In My Woodland Garden ...

... I have Fungus prunus gigantium 'Kanei' A rare form of toadstool has cropped up in my woodland garden! This variety, which has been named after me, has only ever been seen by seven people. Four more toadstools have sprung up since these were discovered in the same area of my garden.

To demonstrate the scale of these phenomenal growths, I managed to capture a wood nymph in one of the shots as she danced around the woodland earlier in the day. See the extra photo if you must!

I've had a lot of fun at The Wood Workshop this week. A few months ago I saw a small carving of toadstools and it coincided with The Mate coming with his chainsaw to take a large limb of a Bird's Cherry in our garden. I knew I wanted to use the wood to create a garden sculpture. All I then needed was the section of trunk for the base. I found three in a woodpile at a caravan site and asked to buy them.

I absolutely loved the effect of partially turning the wet wood, leaving some bark, moss and lichen in place. In nature dead parts of a tree are digested by fungi to enable the fungi to grow. I feel my tree is in a state of metamorphosis. Tree turning into fungus!

The garden still looks bare but during the autumn I will be moving ferns and bluebell bulbs into this area and sowing forget-me-nots. They will go so well with the wild garlic. I have some thyme to plant amongst the paving and the ivy is spreading.