & I spy a little visitor!

I just bought 2 at Costco- Boston. To me, it means spring is HERE! And since I don’t have chickens now, mine won’t look awful this year. Ferns = chicken crack! They would perform acrobats to get to them & strip them

Bought a bedraggled Boston fern at Walmart a couple of yrs back on clearance - it's spent 2 winters inside-- summers outside, and has flourished. I have to cut it back after it's summer vacay

Yes the can get messy

Have another Maidenhair that's flourishing, and just added 2 Rabbit's-foot ferns - I had an old, big, Rabbit's foot fern that I lost a few yrs back when I didn't water it enough during its dormancy....they lose their fronds and all you see are the 'feet'

The Boston and Maidenhair do love their watering - outside the Boston get watered daily and sometimes twice

I love them but I gave them up indoors. Too messy/high maintenance. Someday, if I ever get the bed prepared, I have a spot for a shade garden on my property, which will feature all my favorite shade plants, including ferns . . . the bed is covered by rocks and plastic mulch, it is taking forever to reclaim it . . .