all i see is what looks like some type of mushroom ...

have you pulled one out.. and checked ..

or could you put an arrow on your pic pointing to what you are talking about ..

if a shroom.. then they are decomposing your media.. like they are supposed to .. and not relevant ... to the plant ...

its fall for you.. isnt it???? .... prime shroom season .. one might expect bugs.. to be in decline ... along with your plants ... not a season i use a lot of bug killers.. or am concerned if some late bug wants to eat declining foliage ....

ken

It appears to be bird's nest fungus. Not problem. Only "composting" the woody stuff in the planting mix.

see this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nidulariaceae

Here is a link that might be useful: bird's nest fungus

The black specks would be the spore packets from the artillery fungus (bird's nest fungus) . They used to sit inside the little caps; when matured, the packets act like tiny projectiles, flinging through the air until they find something to stick to.

They're pretty interesting organisms!

Hi there.

Firstly Ken thank-you for your reply. It is the start of Autumn here and most certainly is mushroom season however I have ascertained that these little 'cups' are not mushrooms., though they do indeed resemble little 'shrooms'.
Thanks Jean001a and rhizo_1. I checked out some info regarding 'Birds Nest Fungus', which is very interesting and fits with what I discovered in the soil of my Freylinia.
What a great forum and very helpful. Happy gardening!!
Bronwyn.