I just bought some Ostrich Fern rhizomes to plant on the north side of my house. I live in Zone 5. I have started them inside in a pot until it gets a little warmer outside. Do any of you have experience growing Ostrich Ferns? I know they are native to my state of Indiana. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!!

Sorry, I am not familiar with them. Hopefully someone will pop in here soon and help you out. It seems as the weather is getting nicer, people are a bit scarce. Probably tired from working outside and you know how that goes, always overdue it the first few times.

They grow wild here, too. I have even seen them grow in full sun. They transplant easily.
I have a bunch that I received from a friend, they are growing in dappled sun, and don't need much care. They always look great. I do nothing 'special', for them, they are greening up in my garden, now. Very easy to grow, even when they are small. I am sure you will have good luck with them.

obliqua said:They grow wild here, too. I have even seen them grow in full sun. They transplant easily.
I have a bunch that I received from a friend, they are growing in dappled sun, and don't need much care. They always look great. I do nothing 'special', for them... Very easy to grow, even when they are small. I am sure you will have good luck with them.

Same here, except I haven't grown them in full sun. They multiply at a moderate rate too, so you should eventually have several extras on hand at any given time.

Thanks for your replies!! I tried growing them once in our old house and had no luck. I hope to have better luck this time! It would be awesome if I could get them to 3-4 feet tall. I know they can reach 6 feet in the wild. I will give it my best shot.

Try to pick a moisture-retentive, even soggy in the spring type of spot for them, if possible, and don't forget to top dress with organic matter on a regular basis to help retain moisture. The less soggy your planting spot, or the more competition/need for water there is (tree roots, sun, wind), the more compost or mulch you may need. Good luck!

Thank you Chelle! I was going to plant them on the north side of my house that seems to be perpetually damp but very shady.

Sounds great!

Hopefully you'll post some pictures when you get it done.

I started w/ 1 on the house's north side, now there's 7 or 8, establishing a colony there. I don't do a thing to them, just let them be their selves. They are well shaded by north placement and a couple of box elder trees and a very large Burning Bush,

I am going to try and get a photo of my friends Ostrich ferns, once they start growing again.
They planted themselves in a sunny area in her garden. This is where she dug the ones that she gave to me. It is on a hilly area, which probably gets decent water. They are bleached out and look pale at times, but this does not deter them at all.

Please do!

I would love to have a border of these along the low side of my sunny bed, but I've never had the nerve to try it! I even tried to find a supplier of bracken to try to mimic the effect I want, but so far I've come up empty in that search.

Mine are just rhizomes at the moment so if they survive they won't be anything to look at until next spring I would assume. Here is a pic of some in the wild. Would love to have them get this tall!!!

Here's one of our areas. These rarely get supplemental water so they're not huge, but I think they'll easily double their area this year. Might need to move some.