Yes I use ferns, I am especially fond of Royal fern & Maidenhair fern. Here is a link because there as so many possibilities Hosta companion plants

I also like ferns…….would like some Japanese Painted ferns. Also love the usual—- astibles, heucheras, love dicentra specticablis, but it goes dormant about now. I planted a number of sun loving perennials this year too, yarrow, lupine, coreopsis to layer from tall along the fence to shorter as they mix with the hostas. Also have salvias, which the bees love but it needs support. Clematis are nice for vertical space……you need a support for it to grow on. I did buy a Sun King Aralia which is currently in a big pot. That is going to be planted near the corner of my house front. It’ s beautiful gold will really stand out. Hope you got ideas from some of these suggestions.

debra

Please edit your post to eliminate the reference to "jap" primroses. I suspect you intended that as an abbreviation but it is truly an offensive term, intentional or not. Please delete.

lindalana..my goal is a prettier woodland than if left on it's own 😂..natural but neater..

I like shade perennials with hosta more than groundcovers..love ferns, epimediums, hellebores, brunneras, astilbes, Painter's Palette persicaria..

I try not to plant too close together..I like space to be able to work..I use my homemade compost to cover the ground..2 areas I weeded recently..sawflies defoliated my red twig dogwood 🙁..

Off topic to Hostas

Eiport.....

Thank you. Because "japanese' is part of many plants' common names I 've seen the ugly abbreviation pretty often. People who would never use it in speech use it in plant talk.

I suspect many haven't read literature or heard commentaries from those years and have no idea how pejoritive it was. (is)

A comment can be edited without being deleted in full.

Nicholsworth, I have admired your garden greatly, I like peaceful feeling your garden gives me.

Admittedly I am a crammer and need to remain myself to keep space open. How do Astilbes bloom for you? My experience that they do enjoy decent sunlight to be showy...

Debra, love painted ferns, both burgundy and silver, I think they just add classy elegance to any setting. My sunnier spots are all delegated to veggie and berry gardens so I will have to stick with shade loving and heavy soil tolerant plants. Not sure epimedium will be happy in heavy water loaded soils... I did buy Sun King too, it does well in more sun though... I have seen spectacular lupines in WI, was never lucky to grow them in IL.

Peren, thank you for finding companion thread, lots of ideas. I am looking for couple of tallish but narrow ferns and not superspreaders. Then probably want to add cute but short ones. Sebright has lots of choices if anyone has experience in growing ferns in heavy soil I am all ears. Are Royal fern and Maidenhair finicky?

I have been eyeing ligularia Chinese dragon but shipping from Plant Delights is a killer...

thank you for the compliment lindalana 🙂..

I need to explain something better..I don't have space around every plant..I try to leave a path in a group of plants to be able to reach them..

my astilbes don't bloom as well as my neighbor..but mine don't dry out like hers..I like the foliage and don't worry much about the blooms..since this pic was taken I've removed quite a bit of the vinca behind the astilbe..

I did a search and Northern Maidenhair fern will not like clay but the Royal fern will be fine with it. Rodgersia is a superb plant(s) that I know will tolerate clay.

My astilbes bloom better with sun. My Brunnera and Hellebores are bullies and take over any space they are given along with the rest of the bed. I am in the process of dividing and giving more away. We put annuals in large pots and put them among the hostas. Coleus and begonias along with impatiens and wax begonias do well with the hostas. if we find they aren't doing well, we just move the pots. Last year was the first year that I planted hostas in large pots and they too have been moved around the yard to see if they do better in other areas. My husband just moved 7 very large hostas in order to get the space open for a plumber to fix some drainage pipes. He had to dig them back in last weekend. Our weather has been horrible, hot and extremely humid. This reminded us of how easy it would have been to have them in pots.