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Re: mini hosta

John,

Sorry to take so long to reply....I am really behind with my mail!  Thank
heavens for a 3 day holiday when I may be able to catch up a bit. 
Anyway...

I don't' grow any of the really small ferns, yet.  Of those I do grow, I
would think that  the Japanese Painted Fern, Athyrium niponicum 'Pictum'
[goeringianum], would be the most appropriate with mini hosta.  It is rated
hardy to USDA z. 5 so might need some mulching for winter.  I have one
clump next to H. 'Gold Drop', which is one of the smaller gold hostas and
the scale is fine.  I think it would be super with your 'Blue Cadet' which
would emphasize the silvery quality of the fern.  I've got the variety
'Pictum Red', which you might keep an eye out for.  It has more of the
burgundy in it than the species.  

Adiantum pedatum (Northern Maidenhair Fern), which is rated hardy to USDA
z. 4 might also work.  It gets taller, but is such a lovely fern and the
texture of the fronds would be a very good contrast with Hosta.

I've just done a series of articles on ferns on Suite101 and describe both
of these in the first one, in case you are interested.  The URL to the page
that lists all my articles is :

http://www.suite101.com/articles/page.cfm/222

There are a couple more that I grow that you might be interested in:

*Dryopteris erythrosora (Autumn Fern) -- described in the second article in
my fern series....would look very nice with one of your gold hosta, I
should think, although it can have fronds up to 2' long.  Mine doesn't get
that long, I think because of all the root competition it has.  It is also
rated hardy to USDA z. 5.

*Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas Fern) is evergreen and rated hardy
to USDA z. 3.  It will form clumps that get fairly large in diameter, but
would make a nice dark green contrast and be there in winter when the Hosta
disappear.  You'd have to be careful not to put any hosta too close to it
because the fronds do go flat to the ground in winter.  I talk about this
one in the third article in the series.  These are native to my woods and
really nice ferns. 

 There are also some Polystichums that are really frilly and lacy (I
describe them in the 4th part of my series), but I don't know what their
hardiness rating is.  Might be worth inquiring about because the textures
are quite unusual.  Gene Bush (aren't you on this list, Gene?) mentioned
two Dryopteris on Gardens-L the other day that are both 'frilly':  D.
'Barnesii' and D. cristata 'Martindale', if I've got those names right. 
Anyway, his nursery is in Indiana, so they may just be hardy for you, and
he indicated they were available in the nurseries now.  Gene -- if you're
out there, please comment here!

Some of the small ferns that I haven't grown might work well for you. 
Sorry I can't give you any advice about them from personal experience...I
don't even know what some of them look like :-)  But, look for:

*Cheilanthes spp. (Lip ferns).  Get 4-6" tall and rated hardy USDA zones
4-8;

*Cystopteris bulbifera (Bulblet bladder fern).  Gets 10-12" tall and rated
hardy USDA zones 3-8;

*Gymnocarpium robertianum (Robert's fern or limestone oak fern).  Gets 6 -
10" tall and rated hardy USDA zones 2-8.  This one wants alkaline soil, so
might not do as well in a bed that hosta liked :-)  But, it's small!
*Polypodium spp. (Polypody ferns).  These are evergreen.  Get 8-12" tall
and are rated hardy USDA zones 2-8.  Some of these are really tiny little
guys and cute as the dickens.  There are a number of them, some with
varying habits.

Funny you should mention Heuchera!  When I wrote and suggested ferns, I was
also thinking of Heuchera.  Some of them will tend to get taller than a lot
of the mini hosta, but would be really nice with them.  A combo of one of
the purple leafed Heuchera, H. 'Blue Cadet' and Japanese Painted Fern would
be really neat IMO!  And, since I just got 'Blue Cadet' myself this year, I
intend to do just that if I can ever get the bed for them done.  You could
put them at the end of your bed that gets the sun as they really need a bit
of sun to show off their leaves and bloom well.  Of course, the blooms on
the purple leafed varieties aren't anything to really write home about, but
they are kinda nice.

Something else you might want to consider would be one or two of the
Asarums (Hardy Gingers).  A. canadense is deciduous, but makes these really
nice almost round -- well, sorta heart-shaped -- soft green leaves and only
gets about 6" to 8" tall.  They spread slowly to form nice colonies and are
hardy from USDA zones 2-9.  A. europaeum (European Wild Ginger) is
evergreen.  Leaves are smaller, shiny dark green and it gets about 5" to 8"
high.  This one doesn't spread as fast for me as A. canadense, but is an
extremely nice ground cover in deep shade.  It is hardy from USDA zones
4-8.  The leaves of both would go quite well with Hosta, but probably A.
europaeum is the most 'mini' of the two.

You could also add a few Scilla, Chionodoxa and Puschkinia to your bulb
list.  These are all really early and only get about 4" to 5" tall.  Also,
their fading is pretty quick and unobtrusive and the Hosta foliage should
mask it.  These all naturalize from self-seeding readily and in a few years
can give you a sheet of color in very early spring.

Well, as usual, I've nattered on long enough.  Hope some of these work for
you.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net

Editor:  Gardening in Shade
http://www.suite101.com/frontpage/frontpage.cfm?topicID=222
Gardening Topic Index for Suite101:
http://www.suite101.com/userfiles/79/gardening.html

----------
> From: John & Pat Adney <jga@fyiowa.infi.net>
> Date: Friday, August 15, 1997 1:02 PM
> 
> Hi Marge!
> 
> Thanks for your suggestion: planting ferns in my new garden of miniature
> hosta. Now why didn't I think of ferns! They certainly will add leaf
> texture variety. Small- and medium-sized varieties probably will work
> best. Any suggestions from you and other members of the list?
> 
> I'm considering astilbies, to add blooms and leaf color. Maybe plant
> several in one group. Again, small to medium growers.
> 
> What do you think of including heuchera (coralbells)? These also would
> add texture and color (again, a few at certain spots for variety). Also,
> I'm considering planting this fall iris, daffodils and tulips (all
> miniatures) for early spring color.
> 
> The mini-hosta garden is about 4x12 feet, running north-south. The south
> part gets a few hours of full sun in late morning/mid-afternoon. The
> plot is against a west wall of the house, so it's somewhat sheltered.
> 
> The rate I'm planting in my mind, the mini-hosta garden will be lost
> among the other miniatures. But I need something(s) to add variety in a
> bed that already has a good variety of small hosta.
> 
> Good growing to you all!
> 
> John G. Adney
> Marion Iowa (zones 4-5)
> 
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