How does your garden grow?

I love this time of year. The first of my bulbs are beginning to bloom. It's always a surprise what comes up--many of my spring bulbs were planted five or more years ago, and I forget what's there. And there are years when some plants barely make a show, and then come in full force the next. And there are some that don't bloom for years, and then suddenly put on a magnificent display.

The last is anot so lovely photo. This is some kind of fungus that has appeared across large stretches of our mulch. It looks like thick-walled bubbles that break open as they reach the air, and collect rainwater. The first spot I saw looked oddly like an old, hollow, rotten pumpkin hiding at the edge of the mulch. Stepping on it did not improve its appearance.

Most of the fungus is in a stretch of flower bed that normally holds annuals--and is quite barren right now. But the one spot I found in one of my perennial beds is getting attacked with a fungicide as soon as I can find a few minutes to play with nasty chemicals.