Back from the Dead

I bought a ‘Japanese Painted Fern’ (Athyrium niponicum var. pictum) last spring and planted it in a shady area under the canopy of one of my deciduous shrubs.

It did fine until our moderate drought last June and July. I watered it diligently, but soon all I had was a plant stake describing a nonexistent plant. In August we got a ton of rain and I held out hope that the fern would send up new shoots, but no such luck. This spring I finally pulled out the plant stake.

Yesterday afternoon I was wandering around our soggy yard when I spotted this little shoot peeking out. My fern is back from the dead!