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What’s this yuck? The good news is slime mold is harmless.
Photo by L.A. Jackson
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For more blooms from dazzling dahlias, such as ‘XXL Tabasco,’ deadhead fading flowers.
Photo by L.A. Jackson
Like a good garden mystery? OK, Sherlock, examine the image on this page. Is it (A) an animal, (B) a plant, (C) a fungus or (D) the outline of Australia if it were drawn in the dark?
The answer is none of the above, so the mystery deepens. Actually, the strange blob pictured is slime mold, an icky amoeba-ish garden oddball that, depending on the species (and there are more than 900 of them), can come in many other forms as well, including fan-shaped or a crisscrossing network of veins. While the slime mold pictured here is yellow, other common colors include grungy whites, grungier browns, oranges and reds.
But wait, there’s more … weirdness. Watch a glob of slime mold over the course of a day, and you will discover this goo can move, too! (Kids: science project alert!)
Because slime mold shows up unexpectedly in the garden—usually in shady spots—it easily starts a conversation among gardeners, beginning with, of course, “What is it?” followed by two more necessary questions: (1) “Is it harmful?” And (2) “What is the best way to get rid of such yuck?”
Despite its creepy appearance and the eerie fact it can crawl, calamity is not eminent. Slime mold won’t absorb the family cat, and if your dog licks it, don’t expect an immediate transformation into Cujo. But what if you touch it? Well, you will not be seized by the uncontrollable urge to howl at the moon, nor feel cursed to play Lynyrd Skynyrd songs backward after midnight on the roof in a blue tutu.
In short, it is harmless.
And since slime mold gets its nutrients from decaying matter such as lawn thatch, leaf debris, rotting wood and organic mulch, it is not particularly harmful to healthy plants in your garden, either. Just think of slime mold as simply another quirk Mother Nature occasionally throws at you to make gardening more interesting—even if in a strange way.
Slime mold typically comes out to play during times of heat and high moisture—in other words, normal steamy South Carolina summers. But with dampness being the key to its survival, slime mold will simply wither away in extended periods of rain-free weather. If you don’t want to wait for a long stretch of dry days, just wipe, scoop or rake it up in a bag for a one-way ride to the dump.
July in the Garden
• Garden visits from cats, dogs, squirrels, rabbits and raccoons often spell trouble. One possible way to “unwelcome” them is to sprinkle fine-ground black pepper or cayenne powder around your plants. These critters have sensitive noses, and a snoot full of either (which will have to be reapplied after it rains) is often enough to encourage them to romp elsewhere.
• The vegetable garden is shifting into full production mode now, so harvest squash, cucumbers, okra, green beans and indeterminate tomatoes at least once a week to stimulate even more production of these homegrown veggies well into the growing season.
Tip of the Month
Summer-blooming bulbs/rhizomes/tubers such as crocosmias, lilies, daylilies, crinums, eucomis, dahlias and glory lilies should be as advertised by now, showing off fancy displays of colorful flowers. Enjoy all of them at their peaks of prettiness, but also watch for signs of fading and cut off any blooms that begin to wilt. Deadheading these flowers will prevent energy that can be stored for next year’s dazzling show from going into seed formation instead and, in many cases, will actually encourage another round of blooms. However, do not cut back healthy foliage until the first chilly days of autumn.
L.A. Jackson is the former editor of Carolina Gardener magazine. Contact him at lajackson1@gmail.com.