I get to see some beautiful developments... and each fern offers completely unique variations on the same theme.............. the unfurling of a new fern frond...

'Ghost' fern


Japanese Painted fern


'Sunset' fern




Scaly Wood fern


Sensitive fern


Japanese Tassel fern




In another, earlier post I said, "... with each passing season I seem to find more pleasure and peaceful contemplation in ferns than I do in flowers."
That has been particularly true this season.

A friend gave me a VERY small fern three seasons ago... it's name is Adiantum capillus-veneris [Southern Maidenhair Fern]. One look and I knew it would never be hardy in Oklahoma City. I planted it anyway... curious to see if it would get any bigger that year. Well, it did... but the really impressive thing is that it keeps coming up each spring. It's still small... but it's still growing.

I can understand why. They are exquisite and seem somehow more...primal than colorful flowers. Lovely photography.

Hello Zoe... I really liked your comment and your use of the word "primal."

I ran across this factoid that seems to tie into your comment and word choice. The article talked about a facet of evolution I had never heard of... "evolutionary stasis."
A little more research taught me evolutionary stasis is "... a relative lack of evolutionary change over a long period during the history of a species."

Their example was the shocker in what I was reading. They said,
"The fern Osmunda claytoniana [Interrupted Fern] is a paramount example of evolutionary stasis; paleontological evidence indicates it has remained unchanged, even at the level of fossilized nuclei and chromosomes, for at least 180 million years."

I realize this is not earth shattering news... and I'll never see it mentioned by David Muir. I also realize factoids like this sometimes bore the ___________ out of some people.
I decided to share it anyway.

Staying absolutely the same... down to the nuclear level... for 180 million years. Now that is a mind boggling fact... especially in light of beliefs like, "Nothing stays the same."
Apparently some things do.

John, my choice of words wasn't random. I do know that ferns are an ancient plant form, but mostly your photos evoked being in a redwood forest. Talk about primal. Although ferns in their earliest forms actually predate sequoia by a couple of hundred million years (but who's counting) the trees themselves have two- to three-thousand year lifespans (if humans would stop cutting them down). And I've never been in a redwood forest where there weren't ferns, hence the mental connection.

If I lived in a misty moisty climate, I'd grow ferns 💚


Only spread a fern-frond over a man's head and worldly cares are cast out, and freedom and beauty and peace come in.
~John Muir

Well, I'm definitely going off-topic for a moment. If I'm chastized I'll know not to do it again.

I just cannot resist asking if you ever eat at that small restaurant just behind the church in old town?
The name escapes me... but I remember the building was known for being 300 years old. A memory from 1986 and 2003... now I'm trying to remember if the food was great or if the food was great because I was eating it in a 300 year old building.

OK, back on topic.
I have a friend and neighbor who gardens beautifully, but does not share my love of ferns. She told me a quote that, she said, summed up ferns for her. The quote read, "Ferns. Well, they come up... and that's it."
I can now tell her that at least in the case of the Interrupted Fern, she just might be right.
Other than that... all I can say is all the photos in this post were taken on July 18, 2021. By this date in the past four summers the ferns are way past putting up new growth. A few fronds might pop up in early fall... but otherwise fern growth takes place in spring.
This has been for Oklahoma City a remarkably mild summer... temps that stayed in the 80's and good rainfall. So the ferns in my small garden are responding with growth that has yet to slow down. Two ferns I purchased this spring and potted have doubled in size... it is all very fun to watch.

Oh, and I don't think "primal" is a word chosen and used randomly. Good on 'ya.