Mary, Mary... How Does Your Garden Grow?

I have been asked what I am feeding my ferns to make them so massive... 40" diameter and over 3' high. The answer is quite simple... and cheap. When you purchase the $9.00 Boston ferns in the spring, they are pot-bound already... translation: no room to grow. Therefore, in July when it is terribly hot and you think they have died due to heat, they really have died because the roots are exhausted from trying to push through the original pot. Plus, the roots have no protection from the heat or any way to preserve the water you give them. Next spring when you buy your ferns take time to transplant them immediately into larger pots, giving them at least 3-4 inches extra all the way around, working Osmocote into the soil. Yes, the ferns will seem dwarfed and puny for awhile, but then in the late summer when all of your other annuals are spent from the heat, your ferns will be thriving. Mine will be beautiful until first frost in October. Happy planting!