WITH ULTRA-MOIST CONDITIONS this summer-into-fall, I’ve to say the factor doing the perfect within the backyard are the mushrooms. One odd-looking fungus after one other is sprouting from mulch, on the base of bushes, even within the garden. The winner of all up to now: a 2-foot-wide colony of one thing so fluorescent orange you possibly can see it throughout the yard in mid-August (above).
Maybe it’s Omphalotus olearius–the jack-o-lantern mushroom. Foolish me: I forgot to {photograph} the underside–to see if there have been true gills beneath the cap and the way the stem and cap connected to one another–however it had disappeared earlier than I spotted my oversight a few weeks later. (UPDATE 9/10/11: From commenter Kristy, the suggestion is that these may very well be honey fungus, or Armillaria; examine these right here. The colony was about 20 toes from the closest tree, a spruce, however I’m nonetheless going with Omphalotus.)
I’ll hope for its return subsequent yr, and if it ever stops raining, I’ll make sure you be extra detail-oriented when admiring the rising assortment of fungi who’ve joined me in my backyard.
You might recall my fascination with (yup!) fungus: learn all about it.