June

Back in the day (pre-1980), we grew about an acre of field mums at our west store's ‘mum field’ for fall sales. After a rainy spell like we have been experiencing recently, Dad had us out tending to the plants.

We all have THAT storm we remember. Weather events can be a milestone of sorts from our past. The big snowfall in February 1971, right before my 16th birthday is one for me. It was the one that shut the town down for a couple of days. Another one I remember is the hot summer of 1980 with its 46 days of 100+ degrees.

At first, the word fungi doesn’t sound all that great. There are a few fungi on our lawn and landscape plants that can damage the appearance of, or even worse, produce toxins that affect plants and animals. For the most part though, fungi are important decomposers in most ecosystems. Mycorrhizal fungi are essential for the growth of most plants.