Taking refuge in my shade garden one early evening, spent from the unusual intensity of the day’s heat, it was the ferns with their cool elegance that brought me a sense of relief. And with it a favorite old tune came to mind, Johnny Mercer’s “In the cool, cool, cool of the evening.” How refreshing it was!

With a keyhole cut out of the yew hedge behind the metal bench (where I can peek into my woodland garden,) this vignette is my go-to spot almost year ’round.

The Mother Ferns, with their vibrancy and majestic forms, are indeed the mothers of this garden spot. But let me also share with you these and other images and chance pairings throughout the gardens that charm me.

Known as the “Mother Fern,” for obvious reasons, baby fernlets grow right atop the mother’s leaves; snip one off and pin it down atop some dirt to start your own “family.” This pair are wintered over very successfully in our glass-enclosed sun porch.

Continuing the fern story, the ghostly white Japanese Painted Fern provides a highlight in the eight pots along the path to the bench.

Property of Bettie Bearden Pardee – Private Newport

Property of Bettie Bearden Pardee – Private Newport

Another favorite, the Victoria Lady Fern, is quite the specimen, growing at three different angles from the stem.

Ferns are so obliging and low maintenance, growing happily in damp, shady areas with a bit of filtered light. They were a first choice for the just-planted spiral design that accentuates each quadrant of the 2  beds in my Black and White Garden.

Ferns are also willing volunteers, popping up in the most unusual spots. Hesitant to disturb them, I basically “let them have their way” in the garden (I’m not so reasonable with other plants.) As I write this, I’m coming to the realization that they have been getting away with murder for quite some time, but I can’t resist.

Here sprouting between the tight cracks of the cobblestone in the Orangerie Parterres, and two volunteers growing from the base of a tree.

Property Bettie Bearden Pardee – Private Newport

Property of Bettie Bearden Pardee – Private Newport

Property of Bettie Bearden Pardee – Private Newport

Property of Bettie Bearden Pardee – Private Newport

And I love the way ferns “play well with other” plants – sometimes volunteering and sometimes being intentionally introduced as a design element.

Property of Bettie Bearden Pardee – Private Newport

Property of Bettie Bearden Pardee – Private Newport

Property of Bettie Bearden Pardee – Private Newport

Property of Bettie Bearden Pardee – Private Newport

Ever the brave…this fern has made it through the prickly thorns of a 30 inches high berberis to offer itself up as a top knot.

What are your favorite ferns?