Sometime back in another post I had mentioned digging a mature clump of single red fern leaf and sending half to a lady and planting the other half in a pot until I could find a good spot for it. I had kept it under a bench in the garage and covered the eyes with about an inch of sand to keep it dormant. Brought it out today and placed the bucket on a workbench under a small grow light in order to get it started for Spring. Gave it its first drink with a small amount of liquid fertilizer mixed in after brushing the sand off the eyes. I see 12 healthy eyes which can be divided and replanted this coming fall. The eyes are white from being covered but will soon turn red after being exposed to light. Looking forward to having some very early blooms. The pot is a 35 lb cat litter bucket which should provide plenty of room for new root growth.

Not a peony but a very oldfashioned rose I had nursed along under the same conditions under which I placed the FL. Supposed to be one of the "old garden roses" hence my avatar and "handle". This is a backup plant in case my primary rose croaks.

I guess I could bring my bucket out of the crawl space. It has three peony tubers, more like just a root. I don't want it to get too big before it can go outside though.

It should not grow too quickly provided it is kept chilled.

Nice, Jerry! I assume your garage isn't insulated so it stays cold enough to chill the peony, right? Looks like they liked the treatment!

It is not heated except next to our freezer but the pot was on the floor next to a wall so the temp was just above freezing. I was primarily interested in preserving the FL until it is divided further into single eyes. I now have some low heat next to it the same as the rose.

Update on the single fern leaf. I had taken it outside during a couple of unusually warm and sunny days to receive some real solar energy. Now we are looking for 10" of snow with a low of -5°F for one night. Old-fashioned winter from about 40 years ago.

This coming fall I would like to divide the large clump into singles provided I can build a suitable raised bed for planting them about 30" apart. The singles multiply rapidly and will spread to about an 18" wide leaf group within 3 or 4 years.

Jerry, your plant looks to be doing well. I'm still amazed at how large your rootballs get.

A raised bed with sandy soil in full sun is ideal for these fernies. The piece in the bucket is only half of the original clump. I cut it into halves and sent the other piece to a lady in Whitefish, Montana as a trial to see if it would survive some very harsh conditions.

That is so wonderful! I hope my new fernleaf will get as big as yours someday so I can get some nice divisions. It will be a nice addition to a bed of yellow daffodils or yellow tulips.

Update to the potted peonies which spent the winter in the garage. We are expecting several days with temps in the high fifties so there should be some growth showing soon. this morning is dull with some fog from the melting snow but sunlight is expected for most of the coming two weeks.

It's growing nicely Jerry. Some of those stems look as if they have buds.

Normally theyhave buds in the center of the fan of leaves just breaking the surface but I removed nearly an inch of sand so they are not as far along as they may appear. They should have buds soon, though. Hopefully, they will put down some good roots so they can be easily divided into groups of 2 or 3 eyes this fall.

The potted single fern leaf clump responding to warm sunlight.

I don't blame it, I'd respond well to warm sunlight, too!

Update. Brought the pot into the garage for a couple of days. We are expecting a freeze down in the 20s for the next couple of nights.

Update. They are doing well. Appears to be only 1 bud.

Looking good, Jerry!

First bloom of the season.

is that a bloom from a potted plant?