Ferns in the Shade
 

I built two raised beds in nearly complete shade. To call these beds "dappled shade" is sort of stretching it. My wife has chosen 3 fern varieties to grow in these beds. But before I get to those varieties, I should explain more about these beds.

I've made it well known that we live in a trailer house. There are no gutters, so the rain that we get goes directly into these raised beds. In years past, we tried a few plants without any success in this area. So I raised the beds by around 4" and there is at least 8" of amended sandy loam in these beds now. (Amended with oak leaves and washed up soil/sticks.) The soil there smells like something you would imagine earthworms loving to live in. One bed is 3 x 14' and the other is 3' x 21'

My wife bought these ferns to grow in those beds:

Tennessee Ostrich Ferns
Christmas Ferns
Cinnamon Ferns
And I have two Asparagus ferns that are two years old - they overwintered here and I want to offer her.

I really don't know much about ferns other than they grow well in shade, and by what my
wife has read to me - they like wet soil.

Ferns should love those two new raised beds. What are some varieties of ferns you would plant there too?

I'm in Zone 8A in Texas - it gets very hot here. The lakes and rivers are overflowing - so watering isn't a problem.

I have always liked ferns. Seeing a "menagerie of ferns" growing in front of our house would be breathtaking in my way of looking at this. I know, "menagerie" is about animals but - you know what I mean.

The ferns should all do well in the shade, but rain beating down on them would not be good. Asparagus fern will also grow happily in full sun

I had some trouble growing shade ferns in 8a. They have to be in the complete shade 100% of the time, especially in the afternoon. I have live oaks in the front yard that provide dense shade, but the July/August setting sun + heat was enough to fry any shade plants under them once the sun set and it dipped below the branches illuminating the ground underneath for about 3 hours. That's all it took, burned to a crisp.

If you have dense, uninterrupted shade no matter what time of day it is, that should be ideal for shade ferns.

The only fern I can get to grow here is the Japanese Holly Fern.
The Fox tail struggles and the other two types croaked.
Autumn and something else I don't recall.
Water hogs for sure.
Worth

The previous home owners planted ferns(I have no idea what type) and every year I fight them off! They grow like weeds in shade and sun. I'll try and get some pictures this spring!