Spring toadstool mystery?!
United Kingdom 
Can anyone shed light on this most perculiar toadstool which I discovered this morning? Toadstools are fruiting bodies which usually appear in the autumn, right? Well this is doing its thing at Easter, six months early! It has appeared in a pot of some hyacinths and lily bulbs. What a beasty! I do sometimes put a little leaf compost in with John Innes (soiless) compost to fill my bulb pots. But I also tend to sprinkle some special fungus granules in, which I obtained from David Austin Roses. It is usually recommended for aiding the healthy cultivation of roses. But I have been sprinkling it into the soil when planting perennials and shrubs, and even when planting pots of bulbs. Now I'm half expecting these things to start popping up all over my garden. Has anyone ever seen this happen before? Is it a first?
Best wishes, JONATHAN H.
13 Apr, 2009
Answers
It's a 'stinky' alright. I've never seen one growing in a pot. We sometimes get them in the summer - quite interesting beasties but not really something you want all over the garden. When they come up in the garden dig them out with a hand fork and put them in the bin. At the bottom of the stem you will find a soft, white ball about the size of an egg with lots of rhizomes coming off it.
As this one is in a pot - any chance of popping up to Perth on Saturday to the flower show, it should be stinking beautifully then. :-0).
13 Apr, 2009
Moon Grower - try Googling your suggestion, pretty sure you'll want to edit your answer to this question when you see what comes up!! LOL!
Try Stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus), I think this is what you meant!
13 Apr, 2009
Oops, better drag my mind out of the gutter :-)
13 Apr, 2009
Hi Jonathan
Looks like a Phallus etrectus (stink horn) to me... Does it have a particularly nasty smell and are flies attracted to it... if so that it what it is. Fungii can actually grown from spring through to late autumn depending on which species it is.
If it is a stink horn look out for more and remove asap.
13 Apr, 2009