Cool Looking Fungi In the Garden-Aliens Perhaps? And the Empress..

After the long hot and dry periods of May and June, July through September have brought us some fairly decent rains in Tennessee. Along with the rains, and heat, came some fungi in the garden. The one pictured above was about one foot wide and about six inches tall. It was quite a big old thing. I found it growing  in complete shade alongside a newly planted redbud. The grass blade you see sticking out is actually growing in this fungi. I cannot identify this fungi but think it may be a type of cauliflower fungus. If anyone can positively identify it for me that would be great.

Here is a longer shot. I touched this and it was quite firm.

This particular mushroom made me think spaceships.

It was probably seven inches across and about four inches off from the ground. I mowed it down but it came right back....



One last thing that is more fun than fungi to most. The Empress of China evergreen dogwood has buds on it!  I don't know if these are flower buds for next year or if they are flower buds for this year. Only time will tell....

in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

S'hrooms

Tina recently told you about the Fungus in her gardens. With lots of rainfall here in Georgia from Tropical Storm Fay, we now have fungus among us! Our fungus is Argaricus Bisporus simply known as, Mushrooms.
Mushrooms or Toadstools have stems, caps and gills underneath and seem to pop up over night! I know they pop up over night in our yard. Look at all the S'hrooms I found in the yard this morning!
Many different types of which I have no idea how to identify. Mushrooms are wonderful to eat but not the ones we find in our yard.

Some mushrooms can kill a human if consumed. So it is best to leave the harvesting for the experts.
I have seen the deer and squirrels eat some of the mushrooms that pop up in our yard. I wonder why this one was flipped over? Maybe a squirrel was hunting for one to eat and decided this s'hroom was not the one! I found a large grouping of the tiny mushrooms popping up and standing tall as if a group of soldiers standing in formation. These were popping out of the seed hulls from the birdseed we clean up from under the feeders. We just pitch the hulls over the fence and they break down in time.
The tiny S'hrooms seem to thrive in the Black Oil Sunflower hulls. Too bad I cannot eat them as I love mushrooms!

Here you see the genus, Trichaptum, a Polypores, or type of mushroom without a stem which grows on tree trunks or stumps. I find these all over the woods on tree trunks.

I have no idea what you call this fungus other then pretty! I always see something from within with my eyes and in this fungus, I see Coral of the ocean floor.
There were big clumps of this fungus growing in the pine straw of the natural area of the yard.

Some people do not like mushrooms popping up in their yard over night. But I find S'HROOMS fascinating and beautiful with their shapes, colors and texture, In the Garden...

Vomit in the Garden

Vomit in the garden. Sounds like someone had a party and a bit too much to drink doesn't it? Nope, no alcohol in my garden so that is not it. And no semi-grown daughters around either to garden in their own way. Then what is it? Have you ever seen a vomit like substance in your garden?

Last year I got an email from a gardening friend. It seems she was a bit upset about what looked like vomit in her garden. Coincidentally Karla (our county extension agent) had just sent out an information paper on this slime mold.

Its scientific name is Fuligo septica, aka dog vomit mold. It is quite common in gardens after rainy periods. It is absolutely nothing to be worried about.

Walking through my garden and spotting it recently was a bit of a shock though. This mold seems to appear overnight in mulched areas. But, by the time you see the mold itself, you can be assured it has been growing for a while. The vomit like substance you see is actually the fruiting body of the mold.


Again, this is nothing to worry about in the garden. The above picture shows the same mold as pictured in the first picture, shortly after the picture was taken it completely dried up. I just leave it alone. So, nothing as dramatic as a night of binge drinking or a sick dog, nope, just some mold and some moisture and some decaying matter and you have 'vomit in the garden'.

in the garden....