I'd be surprised to learn that every gardener doesn't have a short-list like mine. It's the list of plants I have wanted to grow for years... plants that absolutely, unequivocally WILL NOT grow or grow well in central Oklahoma. My list includes the Himalayan Blue Poppy [Meconopsis], the double-flowering Trillium grandiflorum, evergreen Rhododendrons, 'Puget Pink' Maple [Acer pseudoplatanus], groundcover Dogwood [Cornus canadensis], Chilean Gunnera, almost any Moss, Canadian Weeping Hemlock [Tsuga], Dogwoods and a hundred or so others.
I had Ferns on that list for a lot of years.
But an elderly gardener and wonderful friend finally convinced me to try Ferns.
First she told me Dan Hinkley once said, "I never give up on a plant until I've killed it three times."
Then she said I need to start with an 'Autumn' Fern [Dryopteris erythrosora]. I followed her advice for amending the soil, I found a reputable on-line source, and I invested in three Autumn Ferns. I planted them in spring... thinking the summer season spent rooting in would help a lot the first winter. The 3 plants received good care through what proved to be an exceptionally hot and dry summer. And they received good care that first winter.

But I was sure I was wasting time and energy... and nothing would emerge that second spring. My first huge surprise was this Fern wading through our hinky winter while maintaining a nice display of arching evergreen fronds.No matter the temperature... those fronds stayed nice and healthy and green through it all. The second surprise was the sheer number of new fronds that emerged that spring... the plant had grown a lot!

The third surprise was how the newly unfurled fronds were so subtly colorful and showy. They had a nice, soft coppery pink color that stayed with them until they matured to a good, deep green. And they achieved a very nice, impressive size... some fronds were a good 2 feet in length. They had developed beautifully before the Ajuga started to bloom... the two plants combined put on a great show for about three weeks.

Those three Autumn Fern dispelled my fear of Ferns... these days I can say I'm growing nine varieties of Ferns in my garden... and they are doing nicely. Beth Chatto summed them up nicely for me when she said, "No other plant, apart from the trees themselves, evokes such a feeling of cool, tranquil woodland. Whether they are in shade or sunlight, there is something mysterious and wonderful about their fur-backed thrusting stems and the fragility of pale, curled fronds."