Toadstools.

You may recall from a few weeks ago that we've been trimming back the trees on the property.  The various twigs, branches and leaves were processed with a chipper and the resultant chippings distributed around the garden.

As it happens, we generated rather more "mulch" than we had placed to put it, so some of the chippings remain in a pile for distribution later.  What has happened to this pile intrigues me.

It's been quite dry and the mulch has been sitting on concrete.  we've had the occasional shower, but really not much rain at all.  Nevertheless we now have toadstools appearing in the mulch. Even more surprising is that they have a hint of blue to them too.  I've seen toadstools of a similar shape to these before, but don't think these are quite the same.  I thought the other sort were a type of ink cap, and these new arrivals seem quite different.

I had always thought there was a large underground chunk of mycelium from which the toadstools grew, so to see these plants springing out of the mulch was not expected at all.
Sadly these little toadstools are at their best just as I'm racing off to work and are not looking their best by the time I get home.  Unfortunately, this is when then photos were taken.

Nevertheless, if you're a mycologist, or just someone who knows what these toadstools are called, perhaps leave me a comment?

Toadstools!

When I start to see the toadstools pushing their way through the soil under the silver birch trees I know that summer is over and autumn is definitely with us.  The first shot on this post is a single shot HDR image of a toadstool covered in some of the moss it's just pushed its way through.  For some obscure reason I wasn't expecting many toadstools as it's been so dry.  Nevertheless, we don't seem to have the same variety as we once had.  Here's some toadstool shots from previous years.

As you will imagine, as autumn heads towards winter the sun sits lower in the sky and we get the very pleasing warm glows.  Temperatures are starting to drop at night time so it's time to ensure we have enough wood for the fire and get the quilts and blankets out of the cupboards.

Second shot in this post shows the lichen on a silver birch tree in my front garden illuminated by the setting sun.  Nice warm tones I thought.