There was plenty of warning before the ‘heat dome’ settled over us. The forecasters explained the physics and the atmospheric dynamics that promised to bring unrelenting heat and high humidity to the eastern half of the United States from the Canadian border all the way into the Gulf states. But no amount of talking about the weather really prepares you for the reality of it. Unrelenting heat and mugginess melts one day into the next. The blessing of air conditioning makes it bearable, but not comfortable. And eventually one must go outside for one thing or another.

That is why I have been rising before light to get outside to water, weed, and check on the garden in the ‘cool’ of the morning before the mercury climbs to 80F+ by 7:30 or 8:00 AM, and before the summer sun fully climbs above our treetops. Working outside after the sun comes up, even just to water a bit, has been out of the question for most of the past week as the ‘feels like’ temperature rises well above 100F day after day.

My passion for ferns outpaced my good sense in mid-June, and I placed that ‘just one more’ order with Fancy Fronds Nursery, located near Seattle, on June 18. In a normal June, that would have been just fine. But as the forecast for this week came into focus by the weekend, it was clear to me that the weather would be too hot for a box of living ferns to travel cross-country. And so after an unanswered email and a voicemail I finally reached the nursery’s owner last Saturday, had a delightful chat, and ended the call understanding that she would delay shipment of my order for another week to allow this weather pattern to change.

That peace of mind shattered late Monday when I received a ‘shipping notice’ from Fancy Fronds informing me that my ferns were on the way in the loving care of USPS. With the heat index well over 100F every day in the extended forecast for the rest of June, and actual temperatures in the upper 90s, I was more than a little concerned that my ferns would be cooked along the way. Another phone message and email finally brought an emailed response mid-week, asking me to document any damage to the ferns when I received them.

USPS held onto the ferns for an extra day in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and then apparently flew the parcel directly to the nearest distribution center here in Virginia. The ferns traveled from the airport to our post office overnight, and were delivered the following Thursday afternoon. Our postman carefully placed the parcel in the shade by our front door. He is wonderful and has learned to watch for my parcels of living plants, giving them extra care. We saw him make the delivery and I had the box indoors and open moments later.

To our great relief, the ferns looked fresh and healthy. There were a few brown frond tips on the Doodia media, but mostly the ferns were in great condition. Each fern was carefully packaged and wrapped in moist newsprint, cushioned, and came out of the box in great shape. Despite the intense heat here on Thursday, the ferns survived their adventure. I’m still letting them rest in the shade indoors and keeping them watered as they adjust to their change of climate and latitude.

Mailing plants is always a bit of a gamble and tough on the plant. Fancy Fronds Nursery removes plants from their nursery pot and places each in an open, clear plastic bag. Each bagged fern gets rolled into a sheet of moist newsprint before it is tucked into the cardboard Priority USPS shipping carton. All spaces are filled with balls of crumpled paper so that the plants can’t move at all during shipping. And this system works extremely well. The paper is still barely moist 4 or 5 days later when I unpack the shipment, and though the ferns need watering, they aren’t dehydrated despite their lack of a sturdy nursery pot. These photos of the ferns, taken in the relative cool of our garage, show them the morning after they arrived.

I am still happy with the decision made in early spring to order a few choice plants this year, but mostly cut back on those plants purchased locally. Now that it is time to keep the garden watered through summer’s heat, I am especially happy to have fewer new, establishing plants to maintain.

Thanks to our cool, wet spring, all of the ferns I’ve planted this spring are coming along well- even my own sporelings planted in hanging baskets under larger plants are growing well. But now we have reached the challenging bit of the year when one must water regularly- sometimes daily- to offset the heat and intensity of the summer sun.

Three of these new ferns will eventually go into the ground to extend an existing border of Dryopteris erythrosora and Japanese painted fern cultivars. But it is likely wise to pot them first, and wait to plant them out until early fall. The other three are destined for containers, particularly since the Doodia is marginally hardy here. I also succumbed to plant lust and ordered a peacock maidenhair fern, Adiantum tenerum, native to Florida and tropical areas in the Americas. It has lovely, rose colored new foliage and a very lacy texture. But it will want to come indoors when the Caladiums finish in late October.

The lacy Victoria lady fern is probably also destined for a container where deer and voles won’t disturb it, even though it is hardy here. Of the several I’ve planted over the years, those in containers tend to grow better and longer. This is an English cultivar of A. filix-femina and so probably prefers a more northern climate than we can provide, particularly since Zone 8 is the southernmost area of its native range.

The ferns have had me preoccupied this week, and the ongoing heat has me staying mostly indoors. But the garden is abuzz with hummingbirds, songbirds, dragonflies, bees, and the occasional butterfly. We’ve seen the painted turtles out munching the grass, finally, and the squirrels busily scurry up and down through the trees. A monarch lazily fed on the Lantana yesterday evening. It was the first one we’ve seen this year, and we were happy to notice it.

This last weekend of June signals the end of planting season for me this year. These next two months will allow the garden to bloom and grow into its summer potential.

With appreciation to Jim Stephens of Garden Ruminations, who

hosts Six on Saturday each week.