Hidden Treasures

Maybe its just a mushroom. Maybe not. One man's trash is another mans treasure. Some see a fungus, I see a living pearl in its botanical oyster. This giant mushroom sprang up underneath the slender weeping foliage of the nearby ornamental grass. Mushrooms are often considered a nuisance, or unsightly, but I love little things like this in the garden for several reasons.

For one thing, its just so darn big you can't help but admire it. Come on, how often do you see a big honkin fungus... uh, livng pearl like that, huh? It was easily eight inches across. For another thing, if only for an instant, when you do see these little gems, it allows your mind wander into the "gnomes and faries might really exist" realm. Who hasn't stopped and wondered if there wasn't really something out there that would make the fantastic real. And finally... and this is the one that makes me swell with pride... its a sign that your soil is actually very healthy! You see, mushrooms are the fruiting body of the fungus that grows beneath the soil surface. Most soil fungi grow in long root like strands called "mycelium" and it is a parasitic organism. It lives on complex organic matter that soil bacteria (who also like organic matter) find a little tough to chew. It is kind of like "everything has a purpose, and there's a purpose for everything." The presence of fungi means the presence of organic matter. Organic matter means healthy soil. I, of course, swell with pride at that since I am a soil scientist.

Little gems (and big ones) are everywhere. You just have to know either WHERE to look or HOW to look. I think it is more of a matter of HOW.