Week of October 11, 2020

Unlike the summer drought at TAProots Farm, the rain was abundant at our Florida Home.  Little needed watering from the twice weekly irrigation system, which turns itself off if there is rain in the past days. Consequently, the lawns, perennials, citrus, azaleas, palms, etc. were green and verdant.  Another effect of the rain was a sixable crop of MUSHROOMS emerging in the lawn and the shaded areas in the garden.  Dead trees, leaves, and pinebark mulch rots quickly in Florida, helped by a wide variety of fungi, many of which have their own beauty.  The turkey tails have many beautiful brown, cream, and reddish “tails” that emerge from stumps and roots of dead trees.  One delicate form, Favolus, is the brightest white.  Others emerge out in the lawn, living on the lawn clippings produced every week.  The largest has been Chlorophyllum, a white orb about the size of a tennis ball.  Other small ones of ping pong ball size are the pretty reddish Ruby Bolata or the intricate Lepiota rubrotinatoides, with rows of orange bumps.  The number of varieties is well beyond my knowledge, but we can submit my pictures to iNaturalist for identification.  These fungi add interest to the late summer garden in Florida and are part of the rejuvenation  of the Florida Garden.