So much of "easy" or "difficult" depends on growing conditions. Carlisleliverpool finds "Boston" ferns easy in the UK; I bet folks in Tucson would have a very different view! Since you're Z5, I'll assume your conditions are similar to mine. Dry air is my ferns' biggest enemy much of the year. As a general rule, the thicker and more leathery the fronds, the lower humidity the plants can tolerate. The commonly available staghorn ferns with their big thick antler fronds can get flat out dry in humidity that's low enough to be uncomfortable for us humans, and they sail right along. (But give one to an Excessive Nurturer - i.e. overwaterer - and it won't last so long.) The most commonly available Pteris ferns, though (and there are something like 250 different species, so this is a generalization), with their paper-thin fronds will tend to look ugly pretty fast when the humidity is low. I grow in conditions of very good light (including some direct morning sun), humid summers with cool nights, quite cool winters with low humidity, and I let all but the most delicate ferns dry out a bit between waterings. That said, in my conditions, most difficult to easiest, with some duplicate commonly-grown forms separated out: 1) Adiantum (raddianum & similar sp.) 2) Pteris 3) Adiantum (again...hispidulum and similar species) 4) Nephrolepis (Boston types and curly cv's thereof. Not so difficult to keep alive as difficult to keep looking nice. They need a fair amount of grooming & cleaning up after.) 5) Asplenium (Look for the thicker-fronded species and cv's to be more durable than those with thin, broad fronds.) 6) tie- Nephrolepis (Lemon Button or Kimberly Queen - a little messy, but very tolerant) 6) tie- Phlebodium aureum (syn. Polypodium aureum Some of the crested or fringed cv's are a little touchier. I left my huge P. pseudoaureum dry in the dark garage all last winter. It froze, it died back to ground level, but it came back like a trouper this spring.) 7) tie for easiest- Davallia (..and again, there are many species, some of which I find quite difficult, but I'll assume we're taling about the one most common in cultivation, a variety of D mariesii often mistagged as D. trichomanoides. Easy if you're careful not to rot them. If it gets too dry, they'll go dormant, but they come back out of it nicely. It's not a bad idea to let them dry a little in late fall as they're normally semi-deciduous. 7) tie for easiest - Platycerium bifurcatum (They'll tolerate heat, cold, dry, almost anything but soggy poorly-aerated substrate or prolonged cold/wet. Hey Toni-- how goes it? Still got the large (and beautiful) citrus collection? Microsorum musifolium (Crocodile) is pretty durable (the fronds are used in flower arrangements, so you can tell they're not overly delicate) but they are vulnerable to leaf spot & die back from overhead watering. I know you like to mist but it's not this particular fern's favorite thing. If you are going to mist it, I'd suggest limiting it to times when you know the plant can dry again quickly (like mornings) and using distilled water.

Thanks for your comments and suggestions everyone! I have forgotten to look at this post for some time. I usually spend most of my time in other garden forums such as "Tropicalesque", "Palms", "Far North" and "Utah gardening". Bearstate, I totally agree, cannas always look their best in clusters or large groups. You get that "shock value" of bold color in one spot. Larry, I wish I remember the name of the tall red cannas in the back with the burgundy leaves, but I don't remember! I know some of the shorter ones in that group are "Black Knight", but I don't remember what the really tall ones are. Sorry. In the second picture, the tall plants behind the flowering cannas are canna musafolia, or commonly known as banana canna. This grouping isn't the best picture of them because they were planted late (mid may). I had others planted that were much taller and better looking, that I planted earlier and gave more fertilizer to. If you happen to start the banana cannas inside in pots in March, if you transplant them outside and give them good sunlight, soil, water and fertilizer, you can get them to grown huge leaves and shoot up to 8-10 feet high in a good season. A lot of people mistake them for banana plants. They certainly grow alot quicker. The tubers on these plants can get quite large.

Hi Lori... Thanks for that info on Virginia Creeper. It sounds like it grows slower in the shade, but I really try hard not to choose plant material that is going to become a future problem for me or my neighbors, whether it is native or not. I think I am going to still find someone else who can use it. If I had a different property with more room and a wooded area that I could let it loose in, I would love to try it. It sounds very pretty. Thanks for the arrowwood tip. I know the NEWFS does usually have that one. maifleur....yes, you are lucky to have such a nice neighbor. I also have been given permission from two of my neighbors to trim their trees that overhang my yard. I am pretty sure I don't need their permission to trim what overhangs my yard though. It is nice to check and let them know what you are trying to do though. I hate to prune a tree in a way that distorts it's shape and I try not to do that. We do have a huge limb that was hanging over and it was so long and heavy, that it would dip to about 2-3 feet off the ground in a storm. We deicided to cut it back before it came down unplanned and took out half my shrubs with it. We tried trimming it back as little as possible but now we are unhappy with the stump that it left that has very little regrowth on it, so we are planning on cutting it back further to another joint where a good size branch is heading in another direction. Some of the other overhanging branches can also be trimmed, but the problem is, that the neighbors planted their trees, right up against the lot line. One is about 6 feet away from our fence and the other is less than a foot away, so half of the canopy of the tree is over our yard. I am sure trimming back the trees will help but some of my dry shade is going to stay dry shade no matter what I do. [g] I do have some good news though. In the beginning of the summer a neighbor two yards over cut down a tree. I thought it might open up more light for us. I just got around to checking it out. I was out in the yard all afternoon yesterday and I saw direct sun hitting the back of my border along a good 4 fence sections, from 2pm to 4:30pm! I was so encouraged by that. That is going to help my shrubs a lot!

Yep many times I am found guilty of zone denial. Perhaps its because I tend to be a bit impulsive plant buying, you know the type they get em home and then plants em then reads the tag then looks up how they grow. I do put more effort into doing the best I can just to see a bit of em next season resulting in more failed than I succeed in out of zone plantings I now force my self to look things up prior to buying and planting An example is a season long desire for Calla Lilies for next season ended in a was a no way don't do it second thought. I did however go to a certain garden center off rt 20 in Worcester and they had plenty of em for sale at reasonable prices.. The response form the staff was it was a set it and forget it type of plant like a tulip bulb in care. I no longer use this garden center as a result of this conversation. It takes a lot of effort to keep an out of zone plant alive during there off season growing of the five I do have remaining 2 zones out of place that is enough for now. I am just not ready for a new challenge when it comes to out of zone plantings and care, but if something sparks my attention enough I will be sure to give it a reaserch and then concider a buy.