I Found Another 'Fun-Guy' in the backyard!

Actually, there were two of them.
This was taken due to a comment by Deb at Garden Author.
She wondered if I didn't have any 'turkey tail' fungus.
Yep. I do. :-) follow the above link for great information!

But this one "takes the cake!"
(Maybe he ate it? ha.)
I don't know who this is...
do you? ;-)

Would you have any "fun-guy" of your own to share?
LOL
Shady G.

I'm Eeking (or Seeking) a Moment for a Post

Just Quickly, before it's the first of May, I want to show you a couple of things that have been growing around here!

Then I'd encourage you to head over to Making Memories to see recent woodland walks I've been taking with my friend, Susie. We've been attempting to locate and identify, if necessary, various plants on her land.

Okay, here we are... in my front yard.
Photos were taken 4/25/08.

If you peek at the upper left hand corner of the fungus,
you'll see the little row of "buttons" below.

"Walking" away from the tree.
A close-up.

A yet closer look.

I do consider myself halfway pleasant to be around,
but I'm not a "fungi!" (Maybe a fun gal!) lol.
(Some people spoil the pun by pronouncing it Fun-Ji.)

Or you COULD say there's "a fungus amongus!"

Looking towards May 1st tomorrow!

Interesting Photos Taken August 2007

I need to do some research, but isn't this a grand photo?

Someone at UBC thought it could be Thelephora terrestris.
What do you think?



A cute little fellow. Again his name I know not...



This next little fellow and I have been introduced. We met earlier in the garden.
He is a Stinkhorn (Lysurus mokusin) You can probably guess why.
I found three of these this past Summer. Don't know as I'd ever seen one before!
My first posting shows a lurking fly.


I use a link to UBC Botanical Gardens for information about fungi. They are helpful. There's also a link on the sidebar. I will see if someone there can help me with my "unknowns." Perhaps you could help?? I'd be ever so grateful.

Saturday Afternoon

We first took a walk through the prairie. My husband pointed out the Autumn Olive seedlings that the birds are planting by seed dispersion. He's having to destroy not only the mature plants furnished (as seedlings) for planting several years ago but also these new seedlings. Instead of being the ideal bushy refuge and food source for birds, they've become invasive.

I know not everyone appreciates thistles, but I truly think they're beautiful. I'm not the only thistle fan. Check out the Great Spangled Fritillaries below!
(Click on the name for more information and the photo to enlarge it.)
We were on the edge of the prairie and just next to the woodland edge.

Close-up of the thistle.
This is Partridge Pea.

Next, we headed for the woods.
Trees
"I think that I shall never see
a poem lovely as a tree. . . .
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree."
by Sergeant Joyce Kilmer I credit the following fungi to our recent rainfall. I had a comment, upon which I took action to investigate. The fungus below is most probably a Puffball.
I have NO idea what this is.

This is Monotropa uniflora, Indian pipe. Sometimes people find more beautiful specimens.
Click on the botanical name to go to a site that provides a photo of another "version," and additional information.Last, but not least, a few other items to share:
Path of a bark beetle,
Jewel weed, nature's defense against poison ivy "itch!"This area was so very overgrown and lush with rainfall,
that several jewelweed had fallen over... note this one's rooted stem.
Poke Weed (often called Poke Berry)
The plant parts are poisonous. (click on the name for more information)

I don't know what these flowers are... do you? Each stem was multi-flowered.

Towards the end of the trail, I noticed a few sticky seeds
had clung to the tail of my shirt. As I walked, I picked them off and dropped them.
I was providing a means of seed disbursement until,
at the END of the trail, I looked down and saw...

Thousands of seeds stuck to my socks!I'm trying to decide whether I should pick off the seeds
or throw the socks away!

Your verdict?

Rain, rain, rain! WOW!

Wednesday morning we woke up to 1.3" in the rain gauge. Yesterday (Thursday) there was 1.9" in the rain gauge (yes, I'm emptying it every morning!). This morning (Friday) there was 3.6" in the gauge. And we hadn't been experiencing a dry spell.

Pretty crazy.

There had been a LOT of runoff...

My neighbors and I hit the ground running early this morning!
Water has a way of intruding where it hasn't been invited.
They had need of a wet vac, towels, and fans.

Later, we checked out waterways, drainage and the roadway. (The latter needed
a little "recompositioning."

Next, I picked up sticks and hickory nuts that had fallen all over the yard.
Three loads to the ravine! ;-)

I found this little guy in the front yard -
a Fall Webworm larva.
Click on his name for information about him.
Actually, he'd been abandoned after I'd picked up his home
and many, many of his siblings, and deposited them in my wheelbarrow.
After being reunited, they all received a free ride to the ravine.
But... there are always treasures!

Such as the following fungi.
(Note the blades of grass... these are very small specimen.)

This little stink horn had obviously had it.
He had fallen over; looking pretty gruesome to boot.
All in a morning's work.

A Short Spin Around the Yard

This is little "Baby Tears" in bloom! The blossoms are softly striped. I forgot to check out whether the blossoms are scented...

I inherited these hosta from friends. I don't know the name of this variety, but the white blossoms certainly brighten a shady spot!

This is Tenryu. I understand it grows in the wild along riverbanks in China. The flower scape grows around 5' tall. I'm 5' 4" and it hits my nose.

I need a hosta expert. I don't know this variety... it was already in this bed when we moved here nearly 5 years ago. It's a "blue."

And look at these fungi! Always thought of myself as kind of a fun "guy!" ;-) But, these may have me beat.

This is a close-up of the following photograph.

There were many more of these...

And, aren't these something?

You can see these aren't very large... the grass is the "size-ometer."

I really must get out more! Lots of interesting things to see in a shady garden!

Fungus Among-us!

Can you identify the following fungii?. Actually, I think it's a Stinkhorn fungi (Lysurus mokusin). The photograph below isn't the best one, but I couldn't resist posting it. Check out the fly! (It'll give you an idea of the size of the fungus.) There were actually two of them in the front yard this morning!


This second was a doozy, too. (What is it??? Anyone know?)Since I'll be out of town for a few days, I won't be adding new posts... but I'll be taking plenty of pictures! ;-)

Nothin' shady about that!