Welcome to the 757th Metamorphosis Monday! How was your weekend? Mine was very relaxing, something I really needed after the long drive home from Ohio, but things are starting to get busy this week. I’m having a new microwave installed tomorrow, mine started making bizarre noises a few weeks ago. I ordered a new one but it ended up being backordered and will finally be installed tomorrow. Since I use my AirFryer so much, I barely even missed it.
I’m running a little behind this morning because I currently have a painter here working in the garage. Yes, the garage again! The garage is the never-ending project!
If you’ve been reading BNOTP for a while, you may remember all the garage drama from a few months ago when I had the garage painted. The first painters from the company I used did a terrible job, that’s the only way to describe it. There were so many issues that the owner of the company had the entire garage repainted by a painter that does all their warranty work. The ceiling was the biggest issue because the first painter didn’t use the right materials to correct areas where the original sheetrock tape was starting to come loose. You may remember when I shared this photo where the second painter had to completely redo large sections of the garage ceiling to correct the first painter’s mistakes.
A couple of weeks ago while out in the garage, something caught my eye. At first, I thought it was a big spider web, but on closer inspection, I realized the sheetrock/paint was cracking. I have no idea what could have caused it but the warranty painter is back this morning to take care of this issue. This isn’t one of the areas he corrected before so hopefully he can work his magic as he did before.
While he’s here, he’s going to touch up the wall around the new irrigation system that was installed a few weeks back. He does great work so I’ll probably use him in the future for some painting inside.
Before I close this post, I have to share something neat that I noticed this weekend. I always overwinter this Foxtail Fern each year. For years, I would just bring it into the garage, place it near the garage windows and keep it watered, but it would always lose a few fronds over the winter. When spring arrived, it would go back out on the deck where it would take all spring and into the summer to fully gain back the fronds it had lost during the winter. Then, just as it would start looking really pretty and full, fall/winter would arrive and it would have to be shuffled off back to the garage again.
Then I got an idea. For the past two years, I’ve kept it on a wheeled cart which has allowed me to easily pull it out on warmer days all throughout the winter, bringing it back each night. During the winter I keep an alarm set on my phone to remind me to bring it in before dark, and so far that system has worked well now for two winters in a row. It has made such a difference in the health and beauty of this fern!
This weekend I noticed something I had never seen before…a flower! I had no idea Foxtail Ferns grew pretty flowers!
I did a little search online and learned that the flowers will become green berries that will eventually turn red. I can’t wait to see that! I guess in the past, the plant was too busy just trying to recover from its full-time garage living during the winter months, to produce any flowers. With the pampering it’s been getting over the past two years, being pulled out almost daily for sunshine all winter, it isn’t having to play catch up and has decided to reward my diligence with a beautiful flower!
I’ll share how the berries look once they develop. I’m super excited to see those! I really love this Foxtail Fern! I’ve read they can be a bit invasive when planted in the ground, but it has done wonderfully in this large pot. I think soon, maybe next spring, I’ll divide it in half and place half in another large container that I have. Do you like to grow Foxtail Ferns? Any recommendations or suggestions?
Okay, I’m off to see how the garage painting is going. Looking forward to all the great Before and Afters linked for this week’s Met Monday! Pssst: Did you know Between Naps On The Porch is on Instagram? You’ll find me on Instagram here: Between Naps On The Porch. Like to know when a new blog post is up? Subscribe for email updates (it’s free) and your e-mail will never be shared. Subscribe for free post updates here: Subscribe.
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Your fern is gorgeous, Susan. It’s great that you can take it in and out of the house during the winter months. Thanks for having us over each week!
Thanks, Debra! Hope you have an awesome week!
XXX
Check for a leak in the garage roof. This happened in our attic caused by severe temperature changes and a tiny leak.
Thanks for that suggestion, but I don’t think it can be a leak since there’s a bonus room over the garage and there’s no sign of water damage. It may have something to do with the temperature changes in the garage since that area is near the garage door that gets the east sun. Garages are tricky rooms to paint!
That fern is GORGEOUS! Good luck with your new microwave – please post what it is and how you like it, because mine is making funny noises, too! Have a great week and thanks for all your great posts!
Thanks, Ann! That fern is def a lot happier these days. lol
I ordered an Amana, it should be installed today. I think Amana made the first microwave…not positive about that but I remember when I purchased my first microwave back around 1980, it was an Amana. So I went with Amana again. I like a lot of the features it has–like opting to turn off the beeping sound when food is done. That drives me bonkers to be upstairs working on something and the microwave keeps beeping over and over to tell you your food is done.
I’m in Texas and my garage is HOT in the summer as it faces west. You have gotten me so interested in collecting vases, faux flowers, etc. Where do you store the flowers?
I have to reply. LOL I live alone and in the south.They are everywhere ! Its hard to design if you can’t see them. Be careful of blue plastic bins as silk flowers will adopt the plastic smell. I put boric acid in any boxes I store vases in. I envy Susan’s garage and that big basement. Try a bunch of wastebaskets or large rattan baskets. BTW Michael’s had a lot of clearance at 70% off.
Ohhh, Myrna, that’s a great tip about the plastic bins…never realized that! And thanks for that tip about Michaels!
Where do I store the faux flowers? I usually keep them stuck down inside various pitchers or vases I have here in the house. The sunflowers are inside a pitcher in my china closet in the kitchen and some of the faux tulips I purchased are in a vase in my dining room. I should probably store them in a closet to keep dust off them.
That flower certainly shows where it got the name Foxtail fern. Will be interesting to see the berries develop too.
It does! I love those fluffy fronds!
I love the fern! Absolutely gorgeous. I have 2 Boston ferns from my Mother that go back at least 60 years. They are a pain to keep but I do it. Ferns are so hardy we decided to drape plastic around an enclosed patio area next to the house for winter and they have survived beautifully. Rarely have to bring them in the garage. My Mother had such a green thumb. Plants bloomed that I never thought would!
Your Foxtail fern is beautiful.
Do you still have the Kimberly Queen fern?
No, unfortunately it didn’t do well for me. I don’t think it liked being on the porch–maybe it got a bit too much shade. I really liked it, though. I was surprised to read that a Foxtail Fern isn’t actually a fern. It’s a member of the Asparagus family and uses seed to reproduce and not spores. I guess ferns must reproduce via spores. Also, the flowers and berries can be toxic, so probably not a great fern to have around pets.
I love your fern Susan. I am actually sharing a post about decorating with ferns today. I love the bloom on your fern. She is definitely thanking you for taking care of her. Have a great day. XO- MaryJo
I have a foxtail fern growing in my flower bed around my patio. It has been there for years. I can’t even remember how long. It usually survives the winters because I live in South Georgia. However, last winter was a rough one and it died (I thought). Come spring I cut it back to the ground and it came back beautifully. I was so proud . It hasn’t been invasive. After all these years it has started sending roots on top of the ground but I just snipped them off and covered with straw.
Love the flowering fern, your care and patience is paying off! Thank you Susan!
Thanks, Jenna!
XXX
What a pretty fern. Don’t you love unexpected surprises! I grow an elephant ear every summer in upper Midwest zone 5. I have to bring the bulb into the garage every winter along with Canna bulbs. Last summer for the 1st time ever it flowered. I didn’t even know they produced flowers. It was very unusual and exciting.
Susan,
Beautiful fern!
Thanks so much for hosting this lovely party each and every week! Thank You!! I hope you are having a great week!!
Hugs,
Deb
Thanks, Deb! Have an awesome week!
XXX
Oh how I love when our plants reward us with a surprise. Lovely bloom on the fern. It will be interesting to see the berries. It’s been awhile since I have had asparagus and I forget what the bloom looked like. That is a big crack in the paint/wallboard. Painting is tricky. I once had paint peel right off because I put latex over oil based paint. Now I know. Looks like your painter did a nice job of taping off the area to be painted.
I have to reply. LOL I live alone and in the south.They are everywhere ! Its hard to design if you can’t see them. Be careful of blue plastic bins as silk flowers will adopt the plastic smell. I put boric acid in any boxes I store vases in. I envy Susan’s garage and that big basement. Try a bunch of wastebaskets or large rattan baskets. BTW Michael’s had a lot of clearance at 70% off.
That looks like water damage! Check that.
It’s not water damage, the bonus room is above the garage and there’s no sign of water damage at all. I think it’s just the way the previous painter painted that area from what the painter said.
You saved me a bit of embarrassment today. I was enjoying a leisurely morning in my nightgown when I noticed your most recent post. I gladly clicked on it and started reading about your painter. The bit about your painter reminded me that my drywall contractor is due here any minute. I had to drop everything and get dressed. About a month ago, a bathroom pipe leaked. The contractor had to cut out a wall to get to it. He is due back today to repair the drywall. I would have been so embarrassed to have to answer the door in my nightgown. Crisis averted thanks to you. LOL
Lin, that totally sounds like something that would happen to me! I’m glad I could help! 😉
Uh boy…another plant (says, hubs…) THAT FOXTAIL FERN is GORGEOUS!!! Now, I’m on…the fox hunt…franki
The foxtail fern is fabulous! I’m going to adopt your technique for giving plants some sun in the winter – I have no trouble keeping plants alive all winter in our garage (I’m in NC – so not too cold), but they’re leggy and kind of sad in the spring and – just like yours, they take months to look great. Hopefully, I’ll have a foxtail fern to add to the collection. I never knew they were so pretty – or that they could bloom! Have a great day!
I live in deep south Louisiana and foxtail fern grow easily here whether in the ground or pots. Susan, before the red berries get too old, pull a couple of them off, open them up, and you will find a black seed inside. Plant the seed in potting soil to propagate. Do multiply seeds, some may not take. I was able to gift numerous fern by doing this. Wishing you luck! Oh and please post, if you are successful, I love all your post!!
Thanks for that info. Kristina! I just may try doing that…love that idea!
I’m amazed at the way gardens and plants evolve over time – Multi-year Gardening is a “slow” activity, and noticing what works, what changes over time and what fails takes observation and reflection. (Photography helps!) I now have a “fern garden”, after 20 years of trying to nurse 6 small fern plants. I live in Wisconsin, so I’ve not seen your fern around here.