I'll bet if you walk around your yard, you'll find mushrooms poking through the soil under trees, between shrubs and even next to the driveway. This has been a banner year for fungi, with soft soaking rains every week or so while the soil is still warm. The same cluster of dark brown mushrooms has come up again just outside my front door. Could they be edible? Can I try out one of those delicious sounding recipes in my "Gourmet's Guide to Mushroom Cookery"?

Electric orange trees decorate our gardens and forest paths this time of year. During the summer, when trees are quietly green, we almost forget they are among us, but then, seemingly overnight, they turn on the lights and glow with flamboyant fall colors.