Thursday, March 18, 2010

Mushrooms growing out of the bottom of a potted Fern

Pat and Amanda have some interesting plants in the window of the Tech Office. They've been fighting ants, who seem to like living in potted plants. These mushrooms growing out of  Amanda's Fern suggest moisture and a significant organic component to the soil. I know nothing else about it....only that I like it.

Lindera obtusiloba....they are having a good spring

Lindera, a genus in the Laurel family, Lauraceae contains a number of good ornamental shrubs. Here on the east coast, we have only Lindera benzoin, Spicebush, an unassuming but pleasant dioecious shrub of moist woodlands....a host plant for the Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly. L obtusiloba is an undemanding shrub, obviously spectacular in flower. This plant, flowering now, is in the Asian Collections along the road adjacent to the triangular island bed.