Ep 223. The Phenomenon of Fairy Rings

Mary Stone discusses the phenomenon of Fairy Rings, caused by fungi creating dark green or brown circular bands in lawns. Craig from New Jersey shares his hilarious experience with Fairy Rings, initially suspecting contamination from pesticides. Mary explains the natural occurrence and folklore of fairy rings. 

She also reflects on the ecological significance of fungi, highlighting their role in recycling decay into life. Additionally, Mary shares a heartfelt story from Blaine Rothauser about a Copperhead snake bite, emphasizing the importance of understanding and respecting all of nature.

Thanks for Tuning In! 

Related Posts and Podcasts 

The Phenomenon of Fairy Rings - Blog Post

Ep 222. Fascinating Fungi and Wood Wide Web

Ep 221. Curious Copperhead Encounters

Craig's Weeping Willows Gone Wild - Blog Post 

8888

I'd love to hear your garden and nature stories and your thoughts about topics for future podcast episodes. You can email me at AskMaryStone@gmail.com. 

You can follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook and Instagram #MaryElaineStone.

Episode web page —Garden Dilemmas Podcast Page

 Thank you for sharing the Garden of Life,

Mary Stone, Columnist & Garden Designer

More about the Podcast and Column:

Welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries.

It's not only about gardens; it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.

Thanks for tuning in, Mary Stone
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com
Direct Link to Podcast Page

Transcript

Ep-223 The Phenomenon of Fairy Rings

Sat, Sep 27, 2025 11:27AM • 11:01

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Fairy rings, mushrooms, wood wide web, fungi, decay, nature's recyclers, mycelium, garden dilemmas, natural world, Copperhead encounter, ecologist, rare species, virtual garden club, garden delights, nature photography.

SPEAKERS

Mary Stone

Mary Stone  00:00

Mary stone, Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. I'm Mary Stone, and welcome to garden dilemmas, delights and discoveries. It's not only about gardens. It's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learn from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in, in the spirit of learning from each other, we have lots to talk about. 

Mary Stone  00:27

Hello there. It's Mary Stone on the screen porch. Thank you for joining me. It's officially fall now, and a welcome rain is falling. We've been so dry, so it's really good to have this rain coming down, but what a humid and warm day it is today, A time of transition. I want to thank those who followed up after our last chat about Fascinating Fungi and the Wood Wide Web, I sent the link to Peggy, whose mysterious orange mushroom inspired the story she wrote. I read this on Monday and saw the photo, I had to look twice and said, Wait a minute, that's our mushroom. I always enjoy your weekly newsletter, really interesting and very helpful. Yes, that's your mushroom. I love learning from the questions that come up, so keep them coming. Peggy, and that means all of you, too, kind listeners. I always enjoy hearing from you. Today is a continuation of the story, in a way, featuring fairy rings. And we'll conclude by revisiting how mushrooms transform decay into life. And it starts like this. 

Mary Stone  01:33

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. Last week, we chatted about fun fall fungi showing up at our lawns, some edible such as the volleyball sized giant puffball mushrooms, one of the fool proof four, for the first time, forager, and some that are poisonous, such as the bright orange jack o lantern mushroom that glows in the dark. And we spoke about how mushrooms appear suddenly and mysteriously from what seems like nowhere, a quality that has led many cultures to view them as gateways between different realms or to the spirit world. Which brings me to the topic of fairy rings. 

Mary Stone  02:12

I always enjoy questions from Craig of Frelinghuysen New Jersey, his garden dilemmas always bring a chuckle, such as when his willows went wild next to the pool, causing hours of clean up, he went on a funny rant about each stage of his dirty dilemma, giving us all a good laugh. Then a massive army of ants took up residence under his trees, feeding on the gooey substance called honeydew caused by the giant Willow aphids that his trees became infested with since then, he has removed the trees closest to the pool. You can read those stories. I'll put links in the show notes, because they are very funny. 

Mary Stone  02:51

Craig has two rings that had made reoccurring visits to his lawn over the past few years in the same place. Each one is about 10 feet wide and spaced five feet apart. He and Caroline live in front of a farm field and thought pesticides used over the years could be causing the mysterious rings. Their wellhead is in the vicinity, so the worry of chemicals is warranted. Craig worried the worst that they discover the contamination that would cause chemical remediation costing 10s of 1000s of dollars, maybe it would be best to sell and get out of dodge before the discovery. Holy moly. 

Mary Stone  03:29

Leave it to Craig to drill down to get to the bottom of the mystery. So much so that he dug a three-foot hole to investigate if indeed he had something buried in the yard, perhaps old abandoned silos. He thought. Then his wife Caroline's research offered relief, revealing they have fairy rings. Fairy rings show up in lawns during the spring and summer months. They appear as dark green or brown circular bands ranging in size from a few inches to 50 feet. The fairy ring fungus grows outward a few inches to several feet a year. Mushrooms can then develop in a circle outside of the Rings during spring and fall after periods of heavy rain. 

Mary Stone  04:11

Centuries ago, people thought that the mushrooms appeared where fairies had danced the night before. Hence the name fairy ring. Other folklore suggests that these bizarre formations are the work of supernatural beings or portals to different worlds. There are about 60 mushroom species that can grow into fairy ring patterns. Grass loving mushrooms, such as the edible scotch bonnet, are the most well-known.

Mary Stone  04:38

Our wrap up from the last episode became the conclusion of this column, which I'd like to revisit with you again and you'll see why. Mushrooms are indeed fascinating. They are the fruiting body of a vast unseen network of mycelium that connects plants across the forest floor. Folks call it the Wood Wide Web. The individual mushroom is only the temporary, visible fruit of a far greater organism. Fungi are nature's recyclers, turning decay into life. Like the underground mycelium, silently creating fertile soil to nurture the next seasons of growth, as more of us become aware of how destructive perpetuating conflict, disregard and hate is, we are progressing towards peace for generations to come, even though we may not be able to see the shift to loving thy neighbor growing worldwide. And thy neighbor includes our natural world. Garden Dilemmas? Ask Mary Stone.com.

Mary Stone  05:37

 I received an email from my friend Blaine Rothauser, an ecologist and rare species biologist we featured in many episodes. His passion for the natural world is expressed in his stunning natural history photography, which he always graciously shares with us, most recently in the curious Copperhead Encounter story. I'd like to share bits of Blaine's message.

Mary Stone  06:03

 Dearest, Mary, loved your Copperhead treatise in Episode 221. I opened with dearest because that is how I feel about you in my life. Each Sunday night, when I contemplate my place in this world, your words on life and life on Earth have become dear to me. I look forward to them each week in welcome anticipation. 

Mary Stone  06:25

He told the story of a friend whose dog was bitten by a Copperhead and almost died. He wrote - the following week after the dog recovered, with the help of antivenom, 1000 bucks, he told me later, he went out to his property's woodland with a shovel. His response to his motions of almost losing a dear family member at the fangs of a snake. He found the culprit. And needless to say, sad to say, he gave him the shovel. Of course, he was reluctant to tell me. He knew a lecture would ensue. Because we are so close, I could be honest, and so could he.

Mary Stone  07:04

 I know we can harbor hurts when we lose an animal, or an animal is killed. I lost a dog years ago. She slipped under my fence chasing a deer and crossed over the frozen Rockaway River that broke up later that day, and I searched for weeks. Her body was found after the snow melt, and it looked as though she was kicked by, likely the deer she was chasing. I never held it against the deer, and she died doing what she loved to do, as much as I tried to prevent it with the fence. 

Mary Stone  07:34

Blaine went on to share his feelings of hopelessness after his conversation with his friend. The saddest takeaway for me was that when a human in the 21st Century can't rationalize the importance of natural systems and all creatures within especially a human with a deep connection to the natural world, which is he would destroy and vengeance a member of the natural community, then I hold virtually no hope of getting through the bottleneck of 8.5 billion people, saving any semblance of complete nature moving forward. 

Mary Stone  08:07

And so I actually, when I read his story or his message, I really had a hard time with it and had to think about it for a while. So I'm going to share the message that I wrote back, or at least a portion of it.

Mary Stone  08:21

Dearest. Blaine, I smiled when I read your greeting, dearest, and I am honored that you refer to me as such. I refer to my singing partner, Ken Roberts, a remarkable guitarist and musician, as dear as Ken, because of the generosity of His Spirit in spreading joy, sharing his gift of song with families and patients at the home for hospice. We've become dear friends and our kindred spirits in our shared mission to help make lives better. End of Life is part of life. So dearest Blaine, you are doing the same, sharing your insights about the natural world through your words and photography in hopes of imparting the truth that we are all one in this world - to make life better by helping to change things. When I read your email, my heart hurt for the snake, for you and for your friend. The human condition, driven by revenge to right wrongs, have devastated our world. That's what wars are made of, and toxic pesticides. But let's not give up. Let's never stop trying to spread the word. We are messengers for nature, for life, for all things green. I feel honored to be a dearest. So are you, Mary.

Mary Stone  09:42

And so are you kind listeners who share a love for our dear earth and all that inhabits it, sitting with me each week and sharing your stories and your heartfelt feelings of things that are hard to know that are going on. I know we harbor hurts when our animals are hurt or loved ones, and even though that Copperhead when Jolee came upon it could have bitten her, but didn't, it was protecting itself, and she was doing what dogs do. Anyway, thank you for this time together, and keep your questions coming and stay tuned for an announcement about a virtual garden and nature club I hope to start. I hope I've piqued your interest. See you next time on the screen porch. 

Mary Stone  10:30

You can follow garden dilemmas on Facebook or online at Garden dilemmas.com and on Instagram at hashtag. Mary Elaine Stone. Garden dilemmas, delights and discoveries is produced by Alex Bartling, thanks for coming by. I look forward to chatting again from my screen porch and always remember to embrace the unexpected in this garden of life. Have a great day.