I am officially out of the fern leaf gardening as of yesterday. Taking the bed down and spreading the soil to be planted in grass. Tired of pulling weeds. I will keep the standard peonies for a while longer. I sent 3 of my old heirloom double fern leafs to Mr. Buchite of Hidden Springs for evaluation as to a possible different strain of the species. All the others are divided and ready for the local garden club to use or sell as they choose. I kept Adelman's Orphan since it was an unique hybrid. I carefully dug and washed it and wrapped it in a wet towel to keep it fresh for temporary potting. Went out into the garage this morning to mix the soil for the pot when my wife tossed a peony root on to the bench and said I must have had some roots in my shorts pockets when she washed them. Tossed some more out as I looked for the towel holding Adelman's Orphan. Turned out she had grabbed the wet towel and washed it. There was some of the crown and roots left but it had been severely divided into junk. I said a few bad words but it could be "the sign" telling me to change hobbies. The clump of the true species single fern leaf turned out to be large and healthy. I think I made 5 large divisions from it.
