I agree with fatamorgana: I don't want to cut it down if that's not what it is. I took a few more pics to see if it helps. Fata, you are right about it being more than one plant. There are three. Here is a pic of the three "trunks." Here is a picture of some new growth on the medium-sized one. Here is one "frond/branch" in almost its entirety. And this picture shows where the "fronds/branches" attach to the main stem or trunk.

Hi pm2! It certainly looks like that Ghost is calling for rescue from the hosta :-) I do like the silver lamiums - I had quite a bit of Beacon Silver in various spots and a bit of White Nancy (which goes very well with Jack Frost..) A lot of the Beacon Silver has reverted to a more greener form (presumably its wild form...?) that I rip out when I see it. Most of it now is in the front garden under the cedar clump where not much else will grow. gardenweed - try the 'Ghost' fern - I'd bet it'd satisfy the desire for a more upright JPF with more presence :-) Apparently 'Ghost' is a cross between a JPF and a Lady Fern. 'Ghost' has a very elegant, upright habit and it just gets better and better as it gets bigger. A 'must have' fern in my opinion! Metallicum and Burgundy Lace both look nice (I'm pretty sure I bought a Burgandy Lace once... not sure where it is now :-) Maybe a plant breeder needs to cross one of those with Lady Fern to get a different form of Ghost. Actually maybe they already have - Branford Beauty is also a cross between Lady Fern and JPF...! That's one of the reasons I have hopes for Branford Beauty to grow into something particularly nice.

Its Evergreen Woodfern (Dryopteris intermedia). You can tell because it is evergreen and if you look at the bottom pinna (leaf), the bottom innermost pinnule (little leaflet)is shorter than the next one out. Hope that helps!

Looks like it could be Cinnamon fern. If so, they will send up a center frond that turns golden (it is the fertile part). If you can see spores on the backs of the fronds, then it is not Cinnamon fern.