Fungus Amongus

lovely fungus on apple tree stump

Is if moss or lichen?

A wet summer and a wet fall are perfect for a luxurious growth of fungus and moss on trees and stones.

The stump of our old apple tree has an interesting fungus in two areas.  Pieces of this plate-like fungus will be great dried and varnished.  For now, I'll leave it on the stump and watch as it spreads. 

The moss or lichen on the Oakleaf Mountain Ash is a handsome addition to the tree.  It is almost all the way around the trunk now and on the lower limbs.  I wonder if the presence of the growth is a sign that the tree is in trouble?

The Oakleaf Mountain Ash has been a grand tree and has outlived it's predicted lifetime.  We've enjoyed the shape, the height, and the fall colour of the tree for many years and would hate to see it finished.  Wish the birds liked the berries, though.  The Mountain ash berries stick to the bottom of shoes and are tracked everywhere.

A wet summer and a wet fall bring treasures to our garden in the form of fungi, lichens and mosses.

Let Nature Play

Manicured gardens with lovely black mulch between all the plants is one end of the gardening continuum.  My garden is at the other.

I used to be a control freak, but now I eschew a garden completely under the control of a neat gardener. Age has mellowed me to the point that I see that Mother Nature always does it best.  Left to her own devices, she mixes colours and textures in glorious ways.  Take, for instance, the happenstance of combining Virginia Creeper with a wayward Morning Glory.  Incomparable.

Letting Nature do the gardening takes me back to my childhood when I wandered the woods and fields close to our family cottage.  Without the hand of man, all was at Nature's whim.  Now that I'm old and out of the rat race of modern life, I once again appreciate what Nature can do with little or no interference from me.

Let Nature play with your garden.

October begins

Autumn Crocus

Here it is the beginning of October and no killing frost yet!  Some annuals are still bravely flowering, but falling leaves tell us that the end is near. The melon plants are totally done as are the tomatoes.

The leaves of the deciduous trees are wonderfully coloured this year: vibrant reds and brilliant yellows. One or two red leaves are showing on the Serviceberry.  Can't wait until it's in full colour!


The Miscanthus is blooming, and so are the Colchicums and Autumn Crocus.  You can't fool them.  They know when fall arrives, frost or no frost.