Hay-scented fern opening farewell

While my fern identification skills are not too good, they are improving, and this is a species I know pretty well. Hay-scented Fern is an exceedingly common denizen of the sunny spots by rock walls, and the plant, while certainly pretty, can often overrun just about any other vegetation. In fact, Dennstaedtia punctilobula, aka Boulder Fern, can be downright invasive, particularly in wildflower gardens. That said, I cut the lacy fern some slack because of its wonderful function as a seasonal touchstone: Hay-scented is one of the first plants to start changing color. It does this well in advance of the classic autumn-leaf spectacle, and while there's still at least a month of summery weather, these ferns are already starting to call it quits. Hay-scented gold tells the walker that change is in the wind, and, to use the words of Robert Frost, "nothing gold can stay."