This Sunday at the Garden is going to be a fun day like none that have come before! First, the Garden welcomes dogs -- and their "people" -- in costumes, AKA "spooky pooches," to enjoy a $5 discount on admission (that means dogs in costume are FREE!) all day, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (note the special extended hour for one day only). This is our last "dog day" of 2025, and all well-behaved and leashed dogs are welcome, even if not in costume (a $5 dog ticket will apply in that case, though). Also, the Garden will host its first community trunk or treat -- with more than 40 participating vehicles and vendors -- with Gamma Alpha Psi in the parking area from 3-7 p.m. This is a completely FREE event -- no ticket required -- although participants are welcome to take advantage of the $5 ticket discount for being in costume to come in through the Garden's ornamental gate while they are on-site, if interested. We hope to see a lot of friends -- of both the two and four-legged varieties -- this Sunday, ready to enjoy treats of many kinds -- natural beauty, fall colors, candy, and more. (fb)

In preparation for Saturday's Fungi Fest -- https://hbg.org/event/fungi-fest/ -- the Garden's horticulture communications specialist wrote the following brief article on mushrooms for readers of the Lazy Gardener & Friends Newsletter. It's too good not to share with all of you, too. If this whets your appetite, be here tomorrow (Oct. 18) to learn all about mushrooms from our friends at Central Texas Mycological Society, Gulf South Mycological Society, and more. Don't miss Fungi Fest! by Cory Saul Mushrooms, like plants, are extremely diverse in our region. Some are more common than others, like Green-spored Parasol (Chlorophyllum molybdites), but from the gardener’s perspective, it’s often enough to simply learn why mushrooms show up, and what they indicate. It turns out, they have a lot to tell us. Mushrooms are always a sign of decay, but, at least when they are emerging from the ground, they are rarely a sign of parasitism or poor garden health. They aren’t the bad guys! In fact, mushrooms (or the fungi they are a part of) are doing their part to recycle organic material. When we see ground mushrooms at Houston Botanic Garden, we typically glean two things right off the bat: 1) organic matter is high, and 2) the substrate is wet and staying wet. For example, if Flowerpot Parasol (Leucocoprinus birnbaumii) is showing up in our Cactus Garden, the nutrient level might be too high for arid plants, and the soil might not be draining as well as it should. At the Garden, we typically let mushrooms lie. They are fun-looking, show off Houston’s biodiversity, and they do not stick around for long. If anything, instead of addressing the mushrooms, we’ll adjust the space in which they appear, so it drains better and participates more effectively in the nutrient cycle. For those concerned about mushroom toxicity, the immediate solution is always to remove the mushrooms as they appear. It’s important to remember that many fungicides are non-selective, so when you’re killing the bad, you’re also killing the good. (fb)