Garden Notes

A Plant Lover's Guide to Dahlias by Andy Vernon 2014. Timber Press, Hardcover 256 p. This beautifully illustrated book is a great acquisition for the Dahlia lover, the wannabe Dahlia lover, or any lover of beautiful flowers.

Fall soil remains warm enough for planting trees, shrubs, most ornamentals, and cool season edibles. If we are fortunate, rain will provide all the water gardens need over the next few months. Working in our gardens can provide serenity, exercise, produce, and beauty that changes with the seasons.

All mushrooms are fungi, but not all fungi are mushrooms. Indeed, the fundamental difference between mushrooms and fungi is that the mushrooms are fruiting bodies of specific fungi that are part of the order Agaricales of phylum Basidiomycota.

When I first started flower gardening, I planted mostly annuals. I would look at the perennial bed diagrams in books, which plot out perennials for successive bloom periods, and it seemed too complex and geared towards East Coast flowers.

Who hasn't marveled at a dandelion that thrives as it grows from a tiny crack in the pavement? Or more improbably, a tree growing from a rocky outcrop? It makes us stop and reconsider what we know about growth requirements for plants.