New (Garden) Rules!!

Echoing the phrase "My House (or Barn or Studio or What Have You) My Rules", I am hereby asserting "My Garden, My Rules". There are only a few- and they are simple- but from here on in, these are the Rules:

1.) Please do not visit my garden and point to my Tithonia, (or Brugmansia or Cimicifuga et al) and say, "Gee I have that but it's three times bigger!" It's like penis size; make no comparisons. Maybe my insects are bigger than yours.

2.) If you spot a weed, please don't tell me. Chances are I know it's there and simply haven't removed it yet. Or, feel free to pull it up and compost it yourself. I appreciate the help.

3.) If some poor plant looks parched and in need of water, again, please don't moan to me about it. I  am probably tired of tripping over and dragging that hose (it weighs more than I do!) around the yard. Or I have become thirsty myself and put my needs before the plants. There are plenty of watering cans available and a deep well. Water that thing yourself.

4.) If there are holes in the leaves of my plants, please (again ad nauseum) keep it to yourself. Yes, I probably have some bugs and slugs but I refuse to spray and I hand pick as much as I care to- which may not be as often as you and your higher standards demand. Holes can be a decorative addition (or subtraction) from a leaf and just think of it as filigree.

5.) And finally, ENJOY my garden as just that- MY garden. I think it's super and while I may not do things the way you do, you needn't worry about it. You can admire mine for what it is (or isn't) and then go home to your garden and admire that, too. It's great that we all do things differently and have different standards; it's what make me me and you you.

Fun with Fungi!

The persistent rain and weird weather may not be to my liking but the mushrooms, toadstools and other forms of life seem to love it! Our yard has become a hot-bed of exotic species. Down by the lilac bed I discovered the above specimen, simply erupting from the lawn.

And this tiny puffball is only a few feet away. Bob eats them. As he hasn't died yet, I guess they're safe to consume but the whole house smells like mushrooms when he cooks them. I'm not a big eater of mushrooms; I will tolerate them on pizza because their sneaker-bottom rubberiness and peculiar flavor is masked by cheese, garlic, spice and tomato sauce. These guys can get huge! We once had one in our yard back in Bridgewater that was the size of a soccer ball, but Bob picks them early as they get brown and nasty pretty quickly. Also slugs and company chew on them.

Ahoy! Yet another variety, this one wriggling up the side of one of our (many) splintered tree stumps. Not certain as to the kind, but it looks like mucous ribbons. That probably edible, too. The poisonous ones are like these:

The other day, they resembled your classic mushroom shape with a clear stem and cap and little gills underneath. The tops started out a vibrant neon yellow. I have watched them explode and slime as the rain kept coming. Some of these suckers are really deadly and even mushroom experts get killed occasionally. Here's a close up:

Nothing appetizing about that! It is pretty amazing that all the above occurred in a small portion of the yard. There's loads more and it looks like fairy land. And then there's this beauty, sneaking through the fence from our neighbors...

Hello! Yes, that's a lusty poison ivy vine. I have already succumbed to several rounds of itchy festering bumps so I'm keeping my distance, no matter how friendly this vine is trying to be.