Jill Doughtie

These mushrooms were growing in the mulch.

The mulch was spread thin over a part of the driveway we don’t usually pull into.

When it rained, they collected water like little cups.

These mushrooms were growing in the compost.

They have serrated edges, like they were cut with pinking shears.

The oldest ones have loose, ragged, stringy dark edges. It makes them look especially poisonous to me.

Look at this giant clover. It’s growing by our hot water heater. I put my foot in the picture for scale.

It’s as wide across as the palm on my hand. At first I thought it might be Psoralea orbicularis, a California native clover, but its leaves look different. The stems for each of the three leaf segments of Psoralea orbicularis are longer. Does anyone know what this could be?

These mushrooms are growing on a log near the north side of the house. They popped up in the rainy weather.

A venus fly trap lives on my window sill. Chlorinated water would kill it, so I give it distilled water. I’m running low on distilled water, and don’t want to buy another plastic bottle. We’re expecting a rainstorm soon. Perhaps rain water would do the trick.

A week or so ago, I moved two golden currants (Ribes aureum var. gracillimum).

Originally, they were in the middle of the shady part of my vegetable garden where I grow kale and other greens. Their leaves were turning yellow and they looked unhappy. They are native plants, and they don’t like to be watered regularly the way that vegetables do. So I moved them to the little strip of earth between the house and the driveway, where I don’t water. I gave them a good drenching to help get their roots established, and then I left them alone. At first, I though the move killed them. But…

…they started growing new leaves.

(View larger)

Spider in the Natural History Museum’s Spider Pavilion.

(View larger)