Are you sure these are lady ferns? The way the leaflets get shorter as they go down the leaf stalk makes them look like ostrich ferns. Also, looks like this is a patch, and lady ferns stay in clumps, while ostrich ferns spread by underground runners.

Yep. Put them in about 18 years ago. They spread very slowly. I have tried ostrich fern, but with no success. They just wouldn't take hold. We have had to replace some over the past couple of years because of the winters. This past winter, we had about 1/4 of the bed die off, either from winter kill or more likely the critters. Aside from these, we also have Autumn 'Brilliance', Dixie Wood, Cinnamon, Christmas, Japanese Painted and a couple of others.

Would you mind taking a closeup of a frond? My brain needs readjustment, since I still don't see how they look like lady ferns.

I'm basing my 'Lady Fern' on the package labelling. I usually buy a couple every year from Lowes. Now, I will add that I purchased what was supposed to be Lady Fern last month through mail-order. So far, they are all looking like Lady in Red. So, based on that, the picture may well be ostrich, even though ostrich tend to not survive a year, let alone 10+ for me. I'll see what I can do about a better picture.

Rick

Thanks. I'm surprised ostrich fern didn't do well, since it's usually really tough and almost unkillable. Perhaps you could pluck off a frond and lay it on a flat surface so you can get it in focus?