My Beach Themed Patio | Hiding in the Shade | 7 Plants for Shade

Photo:  Jeanette Hyden

I am currently working on three container pots to lighten a corner on the patio. So, this is a post about not just shade plants, but the process of dressing the entire patio. As several people in our area are painting their houses to give them a fresh look I am fighting that urge and trying to work with the terra cotta and burnt sienna brick shades. Terra cotta pots, small teak tables, and a copper patina glaze on the cigar shaped pots are some of the colors I am using for a beach themed palette. The beach theme is perfectly suited to our weather this spring!

Seven Plants for Shade

Pot 1: Caladum, pink impatens, Euphorbia "White Manaus", and Silver Falls™ - Dichondra argentea

Pot 2: Dusty miller "New Look", Heuchera 'Carnival watermelon",  Lamium "White Nancy"

Pot 3: (incomplete) beginning to emerge Purple spiderwort  (tradescantia pallida 'Purple Heart', aka.  scadeant pallida ), Sweet potato, native violet

Beach Theme on this Patio

1. edMore on NYTimes.com

The blue and green shades used in South Beach, Florida on a sign from our Galveston trip. 

I found this at the At Home store (as well as the 2 cigar pots). They have an entire beach themed section.  The green cigar pots give color as well as height to the corner and should add interest, whether planted or not.  

My patio style, bâtons de bord de mer

Raiding the remnant bin at Calico Corners, Yes! What is old is new again and at half the price. I draped the fabric over the back of a bench.  I made three pillow covers from the larger floral fabric, noting the "living coral" (Pantone color of the year 2019) splashes on the flower petals. I will try to create a palette at the bottom of this post. 

Ordered earlier this year is a section of fencing to hide the barbecue equipment and provide a white canvas for the oranges and greens. A bit kitsch? Nothing is kitsch if you give it a French name, "Beach Kitsch' in french is, "beach kitsch"; "Patio Kitsch" in french is "patio kitsch"; "Seaside tacky" is bâtons de bord de mer. My patio style is bâtons de bord de mer, "practical", trying very hard to be artistic. Someone let me know if this translates into something torrid as an idiom.

My beloved grabbed two lovely five gallon Kimberley ferns. I have staged one in a terra cotta pot, as yet to be planted in a permanent location.

Color Palette

Pulling the turquoise, aquamarine, teal, cobalt blue, terracotta, and hot pink (think Lily Pulitzer) from mid-century modern, Bohemian, Morocaan, Miami's South Beach,  or southwest color palettes I hope to blend a pleasing color palette to harmonize the patio with the natural environment. I found the designer justina blakeney, and she uses a Bohemian style and her color palette is full of the right shades. She incorporates ferns, tropical plants and succulents in her designs.

 

Long-legged Wadders Populate the View

Looking out from our "beach" are larkspur, abelia, and oak. We, in our neighborhood, have been following six Yellow-crowned Night-herons and a heronry/rookery/aviary of egrets and herons. Below is a nest with a parent sitting patiently and rising to stretch. In a few days we should hear babies chirping. Stay tuned. Also, flying around the neighborhood are white egrets. This is not the first time I have seen them. It is a very interesting spring.

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, (Nycticorax violacea) on nest
Cornell Lab of orthhinology, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

We have been in contact with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission https://tpwd.texas.gov/  about the egrets and herons. Once an egg appears in a nest you can take no measures to disturb the nesting because they are all protected species.  We have Long-legged wadders in our neighborhood including egrets and herons and they are building nests in our oak trees. The long-legged wadders are gregarious, so they congregate in one spot, forming their heronry.  The Great egrets, snowy egrets, great blue herons, and other migratory birds are protected under federal law. It’s illegal to shoot, trap, or harm them in any way.   I had questions for the experts: 

• Are there any individuals or groups that monitor nesting sites for counts or locations? 
• Are there experts who can tell us about why they have located here (NE Tarrant County) and any possible measures we should take 
• Are there any experts that can come out to talk to our HOA? 

This is a link to a researched publication that answers many of our questions: Texas Parks and Wildlife Nuisance Heronries in Texas, Telfair, Thompson, and Tschirhart.  From this publication, a few species are, Cattle egret  (Bubulcus ibis) , little blue heron (Egretta caerulea) , Snowy egret (Egretta thula), Great egret (Ardea alba) , Black-crowned Night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) , Great tailed grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) 

 

There are several species and over 80 nests in one front yard.  Speaking with the owner of this property, we found that she has had them in the past but not 80+ nests. They start building nests in April and stay until October. The rain storms have damaged or destroyed nests and so we see rebuilding.  They are starting to migrate to our adjacent yards searching for building material. The birds fly into our trees in search of twigs for their nests and as they work we see falling twigs and dung. One concern would be the dung as a vector for disease, especially as the summer heats up. The birds aren’t aggressive toward pets. They are noisy, but not loud. We do have a Cooper’s Hawk that has nested in this area in the past and has come in periodically this spring. We found a dead egret at the adjoining park while walking the dogs. In our neighborhood, we have wildlife that will prey on birds, including hawks and fox and sometimes coyotes. Contact the local game warden to clarify if deceased birds need to be reported to the authorities. Enter the county on the upper left side of the web page. https://tpwd.texas.gov/warden/.

Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis
Cornell Lab of orthhinology, cattle egret

Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis
Cornell Lab of orthhinology, cattle egret

Little Blue Heron, Egretta caerulea  

(Cornell Lab of orthhinology, Little Blue Heron)

Little Blue Heron, Egretta caerulea  

(Cornell Lab of orthhinology, Little Blue Heron)

Ferns in the Landscape

GARDENING | PLANT ID

Ferns add a lovely texture

And beautiful background for statuary

A fern is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores located on the underside of the complex leaves. The complex leaves are called megaphylls. Ferns have neither flowers nor seeds.

     Fern Grotto, San Antonio Botanical Garden

"Researchers have assembled one of the largest global assessment of fern diversity. The study integrated digitized herbarium data, genetic data, and climatic data and discovered 58% of fern species occur in eight principally montane hotspots that comprise only 7% of Earth's land area. And within these hotspots, patterns of heightened diversity were amplified at higher elevations above 1000 meters."¹

I like to use ferns as the background canvas in the landscape or for fill in container plantings

Wood fern

(1) Plant form (2) Plant leaf, megaphyll (3) fern reproduction spores, sori

 

There are a few ferns that grow in Texas including:

• Southern river wood fern, Dryopteris ludoviciana 
• Dwarf river fern, Thelypteri ovata Lindheimerii 
• Japanese holly fern, Cyrtomium falcatum (not native to Texas but sold in Nurseries and used by landscape architects).
• Brilliance autumn fern, Dryopteris erythrosora 'Brilliance'   
• Southern maidenhair, Adiantum capillus-veneris
• Sensitive fern, Onoclea sensibilis

Japanese holly fern, Cyrtomium falcatum, Dryopteridaceae family, Asian native.  Planted in a protected site on the north side of the house with native hollies.

(1) Plant form (2)Plant leaf, megaphyll (3) fern reproduction spores, sori

  Nephrolepis obliterata Kimberley Queen Fern
Nephrolepdaceae family
Australian native

 Asplenium trichomanes   Maidenhair Spleenwort

Table 1: FERNS (photograph/post links)
TAXON			ORIGIN		HISTORIES, SYMBOLISM, PURPOSES
Order	Family	Vernacular Name	Country of Origin	Cultivated Origin	Art, Literature, Biblical, OED	Chemistry, Medicinal, pigments	Horticulture: ornamental landscape, edible
Gleicheniales	FAMILY | DIPTERIDACEAE	Umbrella ferns	Asia, New Guinea and northern Australia		fossils being known from the Middle Triassic of Italy, Australia and Argentina		ornamental
Gleicheniales	FAMILY | GLEICHENIACEAE	Forked ferns					ornamental
Ophioglossales	FAMILY | OPHIOGLOSSACEAE	Adder's-tongue family	Some India			The genus Ophioglossum has the highest chromosome counts of any known plant.	ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | BLECHNACEAE	Hard Fern Family					ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | CIBOTIACEAE	Tree Fern Family	Central and S. America				ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | CULCITACEAE						ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | CYATHEACEAE	Scaly Tree Fern Family					ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | DAVALLIACEAE						ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | DENNSTAEDTIACEAE						ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | DICKSONIACEAE						ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | DRYOPTERIDACEAE	Wood ferns					ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | GRAMMITIDACEAE (Polypodiaceae)						ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | HYMENOPHYTACEAE						ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | POLYPODIACEAE						ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | PTERIDACEAE	Fern Family			Pteridomania; *		ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | WOODSIACEAE						ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | ASPLENIACEAE	Spleenworts Family					ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | DIDMOCHLAENACEAE						ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | HYPODEMATIACEAE						ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | LOMARIOPSIDACEAE						ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | LOMARIOPSIDACEAE						ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | NEPHROLPIDACEAE						ornamental
Polypodiales	FAMILY | TECTARIACEAE						ornamental
Psilotales	FAMILY | PSILOTACEAE						ornamental
Schizaeales	FAMILY | ANEMIACEAE	Flowering Ferns					ornamental
Schizaeales	FAMILY | LYGODIACEAE						ornamental
Schizaeales	FAMILY | SCHIZAEACEAE						ornamental

Fern-like Plants that are Sometimes Confused with Ferns

A Fern-like plant that isn't a fern but is beautiful non-the-less. Ming Fern, Asparagus retrofractus, has that lacy fern-like appearance but is actually a monocot in the asparagus family. Ming fern is a perennial evergreen. It is drought tolerant and can grow in subtropic and Mediterranean  climates (hardiness zone 9+). On our trip through the San Antonio Botanical Garden we found the Fern Grotto to be about 100% humidity. Many ferns like a shady and humid environment. San Antonio is in the USDA Hardiness Zone 8b and 9a. They have placed this just outside the Fern Grotto. It is a showy and lacy plant that thrives in the San Antonio ecosystem.

Asparagus retrofractus  Ming Fern

Asparagus_Fern______________________________
Asparagus fern (Asparagus aethiopicus) is often thought to be a true fern but is actually related to lilies (monocots). Used in this container garden it adds height and beautiful texture. It is a native of China.

Asparagus aethiopicus Asparagus fern
  Asparagaceae family.

Fern Societies:  American Fern Society

Ferneries. The Dorrance H. Hamilton Fernery at The Morris Arboretum.

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References:                                                

1. Diggs, George M, and Barney L. Lipscomb. The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas. Fort Worth, Tex: Botanical Research Institute of Texas BRIT, 2014. Print.
2. Weinstein, Mobee. The Complete Book of Ferns: Indoors -- Outdoors -- Growing -- Crafting -- History & Lore. , 2019. Print.
3. Lidderdale, Charles Sillem, The fern gatherer, 1877
4. Harvard University, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. "Ferns in the mountains: Researchers reveal the biogeographical patterns of fern diversity." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 16 February 2021. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210216114939.htm>.

Footnotes:

¹Harvard University, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. "Ferns in the mountains: Researchers reveal the biogeographical patterns of fern diversity." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 16 February 2021. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210216114939.htm>.

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©  2020 Hyden Photography for

Grassroots Horticulture 

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