her name says portland oregon.. z8 ...

might be a bit early for ferns in my z5 MI ... might be micro climate dependent ... but for sure.. you ought to know in a week or so ...

ken

Ferns are a little slower to emerge when planted in shaded areas, especially if the soil is cold or clay. If you look close, you might see the top of a curled frond at the surface of the soil. We've had high 80s already but I have one fern that has just now popped one frond from the soil. It's from a bigger clump that's over a foot tall already, which is planted near the house foundation and therefore warmer.

My autumn ferns are barely, barely showing signs of life. It is too early to worry.

I agree. I read somewhere they are "evergreen", but in Spring I have a mess of dead fronds all over. They grow right back. Just now the fiddleheads are coming up and I am several zones warmer (and about 1 month ahead of our usual weather).

I love my Autumn ferns. Deer resistant, grow a bit every year and love that bronze New foliage. I have 5 now and keep adding one each year.

So do you prune them in the spring posierosie?

Well, probably I should to make it neat, but they are "mulched" by leaf litter so after a while it just blends in. :D

Getting so impatient :) I just want to know if they made it. I am contemplating digging them up and potting them.

Be patient a bit longer before you go "rooting around." I have consistently found that fall planted 'anythings' emerge later and bloom later, if at all the first year.

Emily . . . patience. . . ;>) For me gardening in zone 5 has been a series of lessons in patience, for plants to emerge after winter, for plants to grow larger, for soil to dry out in spring, for those tightly closed buds to unfurl, etc. If you dig the ferns up, you will set them back by disturbing whatever root development they have going now. Take a deep breath, step back, and look at what is blooming and emerging now in your garden. If there isn't anything blooming now, look at other gardens for ideas of what to plant. I have learned a huge amount on these boards about extending season interest so that now I usually have blooms from late March through some time in late October, and there are at least some plants that are green all year. Mix deciduous and evergreens, whether perennials or shrubs, so that there is something to enjoy as a backdrop to the wowy-zowy plants.

Don't judge your in-the-ground plants by what is in the nursery or big box store. The nursery plants were raised to be eye candy, to be fully developed when they hit the nursery as the weather just starts warming and folks are anxious to be out in the garden. They were probably raised in a greenhouse that's in a part of the country several zones warmer than z 5. If you want to buy some more ferns to add to your patch, fine, but they may be slow to take off and add any further growth for a while since the cold soil that is keeping your current ferns from sprouting will keep the new ones from doing much for a bit. And you will most likely be paying a premium for their current size and leafiness.

Thank you for the pics posierosie, and for the advice Marie and NHBabs. I won't touch them for now.

Mine stayed evergreen in our mild Winter.