Fungus???

So, about a month ago I noticed some yellow shoots growing up out of my soil.

I immediately dug them up and a few days later this, full blown "mushroom"? showed up! And in a completely different area than the original shoots.


This died in 1 day, it showed up that morning and was dead by the end of the day. Weird, I know! Then the next day I noticed these different "mushrooms" growing in another completely different spot.

(oh and in this picture you can see it's right next to the Hosta.... so maybe that's what's killed it?)

Anyway... the yellow, spongy mushrooms have shown up regularly now. They only last a day or two then completely dry up. I have NO idea where they came from - and they don't seem to be harming any of my other plants... so weird. I haven't looked up what it is yet. And I plan on mixing in compost soon anyway, so I will do a good "digging up".

Any ideas though? Has anyone seen yellow, spongy mushrooms before?

Porch Garden Update

So, these pictures are a little old - but they're the most recent pictures I have.

The tree:

So, the "tree". As you can see the "grass" is dying. So what i've done is moved it to more shade (actually, mostly shade but with plenty of natural light), pruned it of all it's dead leaves, and then consistently watered it. The side that gets the most sun is doing much MUCH better now. But this is about as bad as it got.

(Grass & Evergreen)

(Total)


Porch:

The porch is doing OK. For the most part it hasn't changed, which probably isn't really a good thing. I've just read that if you have too much bark, or "barky things" in the potting soil, it competes with the plants for nitrogen. And my homemade soil is 70% bark. So I"m going to start fertilizing it with compost (which is nitrogen enriched) and maybe something else.


Wine Barrel:
(Primrose)
I had moved this to the porch steps thinking it would get more sun there.... I was wrong. And it wilted and turned dark. This is only 1 day after moving it back to it's original spot - and it perked right up. However, it's now wilted again. Maybe because it's hot and it's in a terra cotta container (which evaporates water through the walls). I might try watering it twice a day.


(Hanging)
As you can see the hanging pot is growing slowly. I think because it only gets 1 hour of direct sunlight. It might also be because of the soil! (goodness that soil!)





(Heuchera)
Seems really perky and the leaves aren't dying, so I'm taking that for a good sign. However, no new growth is coming in.


(Hosta)
This plant... this poor hosta.... is almost completely dead now. Worse than this picture here. These leaves in this pictures are big compared to the small 3 leaves that are left. I'm hoping I can still save it by mixing in compost with the soil. That is my goal!



(Brunnera)
This was doing really really good for quite some time. New growth coming in the center, spreading out, etc. But now it's stopped and all the leaves, not just the big ones are browning. So I'm thinking it may be too hot for them and I forget to water it every day.



Moms:
I did my very, very best to try to bring this back to life. It's not happening. I tried pruning it of it's dead leaves and branches and watering it when I was supposed to, and I even fertilized it with the other plants. Absolutely nothing has happened. It may have already been dead by that point though, but I didn't know because some leaves were still waxy. I think I am going to chuck it... sorry mom!



It's a little frustrating with the growth rate and dying ratio, but I do sometimes laugh about it. I keep reading and will try new things. I just feel like so many things are going on in my life it's hard to focus on gardening. But I always come back to it.

I just read about succulents...

I have a subscription to Better Homes and Gardens and the last one I read talked briefly about succulents. The article was mostly about pretty containers, but there was some brief introduction to succulents. So thought I would share, because they sound like just what you need!

"Succulents are the perfect plants for forgetful gardeners. Molly grows them in cactus mix for good drainage and gives them a thorough soaking every week or two; more water than that risks killing them... Succulents grow slowly, so a combination may last years in the same pot".

Some they list with pictures:

- Fuzzy Echeveria setosa
- Smooth leave hens and chicks (Sempervivum tectorum)
- Pink flowered Sedum matrona
- Kalanchoe 'Flapjacks'
- Kangaroo paw (Anigozanthos)
- Euphorbia 'Sticks on Fire'
- Sedum spectabil 'Brilliant'
- Echeveria 'Perle von Nurnberg'
- Echeveria imbricata
- Sedum morganianum 'Donkey's tail'

I think they would look great!! And less watering :D Good luck, i'll let you know if i find more information.

Succulent Garden

So I am trying to figure out what to do with a couple of places at my house. The first place is by the street (outside the gate) on a hill. I need to do a sprinkler system down there, but I want it to look nice...instead of dead. So I was thinking succulents. Do any of you know anything about succulents? Can they stand full sun all day long? And what about drought tolerant? I don't want to have to worry about it. I have never done succulents, but I know a garden of them can be gorgeous. Any help would be awsome!! Thanks

Abby's Plot of land

Abby that's awsome!! There are a lot of pretty shade plants that could work there. Are there automatic sprinklers? or would you have to water by hand? also, You could use a shovel to get the bush out, but eventually I think you will have to use your hands. Maybe you should spray some spider killer on it REAL GOOD and wait 24 hours before you pull it out. I have some landscaping books you can look at some time. All you need is the measurement of the area, how much sunlight and you're good to go. So..............you're good to go! HAHAHA! You can come over some time and look at my books. It's fun!

A plot of land...

I'm not sure why I haven't thought of this before... but there is an extremely shabby "garden" outside my door. It wraps around to the front with only a few sorry looking rose bushes and weeds.

My neighbor, who lives in the front, just started putting new plants on the part closest to her. So, I thought "Hey! If she can do it, so can I!." In the 4 1/2 years that Ryan has been here, no one has done anything with this dirt. We used to have a manager who tried to take care of the rose bushes, but that's it.

So, i have a plot of land to garden on now!!! I'm going to seriously garden! I'm going to dig up all the weeds, and turn out all the soil and get going.

Here is what it currently looks like...

This is a bush that I want to get rid of ASAP. It's always full of cobwebs, it's ugly and it's right outside our window and front door, yuck!:

























Here is a picture of all the space I will have.

I plan on planting up to the fuse box which gives me a good 10+ feet long and 2-3 feet deep to work with.

As you can see there are quite a few weeds, some big and small. My only worry is that it's on the North side of the house. I don't think it gets 6 hours of sun, maybe 4. But I haven't paid too much attention to that. My worry is that it will end up being a shade garden :(. But..... if it is - it gets more sun than my porch!

Any suggestions for planting on the North side of the house? It has a lip on the roof that may block sun from above - especially the part closes to the side.

Also! Any suggestions for how to cut down and uproot the bush? I don't want to stick my hands in there to try and break it down manually. (I have MAJOR arachnophobia...) haha :)

When we move - I will simply dig up the plants and pot them. Hopefully this garden will be more successful than my current porch garden.

Any advice is welcome!