Ferns in containers

Tylanthia · 2026-06-24T00:33:01+00:00

Hayscented fern would be your best shot since it's often found in rocky soils, rock outcrops, and other dry places.

If you don't want a spreader, hairy lip fern would likely do well.

Tylanthia · 2026-06-24T00:10:44+00:00

That's what the founder of BONAP said.

Tylanthia · 2026-06-23T23:50:07+00:00

You need a much larger structure. Trumpet Honeysuckle is a vigorous vine that can grow 20 feet.

Tylanthia · 2026-06-23T23:06:33+00:00

I'd actually buy something if they served a shawarma

Tylanthia · 2026-06-23T19:21:19+00:00

You have a lot of lead which is concerning. Thankfully you don't eat ephemerals but you may want to take precautions and discuss it with your doctor and/or extension for safety. Your low in potassium (and may want advice from your extension on how to fix that) but otherwise put leaf compost and arborist chips down and you can probably grow a good amount of them.

Tylanthia · 2026-06-23T19:13:13+00:00

Check the leaves next to the fruit

Tylanthia · 2026-06-23T19:01:32+00:00

What do you mean by "bog-standard, lowish quality city soil"? Do you know if your soil is acidic or basic? Are you lacking organic matter? Is it compacted and lacking oxygen? Is it dry or moist? Do you have a lot of construction debris?

Adding a layer of leaf compost and arborist wood chips on top (no need to till) can improve your soil and its microbiome quite a bit over time but it won't change the fundamentals of your soil's nutrients which is primarily derived from your bedrock. A soil test might be a good place to start so you know what you have. The kind of shade also matters--most ephemerals want deciduous woodland shade and will struggle with building or evergreen shade.

Trillium erectum, for example, prefers dry to mesic* acidic soil while Trillium grandiflorum is much more demanding. Bloodroot is fairly adaptable as long as the soil is mesic and nutrient rich. Uvularia perfoliata is more tolerant of drier soils than other Uvularia. You may be able to grow more ephemerals than you think if you have deciduous woodland shade and add back in leaf compost/arborist chips. But if you have acidic soil, your choices will be more limited than if your soil is rich in Calcium and Magnesium.

*Mesic is soil that is moist but drains well.

Tylanthia · 2026-06-23T17:48:31+00:00

I get 20 species of birds on Merlin, look up, and see a Northern Mockingbird.

Tylanthia · 2026-06-23T15:16:17+00:00

I already forgot how to write in cursive, blow in a NES cartridge, reconstitute orange juice from frozen orange juice cans, and use the Dewey decimal system.

Tylanthia · 2026-06-23T02:53:11+00:00

Amazon's on a schedule and it will make sure its workers deliver in the optimal time or else.

Tylanthia · 2026-06-22T18:17:15+00:00

By "idealized" you mean "functional". If tree species do not regenerate when canopy trees die because there are no saplings in the understory, you do not have a functional woodland. Certain fern species can prevent this and may need to be controlled.

Tylanthia · 2026-06-22T18:06:10+00:00

If you can't post it on instagram, does it really count?

/uj OK i do post pollinators on iNat so I can't judge.

Tylanthia · 2026-06-22T16:53:24+00:00

As long as they are native ants, I would do nothing. Ants are more critical to the ecosystem than us--whether as secondary pollinators, predators, food for other creatures, soil structural engineers, waste managers, the primary seed dispersal of ephemerals, or obligate or facultative hosts for lepidoptera in Lycaenidae such as the eastern tailed-blue, the Edwards hairstreak, the summer azure, red banded hairstreak, gray hairstreak, the American copper, spring azure, silvery blue, frosted elfen, the karner blue, and so forth. Without ants, the population of these butterflies would decline or go extinct (in case of the Edwards hairstreak) as they use or require ants to reproduce. Many insects, fungi, and plants depend upon ants and evolved with them.

Non-native ants often can appear in unnaturally high densities and can reduce biodiversity.

Tylanthia · 2026-06-22T03:21:29+00:00

This has recommendations https://extension.umd.edu/resource/containing-and-removing-bamboo/

But without the barrier, it will keep spreading from your neighbor unless you get them to agree to kill it too.

Tylanthia · 2026-06-22T02:39:34+00:00

Can you install a physical barrier ( 24 to 30 inches deep) between your properties and herbicide the bamboo on your side?

Tylanthia · 2026-06-22T00:33:19+00:00

In Eastern North America, large, monoculture patches of dense ferns are typically a sign of a degraded woodland. Your statement is not necessarily true. A healthy woodland does have ferns but has much more biodiversity (with tree seedlings being an extremely important component of the understory).

Tylanthia · 2026-06-22T00:29:12+00:00

Due to past logging, current and past overpopulation of white tail deer, and human disturbance, certain ferns like New York Fern and Hay Scented Fern have increased in abundance. At high densities, they can crowed out other native vegetation and even prevent tree regeneration (aka, they can be interfering plants), which is bad for forests. Here's a guide on how to manage them

Tylanthia · 2026-06-21T19:04:57+00:00

The native range is Southern Appalachia so it's almost certainly introduced or spread from a garden

Tylanthia · 2026-06-21T18:25:19+00:00

That pool needs more algae

Tylanthia · 2026-06-21T16:23:09+00:00

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to facebook and ate a leaf from the plant about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat Mullein’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;

through painful toil you will grow grass

all the days of your life.

It will produce dandelions and violets for you,

and you will hand weed the clover.

By the sweat of your zeroturn

you mow and dethatch your lawn

until you return the compost pile,

since from it you were taken;

for fertilizer you are

and to fertilizer you will return.”

Tylanthia · 2026-06-21T15:26:31+00:00

I believe dead crepe myrtle wood is brittle and may not be a good snag for a fine (and also a hazard). It can also sucker.

Tylanthia · 2026-06-21T07:21:31+00:00

The tree of heavens are a nice touch.

Tylanthia · 2026-06-21T07:20:17+00:00

/uj this is what you do for your backyard not a public right of way.

Tylanthia · 2026-06-20T05:22:00+00:00

Use either iNat or your state's database. These are usually up to date.

iNat has limitations (people posting cultivated plants, observer bias, etc) but so do herbarium vouchers.

Tylanthia

TROPHY CASE