What's this ?

It's a growth of some kind, but what exactly is it ?  Maybe just a shameless attempt by Mike to get some traffic over at his blog.  Click on the following highlighted link to transfer over to his blog, and then read the post of August 2, 2012 titled "A garden surprise !" -- there will be more photos.  When you're finished over there, do come back and finish reading THIS blog.  Here's the link:  Mike's Blog