My Backyard

2011-03-04T18:59:00.003-05:00

Should I buy a live Christmas tree?

2010-12-13T09:42:00.011-05:00

I was trying to decide if I should buy a live christmas tree this year. I had bought one 10 years ago and it was a bust. Yet I still feel drawn to the idea. As I am getting ready for the holidays I ponder this question.

What birdseed to use in my wild birdfeeders or whether to clean out my birdhouses are questions i can readily answer with a little research and I clearly know what to do. Whether to have a live christmas tree or not is not straight forward.

I have not made a decsion yet, but this is what I have found:

Pros:

A great family tradition, "You can look at it every year and think, "Remember when we did that christmas?"
It is fresher, so it's more fragrant.
It's not as tippy as a cut tree in a stand
The planted tree can extend holiday cheer outdoors when strung with all-weather lights or edible garlands for birds to nibble.
You can plant it in your backyard or donate it to a plant-a-tree organization
Lessening of a fire hazard
May be used more than one year as a living Christmas tree. Most trees can remain in container for up to two years. Moved to outdoor patio or porch will add greenery to that outdoor space.

Cons:

According to Christmas tree farmers, only about half of live trees purchased survive the holidays.
Difficult to move tree in and around the space you want to put the tree. The root ball and tree combined can be very heavy. A six foot tree with have 24"root ball could weigh up to 250lbs
Cost twice as much as fresh cut trees
Can only remain indoors from 7-10 days, so cannot be main feature of your holiday season
Unless you have a large property, you may run out of space to plant the live christmas tree after several years. Also these trees tend
Must be more particular in the christmas lights you use, must be low wattage.

The following is a list of a few of the most popular types of trees that are used as living Christmas trees.

NORWAY SPRUCE - One of the most popular living trees.

COLORADO BLUE-GREEN SPRUCE - Another very popular living Christmas tree.

ALBERTA SPRUCE - An excellent miniature living Christmas tree.

DOUGLAS FIR - An excellent tree for sunny or shady locations.

WHITE FIR - It makes a nice specimen tree, or is excellent for screening and hedging in the garden.

ALPINE FIR - Shape is generally irregular unless the trees are nursery grown locally.

NOBLE FIR - A symmetrical, pyramidal tree with darkest green foliage, bluish-gray on the tips and silvery-green underneath. One of the finest living trees for use during the holiday season.

SCOTCH PINE - One of the most popular pines for a living Christmas tree.

AUSTRIAN PINE -It is a bushy, sturdy pine.

JAPANESE BLACK or JAPANESE RED PINE - They make nice irregular shaped living Christmas trees.

Go here for more information on how to care for your live tree after christmas

I got most of my information from Garden Design, This Old House magazine, & Ed Hume Seeds

If you are looking for outdoor wooden furniture, wildbird birdfeeders, outdoor candle lanterns, decorative birdbaths, Poly recycled outdoor furniture, tuned wind chimes or other great stuff for your backyard...visit my website.

Some other posts that may interest you;

Care for your Poinsetta and it will bloom next year

Best Berry Plants for Birds

12 Winter Bird myths you may or may not know

Sign Burrowing Owl Preservation Petition

2010-12-09T21:41:00.007-05:00

I received this email asking for support. I support this cause and encourage everyone to sign. You can you can easily electronically sign the petition in facebook.

Following is what i received:

Dear Leslee,

Just a short email to keep you up on my efforts for Burrowing Owl conservation out here in the West.

We have literally just launched a petition aimed at getting that elusive "Burrowing Owl Comprehensive Conservation Strategy" that California has promised us for the last 7 years and frankly is well over 15 years past due. We need as many people to sign our petition as possible and we will also be approaching conservation groups, institutes, etc. that would like to sign on to the official letter at an organizational level. The petition, signatures, and letter will be hand-delivered to numerous state officials in Sacramento.

All the details about the petition can be found at:

http://burrowingowlconservation.org/CAPetition.html

including multiple ways to sign as well as a form that you can download, sign, pass to friends/colleagues, and mail back to us.
If you have a Facebook account you can sign the petition and help promote the cause at:

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/petitions/584?m

Thanks for supporting my local efforts in California over the last year and helping us make that transition to a California-wide (and beyond) movement for burrowing owl conservation. Please feel free to contact me directly with any questions or details about signing on as an organization or promoting the petition.

I know how busy you must be this time of year, with the holidays upon us and all the distractions in the news and politics of the world, but this situation with the Western Burrowing Owl is reaching a point where we must do something before it is too late.

Please take a few minutes to sign the petition to help prevent further decline in Burrowing Owl numbers.

Thank you again for your support,

Larry Jordan
The Backyard Birdman
PO Box 22
Oak Run, CA 96069

Holiday Decoration using Pine Cones & more..

2010-11-29T09:02:00.010-05:00

Sometimes when I have extra time during the Christmas Season I decide to make some of my gifts. This does not happen every year, but when I do here are some ideas I have found:

Easy Pine Cone Ornaments: Add a little glitz for Christmas with shiny bows and a little gold paint. Go here for instructions

Pine Cone Christmas Trees: Cover a styrofoam tree form with pine cones, and embellish in a variety of ways to make this pine cone Christmas tree decoration. Go here for instructions

Single Pine Cone Christmas Trees: Turn fully opened pinecone into pretty miniature Christmas trees. Go here for instructions

Birch Branch Reindeer: The base of these cute little reindeer figures is two birch branches. Go here for instructions

Pine Cone Topiary: Turn a fully opened pine cone into a simple, elegant and festive topiary. Go here for instructions

Pine Cone Kissing Ball: Top a pine cone ball with a sprig of mistletoe to make this easy pine cone kissing ball. Go here for instructions

Pinecone Fire Starters: dip pine cones in melted wax recycled from old candles or crayons. Go here for instructions

Potpourri Pine Cone Angel Ornament: potpourri and a pine cone as the basis for a fragrant pinecone angel. Go here for instructions

Scented Pine Cones Centerpiece: This centerpiece is easy to make, & looks lovely. You can choose your favorite spices to add the scent and greenery from your backyard. Go here for instructions

It is important when using Pine Cones in craft projects that they are completely dry, here are instructions for drying them in a hour or so...

I got all these ideas from the awesome allfreecrafts.com website.

If you are looking for outdoor wooden furniture, wildbird birdfeeders, outdoor candle lanterns, decorative birdbaths, Poly recycled outdoor furniture, tuned wind chimes or other great stuff for your backyard...visit my website.

Some other posts that may interest you;

Care for your Poinsetta and it will bloom next year

Should I buy a Live Christmas Tree this year?

12 Winter Bird myths you may or may not know

Goldfinches Disappearing??

2010-11-13T21:00:00.011-05:00

Goldfinches are year round residents in New Jersey so I did not understand why I was no longer seeing them at my wild bird feeders. The reasons are pretty simple and now I feel better informed.

The truth is that goldfinches haven’t gone anywhere they just look completely different from their summer selves.

The males have exchanged their bright yellow feathers and black head spot for a warm taupe-colored plumage, and now resemble summer females. Just about the only sign that these little brownish birds are goldfinches is the distinctive white striping on black wings.

Also due to a shifting sort of migration. The adult goldfinches do head south, but they're replaced by adults from farther north that move southward.

There may be short periods when a neighborhood lacks goldfinches, but it's a void quickly filled by new arrivals.

Finally Goldfinches are fiends for wild seed. Unlike most other songbirds, which consume large numbers of insects, goldfinches live on an unvarying diet of seeds, seeds and more seeds.

And fall is nature's seediest season, offering an abundant buffet in gardens, parks and some yards. But any day now, most of the flower stalks will be emptied of their seeds. That's when these small, light-brown birds will show up at feeders once again, snapping up nyger, sunflower or safflower seed.

So after taking a closer look at the visitors to my wild bird feeders I see goldfinches are there!! Just with different coloring. I must say I really am a novice when it comes to this backyard bird watching. But that's okay.

I haven't really noticed the migration issue but it is good to know. And at this point in November most seeds are gone so I really have noticed that impact either.

Got most of my information from St Paul Audobon Society.

If you are interested in buying a decorative birdfeeder, squirrel proof birdfeeders, birdhouses, birdbaths or many other things for your backyard visit YourGardenRetreat.com

Some other posts that may be of interest:

Birds Need your Bird feeders this Fall

Peanut Feeder for Birds

November Guide for Attracting Birds to your Backyard

Placement of Garden Wind Chimes

2010-09-26T17:59:00.008-04:00

Wind chimes are a wonderful addition to any yard and can create a calming effect to be enjoyed by anyone who listens. Remember where you place your garden wind chime is as important as choosing the chimes themselves. Once you purchase a wind chime whose melodies you love, you will want to place them where you can easily and readily hear them.

Tips to keep in mind when hanging your garden wind chime:

You can hang wind chimes anywhere and on any type of hook - hooks sold for bird feeders work pretty good. Just make sure whatever hook you choose can support the weight of your chime.
Make sure you do not hang it too close to any structure as you want it to be free to flow in the wind. Or you can use a fancy hanger to add more interest.
When hanging your chime, remember to pick a spot that is protected from strong gusts of wind to avoid damage to your chime.

Various places you can hang your garden wind chime:

Hang it near your hammock and take a soothing nap to the melodic tones of your chime.
Set your chimes up in your bedroom window so that you can hear them on a hot summers evening.
Put some chimes in your office and to help release the stress of the workday.
Hang your wind chime by your door so that you can hear it first thing upon arriving home.
Hang it out on your deck or patio to enjoy while eating dinner
Have several small ones in your garden that you can enjoy when planting flowers

The placement of wind chimes can be as important as the type of chime you get

You do not want to place them so far away that you can hardly hear them, and you do not want them right in your ear either.
You can place the wind chimes on poles spread evenly through your garden to give a more surround sound but not overwhelming.
A chime can create interest by adding a decorative touch to a lack luster area of a yard.
When placed in the correct positions you can create an area to sit back and relax to the hypnotic tones of the outdoor wind chimes.
Placed near a hammock, bench or comfortable patio chair, chimes can reduce stress and create the feeling of an oasis.
They can (with their musical notes) help take the focus away from the sounds of traffic which are common in urban and suburban living.

Guidelines for best feng shui placement that enhances the chi of your home:

Feng Shui will help enhance the positive energy of good sounds, while blocking out the negative energy that we allow in due to bad sounds.
Thus, place wind chimes in areas of wind, but not in direct wind.
Putting a wind chime in the middle of one's yard will often result in discordance when there is heavy wind and create a dissonant noise. But if you hang a wind chime under your porch, the tones are melodic and smooth, enhancing positive 'chi.'
A metal wind chime can be placed in the West, Northwest and North
A wood/bamboo chime can be placed in the East, Southeast, and South bagua areas

Whether it be your front porch, herb garden or back yard, a finely tuned musical wind chimes will set a tone of soothing tranquility throughout your natural environment. With just the slightest breeze, wind chimes will sing beautiful music to you. The soothing sounds can come from a Grace Note wind chime.

Garden windchimes from Grace Notes in addition to many other great items for your backyard can be found on my website. Wooden Outdoor furniture, Decorative Birdhouses, Squirrel proof birdfeeders, birdbaths, tuned windchimes, Poly Recyled Furniture, Outdoor Candle Lanterns, Garden Fountains, and much more.

Some other postings that may be of interest:
8 Reasons to buy a Wind Chime this Fall
6 Reasons Personalized Wind Chimes Make a Great Gift
Discovering Feng Shui: an enhancement to any garden

Plant Spring Flowering Bulbs

2010-09-12T10:35:00.027-04:00

Taking break from fall chores. Leaves me some time for planning for next spring. I would love to buy outdoor wooden furniture or a new decorative birdhouses. But before I get to spending money on that I must get some bulbs in the ground.

Some after doing some research on the web I found some helpful information from Better Homes and Gardens and Do it Yourself websites.

1) Select Quality Bulbs

Look for those that are plump and firm and avoid bulbs that are soft and mushy or have mold growing on them.
Also look for big bulbs; the bigger they are, the more they apt they are to bloom compared to smaller bulbs of the same variety

Keep in mind smaller bulbs varieties produce flowers that bloom earlier in the spring, and the flowers are small, like snow-on-the-mountain or crocus. The larger bulbs, such as tulips, bloom later and produce larger blooms. Make sure the bulbs are firm, clean, and free of mold.

2) Pick the Right Spot
Even healthy bulbs will not bloom if they're planted in the wrong spot.

Most bulbs do best in full sun (at least 6 hours of direct sun a day) and well-drained soil.
In choosing the spot for planting bulbs, take into account the spring sun; in spring, the sun won't be obscured by the leaves of your trees, but it will be weaker than in the summer and lower to the horizon.
Also consider the proximity to buildings and plant the bulbs at least 5 feet from foundations, as heat from the buildings can damage bulbs.

Check out Better Homes and Garden’s Plant Encyclopedia for more specific conditions on bulbs your planting.

3) Get the Timing Right

Spring-blooming bulbs-are best planted in the Fall, when the soil temperatures have cooled.

The best time to plant is after the first frost, so the bulbs will stay cool throughout the fall and winter.
What this means in terms of the calendar depends in large part on where you live. Go here for frost chart by state

Summer-blooming bulbs- are best planted in the spring, after danger of frost has passed.

4)Plant in groups

Most bulbs look best when planted in big, irregular groupings (the more bulbs, the bigger the impact) instead of straight rows.

5) Plant Them Deep Enough

Generally, dig a hole two to three times deeper than the bulb is tall. So if you have a 3-inch-tall bulb, dig a hole 6 to 9 inches deep.
There are always exceptions, so check the planting directions that come with the bulbs for more information.
6) Place Them Pointy Side up

If bulb has a pointed end, that's usually the side that faces up. If you don't see a pointy side, look for where the roots come out -- that end goes down.

7) Give Them Good Soil

bulbs appreciate well-drained soil rich in organic matter.
mix compost into your bulbs' planting holes to ensure good blooming. Especially important if you have heavy clay soil or ground that stays wet
add fertilizer before replacing soil

8) Water Well

Bulbs are plants, too, so they need a good watering after you plant them. This will encourage them to send out roots and become established.
A good watering will eliminate air pockets in the soil that could cause your bulbs to dry out.

9)Protect your bulbs from squirrels

Spread mulch over your newly planted bulbs to discourage critters from digging them up
If that doesn't help, weigh down a piece of mesh or chicken wire over the soil

10)Design idea: Try them in containers

Create pots of spring joy with your favorite tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths by sinking them in the ground so they get winter cold
or storing the containers in a cold garage or storage shed.

Bulbs that do better in containers are:

Anemone blanda (windflower): whites, pinks, purples, magentas  
Chionodoxa (glory of the snow): blues, pinks  
Crocus (all species and Dutch crocus cultivars): purples, blues, whites, yellows, two tones 
Galanthus (snowdrop): white  
Hyacinthus (hyacinth): whites, purples, blues, pinks, salmon, yellows  
Iris danfordiae , Iris reticulata (miniature irises): purples, blues
Muscari (grape hyacinth): purples, blues, whites, two-tones 
Narcissus (daffodil): whites, yellows, salmon, orange, as well as combinations of these 
Puschkinia (puschkinia): whites, light blue  
Tulipa (tulip): endless color choices – from white to nearly black

More info here on planting in containers

Buy something new for your backyard today!! Check out my website for lots of cool stuff. Wooden Outdoor furniture, Decorative Birdhouses, Squirrel proof birdfeeders, birdbaths, tuned windchimes, Poly Recyled Furniture, Outdoor Candle Lanterns, Garden Fountains, and much more.

Some other postings that may be of interest:
Overseeding in the Fall for a better lawn
Great Plants for your Fall Containers & Planters
Why you Need to Plant a Tree this Fall

Discovering Feng Shui: an Enhancement to Any Garden

2010-09-04T07:54:00.013-04:00

Let me start by saying.. I know very little about feng shui. But have always wanted to learn more. It is very interesting but can also become very complicated. So for me i keep it in mind but don't get obsessive about it.

For example when thinking about the best place for my garden outdoor fountain, outdoor wooden furniture, garden bird bath or a tuned wind chimes I consider the Bangua chart. Yet I still trust my intuition ultimately.

The garden should be balanced in two ways: within itself, and with the home (the garden being yin/calm and the house being yang/active).

Basic principles to keep in mind when making changes or adding to your garden.

Use curves to enhance tranquility.
For example, curved flower beds and paths can balance the straight lines of the house. Also, use curved lines (e.g. hedges) to mark property boundaries. If you already have a fence, you can create a sense of curvature by growing ivy on it.
Add items that have personal meaning to you (e.g. gifts, stones, statues).
Use a variety of colors when choosing plants, and arrange them in bright/high energy patches and pale/tranquil patches based on the bagua chart
Keep simplicity of design that requires little maintenance
Do not clutter the garden. Leave extra space when planting

Treating your garden patio area as if it was another room of your home. Use the same tools you use in creating a good feng shui home. Below is an example of a Bagua, or energy map of your garden.

Northwest	North	Northeast
(metal) arbor, tuned wind chimes, chairs	(water) pond, outdoor garden fountain, birdbath	(earth) clay pots, rocks, soil
West	Center	East
(metal) arbor, tuned wind chimes, chairs	open area for free flow of chi	(wood)outdoor wooden bench, planting boxes
Southwest	South	Southeast
(earth) clay pots, rocks, soil	(fire) lights, grill, chimenea (free-standing fireplace)	(wood) outdoor wooden bench, planting boxes

HTML Tables

Here is the color correspondence of each of the five feng shui elements:

WOOD: HEALTH AND VITALITY

Green
Brown

FIRE: PASSION AND HIGH ENERGY

Red
Strong Yellow
Orange
Purple
Pink

EARTH: NOURISHMENT AND STABILITY

Light Yellow
Sandy/Earthy
Light Brown

METAL: CLARITY AND PRECISENESS

White
Gray

WATER: EASE, FRESHNESS AND ABUNDANCE

Blue
Black

Obviously I used information from various sources when doing this post..Feng Shui Your Garden, Feng Shui Five Elements: How to Use the Feng Shui Five Elements with Colors & Feng Shui Color Guide - How To Use Colors in Feng Shui

This was fun to research. Hope you enjoy what I have written.
Don't forget to check out my website for many things for your backyard. Summer is here and it is time to truly enjoy your outdoor space! Outdoor Garden furniture, Outdoor garden bench, Decorative Birdhouses, Wild bird feeders, garden birdbaths, tuned wind chimes, Poly Recycled Furniture, Outdoor Candle Lanterns, Garden Water Fountains, and much more.

Other posts that may be of interest to you:
Plant some Fall Bulbs for Added Color in Your Garden
View these Garden Paths
16 bugs gardeners should love..

Great Outdoor Decorating Ideas on a Budget

2010-08-28T01:57:00.014-04:00

Even though the end of summer is quickly (much too quickly by the way) approaching, that doesn't mean there still aren't a few good months left of outdoor entertaining. Whether it is a new outdoor candle lanterns or a make your own Planter umbrella stand, there are many great decorating ideas you can do with out spending a lot of money.

1)Add a new intimate corner to your Living Space

group together two outdoor wooden chairs
add some cushions for some color
in a shaded area put a table between
in a sunny location make a planter umbrella stand and place umbrella in it for great shade
since it is late in the summer season umbrellas, planters and even outdoor cushions are going on sale. You can get these at a fraction of what it cost earlier in the year

2)A fire pit is a fun focal piece to add to your outdoor living space

can create a central point for a seating area perfect for early or late night conversations
is great for one of the classic summer activity of roasting marshmallows and making s’mores.

3) Add some Outdoor Decorative Lighting so you can enjoy your space day or night:

simple twinkling lights for about $4 a strand or decorative lantern string lights for around $10
landscape lighting for under $80 is a great way to feature stand out items in your yard from a great tree to an arbor or a seating area.
outdoor candle lanterns add a nice glow to your patio or other sitting areas. Lanterns come in all kinds of styles to match your particular decor

4) Add a weather-friendly outdoor rug

will give a sophisticated yet comfortable look to your outdoor living space
can create a seating or dining area in an open yard if you don’t have a deck or patio
one with neutral colors can be accessorized with vibrant flowers
can update a cheaper indoor/outdoor rug by painting a design with an indoor/outdoor paint. Home improvement stores sell these cheaper rugs and instructions for painting are here

5)Replace that old Grill

often you invest money in nice outdoor garden furniture but never replace your old rickety grill
end of season sales on grills are prominent this time of year
adds a splash of vibrant color to your outdoor space with a colored grill like kenmore's 3 burner, which comes in red, green and blue.

There are so many ways to update your outdoor space this time of year by going to home improvement centers, garden centers and any location that sells outdoor living products where you will find things on sale.

Part of the information in this post came from Decorating Tips for Outdoor Spaces From Leslie Segrete, Sunrise, and Curbly.

Don't forget to check out my website for many things for your backyard. Summer is here and it is time to truly enjoy your outdoor space! Outdoor Garden furniture, Outdoor garden bench, Decorative Birdhouses, Wild bird feeders, garden birdbaths, tuned wind chimes, Poly Recycled Furniture, Outdoor Candle Lanterns, Garden Water Fountains, and much more.

Other posts that may be of interest to you:
8 Tips for Choosing Outdoor Furniture
7 Ways to Transform Your Outdoor Space
13 Ways to be Creative with a Bench in your backyard

Birds Need Your Backyard Birdfeeders this Fall !!!

2010-08-21T07:50:00.013-04:00

Many backyard birders are misinformed...

Often people have a misconception about bird feeding in the Fall. People are worried that if they keep their wild bird feeders filled with bird seed, birds will not migrate when they should.

Fall is the time of year when wild birds are preparing for their long journey to the south. They will be trying to stock up on body fat. The natural sources they have dined on during the summer may have depleted. So birds will frequent wild bird feeders more often and stay longer to make sure they build up enough reserves for the migration.

Natural instinct is a very dominating factor in bird wildlife behavior. There is no need to worry about preventing the birds from going south.

Birds not going South are looking for the backyards to visit....

For Birds that are not migrating, Fall is the time that they establish their winter feeding territory. Birds are already making decisions about which back yards they will visit this winter. Therefore do not wait for extreme weather to begin feeding because you might miss out.

What you do this Fall as the days grow shorter lets the birds know that you will be there when the serious winter comes. Cold will increase their calorie requirements. So they need to be ready. That's why they're studying their resources in advance. Noting where food is available.

On the other hand, if you wait until hard weather arrives,the birds may not ever realize what you have to offer. Under the stress of freezing weather, they can't afford the luxury of exploring. They must go where they know there will be a payoff.

8 ways to help birds prepare for cold weather....

Provide rich foods such as black oil sunflower, niger, & safflower in your wild bird feeders.

Presence of native migrant sparrows and juncos in fall requires white proso millet & millet mixes scattered on ground-feeding sites. Red proso millet and milo (grain sorghum) are generally unnecessary as an ingredient of fall bird seed mixes.

Invest in a few low-height feeding trays and fill them with cracked corn for doves and other ground feeding birds

Peanuts, peanut pick-outs, peanut butter, commercial suet cakes, and suet from the meat market are all great high-energy food sources that chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, and jays love

Hummingbirds may visit feeders up to times of hard frosts, so keep their feeders filled.

Shallow trays stocked with mealworms can be used to attract a wide variety of birds, ranging from Carolina Wrens to Northern Cardinals and American Robins.

Make efforts to provide fresh water for birds as you move into winter

Providing thick trees such as evergreens for shelter in your yard is appreciated by chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, and woodpeckers. If you do not have them Fall is a great time for planting some.

If you are not going to continue feeding the birds through the winter then....

Leave all seed and suet feeders out until there haven’t been any birds at them for at least two weeks. This also applies to syrup feeders for Hummingbirds and Orioles.
Birds migrating south will stop and "refuel the tank" so to speak. Often you will see the same birds stopping at your wild bird feeders in the spring and fall but never see them in the summer months. They will usually stay for two to four days and then be off to their summer or winter homes.

Wild bird feeding in the Fall provides very important opportunities for bird wildlife; a vital food source for those backyard birds who have been accustomed to using your feeders and a valuable resource for migrant birds.

I got much of my information for this post from Bird Feeding in Fall, Feeding Birds in the Fall, Wild Bird Feeding int the Autumn, and Fall bird feeding tips

Don't forget to check out my website for many things for your backyard. Wooden Outdoor furniture, Outdoor bench, Decorative Birdhouses, Wild bird feeders, garden birdbaths, tuned wind chimes, Poly Recycled Furniture, Outdoor Lanterns, Garden Water Fountains, and much more.

Other posts that may be of interest to you:
Preventing bird disease at your bird feeders
Most Common Birds to Feed or Nest in your Backyard
Big Problems with Invasive House Sparrows and European Starlings

August Gardening Tips by Region

2010-08-16T08:50:00.022-04:00

Well it is my least favorite time in the summer garden..August. It is awful hot and flowers are looking very weary with dead blooms more evident in the garden then color. It also is evidence of that Fall cleanup is around the corner.

So as I spending time looking at my outdoor garden furniture and garden tools knowing that soon I was going to have to clean them and put them away. I begin the long process of dead heading my black eye susans.

Okay enough complaining for now. And on to the work at hand in my garden in South Jersey. Unfortunately if a few things are not done the garden will go to ruin in a matter of days, especially if the weather gets hot. Therefore, watering, grooming and weeding head the list of projects for this month.

Water, Water, Water
- It is best that you water occasionally and deeply rather than shallow and often.
- Using soaker hoses is the most efficient way of watering.
- A watering-hose attachment provides a gentle spray when watering from above.
- When watering over-top of flowers it is best to water in the morning or early afternoon so foliage dries and the soil has a chance to warm-up before the cooler evening hours set-in.
- Vegetable gardens and flowering plants need about one inch of water every week to keep them green and looking nice.
- Keeping an eye on newly planted items, including young trees. If you don't have a Tree-gator, buy one. They are less than $25 and they can save the life of a young tree.
Struggling looking flowers need attention
- Mature plants that are flopping should be tied up or use plant supports or stakes to keep them upright and to prevent them from smothering neighboring plants
- If an annual flower or vegetable is struggling, just pull it up and pitch it.
- If a perennial is sickly or looking awful, cut it back to just a few inches. It will come back this year or next spring with healthier growth.
- Pick off the old dead flowers on your annuals, as well as the spent flowers on perennial plants daily. The key is to cut off the spent flower a quarter-inch above the next bud.
Mulch may need to be replenished
- Should be 1-3 inches.
- Straw and grass clippings breakdown faster
Weeding never seems to end
- Weed after a good rain. Weeds come out easier and with more root
- Weeds are hosts to many insects and diseases it is important to keep them under control, so pests and diseases do not infest your other garden plants.
- Weed seed germinate faster during warmer months..all the more reason to stay on top of this chore
Care of perennials and bushes
- Begin dividing perennials. Start with the bearded iris. Pot up perennial divisions for spring plant swaps. Sink the pots into the ground this fall and they'll be one less chore in the spring.
- Plant trees, shrubs and perennials now, so they can take root. Be sure to do it during the coolest part of the day and water-in the plants thoroughly after transplanting. Take time to properly prepare the soil by mixing generous quantities of peat moss, compost (if available) and processed manure with your existing soil.
- Fall blooming Crocus should be planted this month
- Summer blooming shrubs should be pruned for shape after they have finished flowering.
- Prune your hybrid roses in late August to promote the most fall blossoms..
  - Remove about a third of the vigorous growth
  - Any stems that cross each other should be removed, as well as those in the center of the plant.
  - Weak, spindly canes and any damaged by black spot fungus should be removed.
  - Roses should be fertilized through the end of September(except colder regions)
  - Maintain a spraying schedule to control insects and disease.
Harvesting Vegetables
- Be sure to pick small and often.
- Now is the time to start your fall and winter vegetables. Plant starters or seeds of green onions, carrots, beets, lettuce, spinach, radishes, and winter cauliflower directly into the garden early this month.
Take extra care of hanging and container plants
- Check the soil for every day during hot weather and about every second day on moderate summer days.
- Push your finger an inch or two into the soil to be sure there is adequate moisture throughout the root area. Water them thoroughly each time you water
- Can need watering as often as twice a day in hot, windy weather.
- Trim and feed handing baskets to prolong their beauty
Order spring bulbs for planting and forcing.

I garden in the northeast and many chores remain the same for other regions but many are different. A great place to check your particular region is Better Homes and Gardens: Gardening by Region. Find your region and then select the month within the region.

Many chores in my garden are second nature but some are not.. So when summarizing the tips for this month I got information from August Garden Projects, August Tips: the Northeast, August in the Garden, and Gardening in the Month of August.

Some other postings that may be of interest:
Overseeding in the Fall for a better lawn
Great Plants for your Fall Containers & Planters
Why you Need to Plant a Tree this Fall

Scott Hibb's Amazing Whisky Grilled Baby Back Ribs

2010-08-01T23:07:00.008-04:00

I get most of my amazing outdoor grilling recipes from allrecipes.com. This site is awesome because every recipe is rated. I never try anything with less than 4 stars. Also what is great is that people can make comments. In these comments are other modifications to recipe that people have done to make the recipe even better.

This is a bit of work but by far the best ribs recipe ever!!

"Man, when your guests bite into these at this Memorial Day cookout, they'll savor meat so tender and juicy that it slides right off the bone and gets you the respect you deserve! I have found that the major restaurant chains who make this awesome dish pre-cook their ribs SLOWLY before the quick grilling process." says Scott Hibb the originator of this recipe. I could not agree with him more. Try this recipe!!!!!!!!!!

Prep Time:20 Min
Cook Time:2 Hrs 40 Min
Ready In:3 Hrs

Ingredients

2 (2 pound) slabs baby back pork ribs
coarsely ground black pepper
1 tablespoon ground red chile pepper
2 1/4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup minced onion
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 1/4 teaspoons liquid smoke flavoring
2 teaspoons whiskey
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon dark molasses
1/2 tablespoon ground red chile pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degree F (150 degrees C).

2. Bake Ribs

Cut each full rack of ribs in half, so that you have 4 half racks.
Sprinkle salt and pepper (more pepper than salt), and 1 tablespoon chili pepper over meat.
Wrap each half rack in aluminum foil. Bake for 2 1/2 hours.

3. Create Sauce:

Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Cook and stir the onions in oil for 5 minutes.
Stir in water, tomato paste, vinegar, brown sugar, honey, and Worcestershire sauce. Season with 2 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, liquid smoke, whiskey, garlic powder, paprika, onion powder, dark molasses, and 1/2 tablespoon ground chili pepper.
Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer for 1 1/4 hours, uncovered, or until sauce thickens. Remove from heat, and set sauce aside.

4. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat.

5. Grill Ribs

Remove the ribs from the oven, and let stand 10 minutes.
Remove the racks from the foil, and place on the grill.
Grill the ribs for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Brush sauce on the ribs while they're grilling, just before you serve them (adding it too early will burn it).

If while you are grilling you decide to get something new for your deck or patio then take a look at outdoor garden decorations on my website. Outdoor wooden furniture, outdoor garden fountains, decorative birdhouses and more

Other recipes that you may enjoy:
California Grilled sandwich
Firecracker Grilled Salmon
Great Burger Recipe

Suet for Birds..Facts, Recipes &...

2010-07-27T09:17:00.015-04:00

I have always wanted to try making my own suet cakes but never had. Wild Bird Feeders are popular & easier to maintain..just fill them. Yet suet will attract birds much more. So I have decided to give it a try. Below is what I have learned about suet.

With winter around the corner I have decided to make some suet and put in freezer. Then wait for temperatures to drop and give it a whirl..

Some Suet Facts

Suet is raw beef fat from around the kidneys and loins.
Suet is suitable for human consumption and is also used in traditional English puddings and mincemeat pie.

Suet is one of the best foods to attract nuthatches, woodpeckers, wrens, titmice, creepers, kinglets, chickadees, thrashers, cardinals and even bluebirds and unfortunately the starlings and squirrels!

Suet can be put out any time of the year, but in the winter when the natural food supply is limited, it will be especially appreciated by birds looking for extra carbohydrates and protein.

Above 70degrees Fahrenheit suet can turn rancid. So it is best to use hard rendered suet at these temperatures...These can be bought and are often referred to as no melt suet cakes.

Raw Beef Suet can be purchased at butcher shop or supermarket or bought on line from companies such as AsktheMeatman
- All Pure Beef Suet must be rendered(see below) before used in Suet Recipes
- Lard is pig fat and can be used in place of rendered suet when preparing suet cakes for birds
There is much debate as to whether vegetable shortening (Crisco) can be used in suet's place. There are arguments on both sides. My opinion is that suet is suppose to provide high animal fat content for birds and vegetable shortening does not have the fat content and thus is NOT a good replacement for suet.

How to Render Pure Beef Suet:

Ask your butcher to grind the Beef Suet or chop the raw beef fat as fine as you can
Heat the ground or chopped suet over a medium flame until all the fat leaches out. There should be nothing pink in your pan, only solid gray bits in a clear liquid.
Strain out the gray bits by pouring the melted suet through a fine cheesecloth
Save the strained liquid and let it cool till hardened
Repeat steps 2-3. If the fat is not rendered twice, the suet will not cake properly.
Suet can be stored in a covered container in your freezer for up to a year.

Items that can be used to pour suet in:

Bakers Tin Foil Bake Cups
Old store bought square plastic containers
Roll in balls once suet cools
Make a holding cell from heavy duty aluminum foil
Small bread loaf pans lined with plastic wrap or foil for easy removal
Margarine containers
Any size baking/pie pans (when suet cools, cut into squares
egg cartons

Suet cages:

There are many commercial wire cages that you can purchase. To discourage the starlings it is best to purchase a suet feeder cage that is covered on all sides but the bottom. Only those birds that can hang upside down will use this feeder.
The traditional suet feeder is a small wire cage, which may be placed on the trunk of a tree or suspended from a branch.
Soft suet can be spread on trunks of trees or on a pine cone to hang from a branch.
Some wild bird feeders have a hopper for seeds, and suet cages on the sides of the hopper.
You can make your own homemade feeders including using nylon mesh bag, Small log drilled with 1.5 by 1.5 inch holes, plastic berry basket or wire soap dish

Suet Recipes:

Breakfast for the Birds

1-1/2 cups quick-cooking oats (not instant)
2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
3/4 cup suet
1/2 cup birdseed
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup Cream of Wheat cereal (not instant)
1/3 cup dry cranberries, chopped

Cook rolled oats in boiling water in a large saucepan for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly until very thick. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter and suet until melted. Stir in remaining four ingredients. Cool and shape as desired.

It Must be Love:

1/2 Pound Fresh Suet
1/3 Cup Black Oil Sunflower Seed
2/3 Cup Mixed Wild Bird Seed
1/8 Cup Chopped Peanuts or Chopped Pecans
1/4 Cup Raisins

Melt the suet and peanut butter together until they are smooth and liquid. Add the cornmeal and flour, mixing well. Allow the mixture to cool slightly to thicken, then pour it into molds or containers to use. Refrigerate or freeze suet until it is firm and you are ready to use it.

Some more suet recipes

When researching for this post I acquired information from Birds and Blooms, Baltimore Bird Club, Bird Nature and AskTheMeatman

Don't forget to check out my website for many things for your backyard. Wooden Outdoor furniture, Outdoor bench, Decorative Birdhouses, Wild bird feeders, garden birdbaths, tuned wind chimes, Poly Recycled Furniture, Outdoor Lanterns, Garden Water Fountains, and much more.

Other posts that may be of interest to you:

Feeding Tips for Your Birds this Winter Season
Prevent Birds from Colliding into your Windows
Peanut Feeder for Birds
9 Bird Foods every Backyard Needs

13 Ways to be Creative with a Bench in Your Backyard

2010-07-17T18:17:00.023-04:00

Grouping Outdoor Garden Furniture to make your patio or Deck an inviting outdoor space is often done in the spring. But as it gets later in the summer season it is time to think about adding a Outdoor Wooden Bench to your outdoor living areas.

Following are some creative places and uses for an Outdoor Garden Bench in your Backyard.

A bench in a spot with a view is the most common use of a bench.
A bench in a shady spot under a deciduous tree so that as temperatures cool and leaves are gone when you need the sunshine to warm you.
Create your own shady spot with an arbor and a bench. Add a vine to that arbor providing more shade in the warmer months.
Give your deck or patio some more style and comfort by adding all weather cushions and pillows to your bench. Add a standing light giving you a great place to read in comfort
A Bench can serve as storage units. You can keep potting supplies close to the house or have one near your garden to store commonly used tools.
A bench can please the eye. Add color to an otherwise all-green setting with a bright-hued Outdoor Garden Bench. You'll especially like the effect in winter.
Use wall-building blocks and capstones, which can be purchased inexpensively at home centers. In addition to being quick to make, a bench like this isn't likely to be blown over anytime soon!
Make your bench the vocal point of a landscaped area. By giving some extra thought to where you place a bench, you can make it work twice for you
9. A bench is a must-have accessory for any water feature. You'll enjoy a pond or yard fountain, more often if you put a comfortable seating nearby.
Another great spot for a bench is near a source of fragrance. Whoever sets a spell on this bench will soon fall under the influence of the intoxicating perfume of the nearby roses.
By hiding a bench off the beaten path, you can provide a welcome surprise to anyone who ventures down the grassy lane. Make sure you create a well-tamped gravel bed, or use paving stones to provide a dry and stable setting for your bench
A narrow bench for a narrow space. If you want a bench in a particular spot, but don't feel there's room, just think small. A narrow plank-topped (backless) bench can hug a path but doesn't encroach unduly on the garden.
13. Blending the bench with the garden. In this case, the designer chose to craft the bench from the same flagstone used to create the path. Using the same materials in multiple ways creates a unified feeling in any backyard design.

This was a fun post to research. It was interesting to find the number of different ways you could use an outdoor garden bench. Much of my information came from Better Homes and Garden -The Many Moods of Garden Bench

Don't forget to check out my website for many things for your backyard. Summer is here and it is time to truly enjoy your outdoor space! Outdoor Garden furniture, Outdoor garden bench, Decorative Birdhouses, Wild bird feeders, garden birdbaths, tuned wind chimes, Poly Recycled Furniture, Outdoor Lanterns, Garden Water Fountains, and much more.

Other posts that may be of interest to you:
8 Tips for Choosing Outdoor Furniture
7 Ways to Transform Your Outdoor Space

Backyard Birding Tips for this Summer

2010-06-26T12:40:00.014-04:00

The bird species in your area and their food requirements change seasonally. Many species will be migrating northward each spring. At this time, migrant and resident birds feed on caterpillars and other insects present on new plant growth. During the late spring and summer months, breeding birds continue to feed on insects but also eat fruits as they become available. Following are some more points to keep in mind to create bird activity in your backyard this summer.

Not all birds want a birdhouse:
By now your decorative birdhouses have attracted wrens and other songbirds to your backyard. These shelters are great but don't assume all birds are looking for a bird house. They're not. Many are in search of nesting sites in shrubs and trees. By planting a wide variety of native flowers, trees, shrubs, and grasses, you will provide food, cover, and nesting options that will make it more likely that birds will choose your backyard.You can leave a snag (a dead tree for nesting), or a brush pile somewhere out of the way along with some nesting boxes so they will want to stick around

Birds are well equipped insect-eating soldiers:
Songbirds are truly incredible machines for eating insects. Martins prefer insects that fly in the air, woodpeckers peck under tree bark, Pine Siskins love aphids while house wrens forage on the ground. A wren eats about 10,000 mosquitoes a day and are one of the most voracious bug hunters out there. So if you can attract different species of birds, then you are likely to have birds ‘working’ all those different areas of your property.

Birds still can be attracted by fruit, suet and meal worms:
Most birds will find plenty of natural food in summer months. But that doesn't mean you should stop feeding when the weather turns warm because you'll miss quite a show if you do.

Fruit feeders are primarily our spring and summer residents. These are the birds who return to us each year after wintering in warmer climates. Orioles, robins, mockingbirds, catbirds, tanagers, cedar waxwings and bluebirds all love fruit. Most fruit-eaters are insect-eaters, not seed eaters, though there are exceptions, including the cardinal, which enjoys both seed and fruit.

Locate your fruit feeder away from your seed feeders to give fruit eaters their own haven for feeding. Some fruit eaters tend to be shy, so placement of a fruit feeder away from seed feeders will appeal to them.
For fruit such as oranges and apples make a girdling peel around the fruit. This will expose the fruit’s tempting juices and aroma to the birds. As a rule, birds eat only fruit that is exposed or bruised.. Fresh orange halves skewered meat side up on a branch also works. Just make sure your oranges are visible to birds that are flying overhead. Apple halves, pomegranates, even grapes work in summertime, too, and so does grape jelly. What's more, by mid- to late summer, orioles will be looking for food to fuel their flight south.
Remember, to keep your fruit and jelly fresher longer, replace food often and place your feeder in the shade. A final thought: Fruit feeding can be tricky. You may have to throw away several oranges and dishes of grape jelly before your birds catch on.
If you find that at a particular time fresh fruits are not being eaten, try dried figs or dried apples. Robins, catbirds, and other fruit eaters are also crazy about dried fruit. Dried cranberries, raisins, cherries, and blueberries hold up well in the heat and don't require as much cleanup as jelly. Place an open dish on or near the ground where robins eat, and watch for spotty-chested juveniles. Mix in a little birdseed to jump-start the activity.

Mealworms will attract wrens, warblers, and other birds (including bluebirds if you live in open countryside). Place the worms in the open, near your birdbath. Since you don't want your food to crawl away, be sure to offer them in a bowl or feeder with slippery sides or buy a mealworm feeder

If it's too hot and sunny for fatty suet, there's another option: suet dough, a no-melt mix of rendered suet and grain. It comes in a variety of flavors, and regular winter suet eaters love it. We sometimes entice robins, bluebirds, and mockingbirds with suet dough containing berries.

Double the variety of birds you attract by adding water to your yard, and double it again by making the water move:

A little pond with a pump that trickles water over rocks sounds just like a stream. It draws in all sorts of bird who bathe and drink here.
Another alternative is a gadget called the Water Wiggler. It gently agitates small amounts of water in a bird bath. Not only does the agitated water prevent mosquito larvae from hatching, but it creates ripples in the water--which attracts more birds. The Wiggler runs for over three months on only 2 D batteries.
Drippers and misters can also accomplish the same goal
Still another idea is outdoor garden water fountain.

Western Tanagers, Lazuli and Indigo Buntings, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, orioles, and all sorts of warblers will be lured into view by the sound and sight of moving water - even in city backyards

Now is the time to attract goldfinches:
Whether you see the beautiful American Goldfinch in the East or the lovely, smaller Lesser Goldfinch in the West, now is the time to attract them.

Finches love imported nyjer seed (commonly called thistle), but it can spoil quickly in mid-summer heat and humidity. Keep unused nyjer in a cool, dry location, and discard and replace seed in your feeder if it goes uneaten for a month or more.

We like to feed nyjer in a stainless-steel mesh thistle feeder, which also is a great squirrel proof bird feeder.. a thistle sock works well too, and both will discourage the sometimes-dominant House Finch.

Enjoy your birds this summer..Though we do not have to look out for them like we do in the winter. It is nice to get away from bird seed for a while !!!

I obtained most of the information for this post from: Bird feeding at its Best and Attracting Birds- May & June and July & August.

Don't forget to check out my website for many things for your backyard. Summer is here and it is time to truly enjoy your outdoor space! Wooden Outdoor furniture, Outdoor bench, Decorative Birdhouses, Wild bird feeders, garden birdbaths, tuned wind chimes, Poly Recycled Furniture, Outdoor Lanterns, Garden Water Fountains, and much more.

Other posts that may be of interest to you:
Preventing bird disease at your birdfeeders
How to help baby birds that fall out of their nests
Most Common Birds to Feed or Nest in your Backyard

Birds will NOT VISIT a Dirty Garden Bird Bath

2010-05-10T16:43:00.015-04:00

Birders spend a lot of time filling and cleaning wild bird feeders. Yet what attracts more birds to your backyard is your garden bird bath. Clean water will also bring a wider variety of birds around.

Keeping the water in your Bird bath clean should be an important part of your birding chores.

Birds do not want to drink dirty, polluted water.

If left unchecked, unclean bird baths can develop fungi and bacteria, potentially causing disease and encourage gnat and mosquito populations.

Bird baths are regularly contaminated with bird droppings, feathers, algae, dust and dirt blown in from around the yard so cleaning is essential

Minimize How Dirty Your Birdbath Gets

The easiest way to clean a birdbath is to ensure it doesn’t get dirty. While all birdbaths will eventually need to be cleaned, there are steps that can be taken to minimize the need for frequent cleanings.

Baths should be emptied and refilled every few days
When refilling the birdbath, dump out the stagnant water instead of just adding more.
Keep birdbaths away from wild bird feeders so seeds cannot get in the water.
Put birdbath in a shady location to minimize algae growth and reduce evaporation.
Position bird bath in a place where it will not get clogged with grass clippings, leaves or other debris

How Frequently should You Clean Your Bird Bath?

There is no absolute on this. It really depends on how quickly your garden bird bath is getting dirty. As a rule change the water every other day and thoroughly clean every week to ten days depending on the following:

How often birds are visiting your birdbath
If there is some form of movement in your bird bath then the frequency of cleaning is less
Adding store bought bird bath cleaners will keep your water fresher longer
During summer months bird baths even if in the shade will need to be cleaned more often.
Follow care instructions included with your bird bath, the material your birdbath is made of can affect the care

Instructions for Cleaning your Bird Bath:

When reading about cleaning birdbaths there seems to be a real debate as to whether to clean with a Clorox solution or not. So I have detailed both the Clorox and vinegar solutions. I personally use the vinegar

Dump water out of birdbath
Remove any large deposits of spilled seed, feces, debris or other contaminants.
Rinse thoroughly using hard spray of hose
Use a scrub brush to remove any remaining dirt or debris
Use one of the methods below:

Mix a solution of white vinegar (1 part) and water (4 parts). After rinsing the bath out, pour the white vinegar and water solution in the bath and let it soak for 15 minutes. Rinse thoroughly.

Mix a solution of Clorox (1 part) and water (9 parts). Scrub the bird bath with solution. You can leave to soak for a few minutes if you want. But remain near bird bath so birds do not drink. Then rinse the birdbath thoroughly with running water until there is no persistent foaming.

Allow the birdbath to dry completely. This is a good opportunity to clean the area around the birdbath.
Refill with water taking care to fill completely

When preparing this post I obtained some of my information from How to Clean a Birdbath from About.com, How to Clean a Birdbath from EHow.com, and Bird Baths:A Bird Guide to Care & Cleaning.

Don't forget to check out my website for many things for your backyard. Wooden Outdoor furniture, Outdoor bench, Decorative Birdhouses, Wild bird feeders, garden birdbaths, tuned wind chimes, Poly Recycled Furniture, Outdoor Lanterns, Garden Water Fountains, and much more.

Other posts that may be of interest to you:
Preventing bird disease at your bird feeders
Most Common Birds to Feed or Nest in your Backyard
6 Tips for Buying and Maintaining Your Birdbath

I have been away again!!!!!!!!!

2010-03-22T09:49:00.002-04:00

I am sorry for my continued absence.
I have had unusual demands on my work schedule the last six months.
Will be making several posts this coming weekend..

Please have patience with me.. I miss my blogging time

Leslee

Best Berry Plants for Birds

2010-03-06T10:22:00.011-05:00

I spend a lot of time trying to find the right wild bird feeder and keeping those squirrels away from my feeders. With planting season at hand it seemed time to change my focus. I want to add some bushes or trees to my backyard that will also attract birds.

So today I found a helpful article on Better Home and Gardens website: "The Best Berry Plants". One of these bushes will be a great addition to my outdoor space while serving my backyard friends. I need to remember to not plant them near my garden bird bath though. Don't want to give predators a place to hide. Anyhow I am beginning to ramble..haha

Below I have listed those berry plants that attract birds.(click link to see picture of bush)

American cranberry bush viburnum (Viburnum trilobum) i
- has white springtime flowers, maple-shape leaves that turn bright colors in autumn, and red fall berries..Berries last well into the winter months.
- Brown Thrashers, Cedar Waxwings & other songbirds love this bush.
Red-twig dogwood (Cornus stolonifera)
- clusters of small white flowers in spring, white fruits in summer and fall, and bold red-orange autumn color.
Chokeberries (Aronia arbutifolia)
- It spreads by suckering and is a good choice for a hedge
- Brown Thrashers, Cedar Waxwings & other songbirds love this bush.
Wahoo (Euonymus atropurpureus)
- It produces bright scarlet berries in autumn. It bears red fall color and makes for an attractive informal hedge.
Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana
- provides birds with a great source of shelter, and female plants offer blue berrylike cones eaten by many birds
Staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina)
- ferny leaves that turn bold red in fall and clusters of furry dark red fruit that hold on through the winter
- a variety of birds including robins and vireos like this bush
- may be too aggressive of a spreader for most gardens. Be sure it is in a spot where it can create a thicket.
Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
- branches laden with bright red fruit
- attract mockingbirds, robins, and other birds
- needs a pollinator to produce berries, so plant both a male and female
Crabapples (Malus selections)
- To attract the greatest variety of songbirds, select cultivars with small fruits that hang on through the winter
Highbush blueberry (Vaccinum corymbosum)
- Bluebirds, robins, and many other birds love this bush
- offers bright red-orange fall color
Beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma)
- Showy clusters of purple fruit
- provides nutrition and moisture for birds in winter
- produces more berries in a sunny spot.
Serviceberry(Amelanchier selections)
- Robins, thrushes, and other birds are quick to eat this fruit
- pretty springtime blooms and great fall color
Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)
- pretty little ground cover native to areas of North America
- thrives in moist, shady spots
- the berries turn red in autumn and are a favorite of vireos
Arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum)
- particularly good shelter plant for birds
- late summer and autumn, bunches of blue-black berries appear
- plant near other viburnums to ensure good pollination
Pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)
- Downy Woodpeckers, Brown Thrashers, Eastern Bluebirds, and many other backyard birds are attracted to the dark fruits
- a small tree suitable for the edges of woodland areas or partly shaded landscapes.
Nannyberry(Viburnum lentago)
- berries ripen to blue-black and last well into winter to feed overwintering birds
- can be pruned to form a hedge or grown at the back of a border
American Elder(Sambucus canadensis)
- spreading, 12-foot-tall thickets give excellent shelter and are favored nesting sites.
- purple berries in fall that attract dozens of different birds
Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica)
- berries stay on the plants well into winter, providing food for birds during the cold months

Don't forget to check out my website for many things for your backyard. Wooden Outdoor furniture, Outdoor bench, Decorative Birdhouses, Wild bird feeders, garden birdbaths, tuned wind chimes, Poly Recycled Furniture, Outdoor Lanterns, Garden Water Fountains, and much more.

Other posts that may be of interest:
March Gardening Tips for your Region
Your Birdhouses Ready for Nesting Season?
Water will Attract more Birds to Backyard

March Gardening Tips for Your Region

2010-03-01T02:34:00.026-05:00

It is time to get out into the garden. How great it is to be talking about the outdoors. I will be getting my outdoor wooden furniture ready to be put out on my deck. Starting to think about cleaning my decorative birdhouses. But thoughts of cleaning are being replaced with the desire to get in my garden.

So upon surfing about on the web I found great information on Better Homes and Garden's Website. I am summarizing below the tips for the Northeast Region. The other regions I have put link for you to go to.

1)Planting Vegetables

Plant cool season vegetables such as radishes, peas, cauliflower, lettuce and broccoli as soon as you can work the ground this month
Plant seeds of warm-loving varieties such as such as tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers indoors under fluorescent lights.

2)Clean up Your Garden

Perennials or grasses that you did not cut back last fall or winter, cut back the dead stems before or as the plants put out new growth- cut back to 3 or inches so you know where to expect new growth

3)Prune

Fruit trees (including apples, pears, and cherries) and fruits such as raspberries and grapes.
Summer-blooming shrubs such as butterfly bush and rose of Sharon. DO NOT PRUNE SPRING BLOOMING BUSHES.
Roses. Typically, you'll want to cut back to about 6 inches tall. Tips for pruning roses
If your trees need pruning, now's the month to do it, all except oaks.

4)Tool Care

Make sure your tools are in good working order before you need them. Using a metal file, sharpen the edges of your shovel.

5)Divide Your Perennials

Divide later this month as they start to emerge from the soil. Most perennials do best when divided every two to three years or so. (more info on dividing perennials)
Do not divide peonies until fall.

6)Early Spring Lawn Care

If annual weeds such as crabgrass are a problem, apply a pre-emergence herbicide. Watch for your forsythia to bloom -- a good indicator of when it's best to treat your lawn for crabgrass.
Even though your grass may be starting to green up, it's probably too early to fertilize. Wait a month or so until your grass is actively growing before feeding it.

Below is the links to the March Gardening tips for the other regions of the country

If you live in a different region of the country go to Better Homes and Garden's Gardening by Region... select region and then select month

Don't forget to check out my website for many things for your backyard. Spring is around the corner!Wooden Outdoor furniture, Outdoor bench, Decorative Birdhouses, Wild bird feeders, garden birdbaths, tuned wind chimes, Poly Recycled Furniture, Outdoor Lanterns, Garden Water Fountains, and much more.

Other posts that may be of interest to you:
It is Time to Plant your Seeds Indoors
16 Bugs gardeners should love
Care for your Poinsetta and it will Bloom Next Year

Preventing Bird Disease at your Birdfeeders

2010-02-20T14:19:00.008-05:00

Feeding birds throughout the winter is a humanitarian act. However, poorly maintained wild bird feeders may cause the birds you are trying to help, some real problems. Recently, there have been increasing reports of songbird diseases that have been spread through bird feeding.

Therefore if we attract birds to our yards, we have an obligation to do our best to offer them an environment that reflects the prevention of the potential of disease.

MOST COMMON DISEASES SPREAD AT BIRD FEEDERS
Salmonellosis is the most commonly spread disease at feeders. This bacterial disease can kill birds quickly. Symptoms include abscesses in the lining of the upper digestive tract of the birds. Infected birds spread the bacteria in their droppings. Other birds get sick when infected droppings land on food.

Other diseases that affect birds typically using feeders also include:

Trichomoniasis - caused by a one-celled protozoan parasite. Mourning doves are particularly susceptible. Trichomoniasis causes sores in birds’ mouths and throats, making it difficult for birds to swallow or drink. The disease spreads when sick birds drop contaminated food or water at a feeder or watering area.
Aspergillosis - a mold that grows on damp feed and in the debris beneath feeders. Birds inhale the mold spores and infection spreads in the lungs, causing bronchitis and pneumonia.
Avian Pox - a virus that causes wart like growths on featherless surfaces of a bird’s face, feet, legs or wings. Virus spreads by direct contact, by insects or by viruses shed on food by infected birds.
Avian influenza (H5N1) virus - much in the news, this disease has infected poultry throughout Asia, Russia, and Europe, but has not yet been identified in any birds in North America, or the Western Hemisphere, explained Jim Hermes, OSU Extension poultry specialist.

All of these diseases can lead to death either directly or indirectly, by making the bird more vulnerable to predators

MAINTAIN YOUR WILD BIRD FEEDERS
Poorly maintained feeders may contribute to the spread of infectious diseases among birds

Place only enough birdseed into the feeder that birds can consume in two or three days. This will help prevent the accumulation of wet and molding seeds
Don’t throw feed on the ground. It’s healthier for songbirds to feed at a feeder, not directly from the ground. In a feeder, the food can be kept dry, and protected from contamination
Give the birds enough space. Lots of birds using a single feeder look wonderful, but crowding is a key factor in spreading disease. Do you have only one feeder? Get another if your feeder is crowded. Place feeders several feet apart.
Clean your feeder and the droppings on the perching area each time you fill your feeder.
Clean all hulls off platform feeders and out of seed trays daily.
Give your seed feeders (especially thistle and tube feeders) a shake before you refill them, to dislodge any compacted seed. (Scrape when necessary). Dump out any wet clumps of old seed.
Purchase feeders that are made of materials that are easier to clean, such as metal and plastic
Disinfect the feeder once or twice a month with one cleaning solution (1/4 cup of bleach to 2 gallons of warm water). Completely immerse feeders for at least three minutes and then allowing them to dry

When cleaning your feeders wear gloves and wash your hands afterwards. Avian salmonellosis, one of the diseases common among birds using feeders, is a strain of bacteria that can potentially affect humans and pets.

clean the feeder outdoors in a bucket, rather than in the kitchen sink.

CLEAN UP WASTE
If left to decompose, hulls can harbor bacteria that can spread disease to your backyard birds

Keep the feeder area clean of waste food and droppings. A broom and shovel work well, but a vacuum such as what you might use in your garage or workshop will help even more.
Discard the seed waste with the household trash
Move your feeding station when the ground beneath it becomes covered with seed hulls and droppings. Rake the old site to remove hulls and to give the grass a chance to recover.
One way to minimize the cleaning needed is to use no-waste seeds or seed mixes that contain hulled seeds and to offer only the preferred seeds for the bird species in your area.

FEED BIRDS ONLY HIGH QUALITY FOOD
Moldy seed or bread or spoiled leftovers doesn’t do them any more good than it would do you.

Keep food and food-storage containers dry and free of mold and fungus.
Discard food that smells musty, is wet, looks moldy or has fungus growing on it.
Disinfect any storage container that holds spoiled food as well as the scoop used to fill feeders.
If pet or bird food recalls have been issued in your area, compare the recalled items to your supply and discard any affected products.
Prevent contamination by storing food appropriately..Keep rodents out of food. Mice can carry and spread some bird diseases without being affected themselves.

CHECK YOUR FEEDER FOR SHARP EDGES WHERE BIRDS MIGHT CUT THEMSELVES
Small scratches or cuts allow bacteria and viruses to infect a bird more easily

Act early - Don’t wait to act until you see sick or dead birds. With good prevention, you’ll seldom find sick or dead birds at your feeders

Encourage your neighbors who feed birds to follow the same precautions. Birds normally move among feeders and can spread diseases as they go. The safest bird feeders will be those in communities where neighbors cooperate with equal concern for the health of the birds.

I acquired much of my information from Bird Feeder Maintenance ,Clean bird feeders to prevent disease , Keeping Feeders Clean

Don't forget to check out my website for many things for your backyard. Spring is around the corner!Wooden Outdoor furniture, Outdoor bench, Decorative Birdhouses, Wild bird feeders, garden birdbaths, tuned wind chimes, Poly Recycled Furniture, Outdoor Lanterns, Garden Water Fountains, and much more.

Other posts that may be of interest to you:

February is National Bird Feeding Month
Prevent Birds from Colliding into your Windows
Feeding Tips for your Birds this Winter Season
9 Bird Foods every Backyard Needs

Feeding Tips for your Birds this Winter Season

2010-02-13T18:22:00.022-05:00

Winter is a crucial time for the birds that remain in our area. They spend their time facing the elements of bitter cold and snowstorms. There are no insects to eat and the natural seeds are covered with snow; the berries and crab apples are gone.

Many species of birds will double their amount of feathers during the winter as a ways to reduce their body heat loss. Birds can regulate body temperature allowing them to survive in a remarkable range of habitats. Also unique circulatory system of arteries and veins reduce the heat loss. In many birds, arteries and veins in their legs lie in contact with each other in order to exchange heat and maintain temperature

Birds produce heat during the winter nights and cold storms by shivering (thermo genesis). During this process all winter birds will produce heat by consuming their fat reserves. Shivering allows birds to maintain their body temperature for up to 8- 10 hours depending on the species and their intake of energy from food during the day.

That’s why it is necessary for winter songbirds to find food early in the morning regardless of weather conditions. If the bird doest not find enough food to produce the necessary energy to maintain their body temperatures and make it through the night or a severe storm, the bird will die

Birds must search for food from sun up to dusk. Fortunately, for the birds, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 41 million Americans spend $2 billion annually filling their wild bird feeders with bird feed and the numbers are increasing yearly.

Bird Food tips

FATTY FOODS are important for our winter birds. Fat is metabolized into energy much quicker and more efficiently than seeds to help them maintain their 108° body temperature necessary for survival. Suet, Peanut butter, & kitchen fat

SEEDS are very important. Seeds contain high levels of carbohydrates that are turned into glucose to help with the bird's high energy demands. They also are a good source for vitamins and some protein. Sunflower Seeds, Millet, Cracked Corn, & Niger Thistle offer the most for your birds.

NUT MEATS are highly nutritious and provide necessary amino acids and protein the bird's body cannot produce. They also have oil and is energy producing.
Offer a variety of seeds and food in a variety of appropriate feeders
Save some money and create your own mix: 50% oil sunflower seeds (unhulled); 35% white proso millet; and 15% finely cracked corn.
More info on bird seed preferences
Preferred Bird food by bird

If you do not want to create your own, consider the following when shopping: Quality mixes will consist primarily of sunflower seeds or hearts, peanut bits, safflower, and millet. Lesser quality seed mixes contain “filler seed” (milo, wheat, barley, cracked corn) and often inedible items such as empty hulls and sticks. Many birds won’t eat filler seed and they’ll flick it onto the ground. Premium seed may cost a little more, but quality seed actually has more edible seed per pound than other inexpensive seed mixes and in the long run you will save money on all that wasted “filler’ seed
Fill your feeders every day but put out only the necessary quantity that birds will eat before sundown.
When wet. Limit the amount seed on platform feeders to just a handful to avoid soggy clumps
It is important to remember that all birdseed is perishable. Properly store seed, it should be kept in a cool, dry place that is protected from bugs and rodents. Choose a storage bin that will be easy to access all winter, and one that can be easily manipulated while wearing gloves and bulky coats.

It is best to stock up on birdseed in the fall when many lawn and garden centers are discounting seed to make way for winter merchandise. Stored properly, seed can easily last for months, particularly seed mixes and sunflower seeds.
Be consistent. Do not stop feeding in the middle of winter because birds become accustomed to using your feeders as a food source, especially in very severe weather when your feeders may aid their survival.
Birds especially need to chow down at the end of the day to stock up on calories for the night, and in the early morning to refuel after a cold night.
The birds visiting your feeders in summer may be very different than those in winter. Provide the feeders and food best suited to your seasonal suite of birds.

Alternatives to Seed:

There are many recipes for making suet much cheaper than the blocks bought in stores. You can also save bacon drippings into a small container such as a yogurt cup and place in a closed bottom tray feeder. Often, butchers will sell you their pieces of fat trimmings for just pennies - or perhaps give them to you
Half eaten fruit that we normally throw away can be given to the birds. Apple cores are a favorite.
Left overs such as muffins, cake, donuts, pizza crust, potato skins,scraps of pastry, grated cheese, & rice can be placed in a tray feeder. Avoid white bread because they are empty calories. However peanut butter covered bread is great. Use the cheapest peanut butter you can find because the birds don't care. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, cornmeal or plain oatmeal.

It's surprising how many birds enjoy cooked pasta. If you have left over pasta (without seasoning of course) place some in an open tray feeder and watch the birds devour it.

Important to clean up these foods regularly.
Your feathered friends digest their food with a special organ called a gizzard. Birds tend to look for pebbles or other types of grit to help their digestion work properly. The stones remain in the gizzard and help grind the food. During prolonged periods of ice or snow cover, provide grit (coarse sand or ground shells) along with the seed. Do not mix the grit into the feed itself. Try placing it in a small dish near the feeding station
If possible, consider leaving leaves on the ground. Instead of raking them up, leave them or pile them up in an area. Many insect foraging birds will find tasty morsels hidden underneath this shelter from the cold and snow.
Birds may be wary of new foods. If you add something new to your bird-feeding station, offer it in a familiar place.

Feeder Tips

Winter wild bird feeders should be placed in sheltered locations out of the most severe winds. Strong winds are uncomfortable for birds and may scatter your bird seed . The east or south side of your house will probably offer the most protection from cold, northerly winds.

If you have no sheltered areas, consider putting up a fence or hedgerow. Surrounding your feeders with trees and shrubs can help buffer your birds and offer a milder micro climate.
Add natural features to your feeding station, such as branches to perch on, to make birds feel more at ease.
Most successful feeding stations have different styles of feeders placed at varying heights
Place your bird feeders in places where you can readily and frequently see the birds you are feeding.

Make sure you put up your feeders in a location that's convenient for you to attend to.
Put your feeder a few feet away from protective cover-Birds use dense tangles of shrubbery or trees as places to hide from predators. If your yard has no cover, create some by planting shrubs or small trees. If you live where the ground is already frozen, make a brush pile of old tree limbs.
If cats roam in or near your yard, be sure your feeders are several feet away from any potential cat hiding places.
Feeders will be most useful in the winter if they have a wide cover over feeding ports, perches and dispensing trays so seed is not buried during snowfalls or storms.
Clean off feeders, platforms and perches after each storm so seed is easily accessible.

Stamp or shovel snow around feeders to provide easier access to spilled seed for ground feeding birds.
Do not fill the bird feeders every day. Less seed in the feeder will make the birds find the seed that they spilled on the ground. They do not go hungry, and you do not waste seed.
Platform feeders should be emptied and refilled daily to prevent mildew and spoilage
Clean your feeders regularly with hot water, and let them air dry completely. Also keep areas under and around the feeders clean. Always keep the bird feeders clean and free of bacteria

I got much of my information from:
Bird feeding Do's & Don'ts , Top Ten Bird Feeding tips, Winter Bird Feeding Tips, How to feed your Birds Cheap, Feeding Birds in Winter, Successful Winter Bird Feeding, & Winter Bird Feeding and Survival for Wild Birds

Don't forget to check out my website for many things for your backyard. Spring is around the corner!Wooden Outdoor furniture, Outdoor bench, Decorative Birdhouses, Wild bird feeders, garden birdbaths, tuned wind chimes, Poly Recycled Furniture, Outdoor Lanterns, Garden Water Fountains, and much more.

Other posts that may be of interest to you:

February is National Bird Feeding Month
Prevent Birds from Colliding into your Windows
Peanut Feeder for Birds
9 Bird Foods every Backyard Needs

9 Bird Foods every Backyard Needs

2010-02-06T13:45:00.044-05:00

No matter where I go target, walmart..I see bags of bird seed for my wild bird feeders. So I decided it was time to do a little research to see if I have been buying the right Bird Seed. I am sure you get confused by all the choices like I do.

Bird Seed Preferences

Sunflower Seed
- black oil seed is preferred
- striped seed is a favorite of large beak birds
- hulled seed is the favorite of greatest number of birds
- considered by most #1 choice for your backyard birds
- higher percentage of meat, nutritious source of high quality protein
- softer outer shell makes it easy for smaller birds
- boasts a high concentration of oil. Birds will spread the oil over their feathers to keep them buoyant, dry and warm.
Birds that like black oil sunflower: blackbirds, buntings, northern cardinals, black capped chickadees, mourning dove, finches, goldfinches, grackles, grosbeaks, pine grosbeaks, juncos, nuthatches, redpoll, sapsucker, siskins, sparrows, tanagers, titmice, towhees, wrens and woodpeckers. Birds that like striped sunflower: northern cardinals, grosbeaks,blue jays, nuthatches,titmice, woodpeckers

White Proso Millet
- White millet is the favorite food of most small-beaked ground-feeding birds
- least expensive bird seed but may be difficult to find
- scatter it on the ground
- outer shell of white proso millet is easily opened by birds with small beaks but is hard enough to protect it from the weather
Millet is a favorite of buntings, doves, juncos, native sparrows, tanagers, towhees, quail, and bobwhite. Birds that prefer sunflower will eat this as their second choice.

Medium Cracked Corn
- is about as popular with ground-feeding birds as millet, but it is vulnerable to rot
- avoid fine because will turn to mush and coarse because it is too large for small beaked birds
- good source of both oil and starch
- can be used to tempt larger birds away from more expensive seeds
- Feed small amounts, mixed with millet, on feeding tables or from watertight hopper feeders
Birds that like cracked corn: painted buntings, crows, jays, juncos, mourning doves, quail, pheasants, sparrows, and towhees

Nyjer Seed
- high in calories and oil content
- most popular seeds to feed goldfinches
- so tiny and light you can blow away a handful with a gentle breath
- Sometimes referred to as "black gold" due to a higher price caused by importing and sterilizing costs
- should be offered in a specially designed feeder with tiny ports that prevent spillage. Feeders with ports located below the perches - known as "upside-down feeders" - are a good investment. Goldfinches and pine siskins are quite acrobatic and don't seem to mind hanging upside-down to feed.
- Contrary to its popular nickname, nyjer is not a thistle. It will not germinate and invade backyards and gardens.
Birds that like Nyjer: chickadees, finches, grosbeaks, grosbeaks, juncos, mourning doves, redpolls, siskens, and sparrows

Suet and bird puddings(beef fat and seed)
- solid fat rendered from beef and venison combined with other ingredients
- attracts insect-eating birds
- quick source of heat and energy for birds
- Place the suet in special feeders at least five feet from the ground to keep it out of the reach of dogs
- Suet cakes come in many pure suet, suet-peanut butter blends and suet mixed with a variety of seeds and nuts
- No winter feeding station is complete without a suet feeder
- Do not put out during hot weather as it can turn rancid
Suet attracts: Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals, Gray Catbirds, Yellow-breasted Chats, Chickadees, Finches, Northern Flicker, American Goldfinch, Grackles, Grosbeaks, Juncos, Ruby Crowned Kinglets, Mockingbird, Nuthatches, Orioles, Redpolls, American Robins, Sapsuckers, Pine Siskins, Sparrows, Starlings, Tanagers, Titmouse, Thrushes, Towhees, Wrens, and Woodpeckers.

Peanuts
- out of the shell and usually roasted but not salted.
- best in wire mesh tube feeders, mesh bags, or hopper and platform feeders
- high-protein boost to winter-weary birds and help insect eaters
- squirrels and chipmunks love nuts, too, so nut feeders must be as squirrel-resistant as possible
- Peanut hearts -are overrated as bird food and often attract starlings
- Offer only as many as the birds will eat in a few days in warmer weather
- Build your own wild bird feeder for unshelled peanuts see here
Birds that like peanuts: Cardinals, Chickadees, Doves , Finches, Grackles, Jays, Juncos, Starlings, and Titmouses.

Live Food
- Mealworms (beetle larva) and wax worms (bee moth larva)
- a real treat to most birds during winter
- High in protein
- they are not slimy, they don't bite, they are easy to store and easy to feed from a tray feeder
- bluebirds and robins, which rarely visit feeders, enjoy live food.
Birds that love live food: blue jays, bluebirds, cardinals, chickadees, finches, nuthatches, purple martins, robins, sparrows, titmice, woodpeckers, wrens

Safflower
- white seed, slightly smaller than black sunflower seed
- an oil seed that makes a fine minor ingredient in a quality seed
- great thing about safflower seeds is that squirrels don't like them. Neither do grackles, blue jays, or starlings
- not many birds actually attracted to this seed, but the absence of less desirable birds at feeders offering safflower that makes it so popular
Birds attracted to safflower: cardinals, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, and grosbeaks

Fruit
- a summer food but across the sunbelt and on warm winter days in the north you will find birds attracting to fruit
- Raisins, craisins, sliced apples and oranges and bananas
- Scatter on an open tray or impale on small brances or nails
- Attracting fruit-eating birds can take time and patience
Birds attracted to Fruit: woopdpeckers, jays, robins, bluebirds, catbirds, orioles and mockingbirds

If you want to know by bird their Favorite food.. go to Birds Preferred Food

I have gotten most of my information from the following sources: Selecting Seeds , Bird Seed Preferences of Common Feeder Birds, ,Wild Bird Seed Preferences, Winter bird Feeding , Top 10 Wild Bird Foods

Dont forget to check out my website for many things for your backyard. Spring is around the corner!Wooden Outdoor furniture, Outdoor bench, Decorative Birdhouses, Wild bird feeders, garden birdbaths, tuned windchimes, Poly Recyled Furniture, Outdoor Lanterns, Garden Water Fountains, and much more.

Other posts that may be of interest to you:

February is National Bird Feeding Month
Prevent Birds from Colliding into your Windows
Peanut Feeder for Birds

All posts this month will be on birding feeding

2010-02-04T21:04:00.002-05:00

Last week I wrote about February being National Bird Feeding Month. Therefore I have decided since we experiencing one of the snowiest winters in history that I would focus on only the needs of birds this month. I would think that birds in my area must be in shock..Normally coming to south jersey means one maybe two mild snow storms a season.. Not over 54inches!!

I wonder if birds decide to go further south when weather changes like this. Yet they would find similiar weather in delaware, and virginia. Or do they just bunker down and deal with it. If anybody knows let me know.

I think it is important to take special care during these times to keep your birdfeeders and birdbaths filled with fresh water and seed.

I'll tell you that I truly am enjoying the snow even if my backyard birds are not..It is so beautiful and calming.

It is Time to Plant your Seeds Indoors

2010-02-04T09:11:00.004-05:00

In addition to focusing on keeping my backyard birds happy by continually filling wild bird feeders and keeping water in my garden bird bath from freezing.

I like to spend time paging through and ordering from my catalogs in January and February.

Knowing it is time to start thinking about planting seeds I have found several sites with great information on planting below:

Starting Seeds Indoors from GardenGuides.com

February Feature: Seeds from Garden Paradise

How to Start Seeds Indoors: What You'll Need and When to Start from About.com

How to Plant Seeds Indoors from Herb Garden Seeds

Starting Seeds Indoors from Demesne

Dont forget to check out my websites for many things for your backyard. my website Spring is around the corner!Wooden Outdoor furniture, Outdoor bench, Decorative Birdhouses, Wild bird feeders, garden birdbaths, tuned windchimes, Poly Recyled Furniture, Outdoor Lanterns, Garden Water Fountains, and much more.

Other posts that may be of interest to you:
8 Plants that Flower in the Winter
16 Bugs gardeners should love
Care for your Poinsetta and it will Bloom Next Year

February is National Bird Feeding Month

2010-01-30T09:45:00.009-05:00

In January 1994, a resolution was read into the Congressional Record making February "National Bird-Feeding Month".

February is designated National Bird Feeding Month because it's one of the most difficult months in the U.S. for birds to survive in the wild.

In the last couple months of winter the natural sources gradually become more and more scarce and birds may switch to utilizing wildbird feeders to survive from day to day.

Also, low temperatures force birds to burn up to 10 percent of their body weight in stored fat each night to stay warm, and this fat must be replaced every day.

During this month, individuals are encouraged to provide food, water and shelter to help wild birds survive. This assistance benefits the environment by supplementing wild bird's natural diet of weed seeds and insects

This month my posts will focus on bird feeding tips. As a backyard birding novice I continue to educate myself and post what I am learning. In the upcoming weeks I will be researching topics related to bird feeding so I can do my share in helping birds find food this month.

As a starter I found several websites that have helpful information on backyard birds this month:

National Bird Feeding Society - Bird Seed Preferences, Bird Feeder Preferences, Top birding Tips, Bird Identification Sheet, Prevent Disease at Bird Feeders, Backyard Bird Chat. Links to these topics are on home page.
Hatching Out an introduction to Wild Bird Feeding
The Great Backyard Bird Count February 12-15, 2010, Watch birds at your favorite spot and put your sightings on the map
Project Feeder Watch A winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. Project FeederWatch is operated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada
Most Frequently Asked Questions about Birds One of the most-visited pages at All About Birds. Cornell Lab staff answers some 80,000 questions per year from the public.

As I am learning more about birding hopefully you are too.

Dont forget to check out my websites for many things for your backyard. my website Spring is around the corner!Wooden Outdoor furniture, Outdoor bench, Decorative Birdhouses, Wild bird feeders, garden birdbaths, tuned windchimes, Poly Recyled Furniture, Outdoor Lanterns, Garden Water Fountains, and much more.

Some other posts that may interest you:
Peanut Feeder for Birds
Prevent Birds from Colliding into Your Windows
Concerns for birds in America

Prevent Birds from Colliding into your Windows

2010-01-23T17:17:00.039-05:00

Over 100 million birds die each year due to collisions with human built structures in North America alone. Daniel Klem, a biologist at Pennsylvania’s Muhlenberg College, has been studying the problem for three decades and cites window strikes as a major cause of bird fatality.

Many birds strike windows after being startled off a wild bird feeders.

It is the reflective and transparent characteristics of glass that make windows invisible killers. Birds see the tree reflected in the window or the plant behind the glass not the glass itself.

If a bird can see through to the outside through two aligned windows in your home, they confuse them for a tunnel and will attempt to fly through to get to the other side.

Collisions can happen by night, when nocturnal migrants (including many of our most beloved songbirds such as tanagers, orioles, and catbirds, and warblers) hit lighted high-rise windows jutting into their airspace.

Also during the breeding season, territorial males may see their reflection in the glass and repeatedly attack the perceived intruder. The species that do this often, are territorial such as Northern Cardinals, American Robins, and California Towhees.

Window strikes are not limited to a specific type of building, to a particular type of window, or to a certain time of year. Collisions are not limited to a certain suite of birds or to birds of a certain age or sex.

Solutions-Highly Practical

Place bird feeders very close (within three feet) or at least ten yards away from windows.
Wild bird feeders placed within three feet of windows can reduce fatal collisions because birds do not have an adequate distance to reach high flight velocity.
Placing the feeders more than 30 feet from a window will also reduce window collision risk because, at that distance, birds are more likely to recognize that the reflected image is part of a house and are less likely to fly toward it for safety.

Draw white or light-colored window shades, blinds, or drapes which eliminate much of the mirror effect or transparency of windows.
Interior window treatments usually already exist in many homes. The downside is that they block the view to the outside. Below you can see the reflection is greatly reduced with drapes drawn in the picture on the right:
Keep bug screens or summer screens on the outside of exterior glass in place year-round will cut down on reflectivity and transparency.
In newer construction, double paned windows can be shielded by screens. In older homes with storm windows, screens would need to be switched with exterior glass.

Some more solutions- Less Practical

Install Bird Screens or other fine-mesh plastic netting in front of windows .
Leave a few inches between the glass and the netting to allow birds to collide softly with the mesh instead of hitting the glass.

Small-mesh netting is best(such is 5/8" (1.6 cm) in diameter) so if birds do fly into it they won't get entangled but will bounce off unharmed. You can mount the netting on a frame, such as a storm-window frame, for easy installation and removal.
Works well but requires some do-it-yourself agility; poses entanglement risk if not properly installed. Netting must be taut and at the appropriate distance from the window.

You can also purchase bird screens from Wisconsin Humane Society.
Apply CollidEscape to the outside of windows.
CollidEscape is an easy-to-apply film that greatly reduces the reflections on the outside of windows. The film lasts for years, but can be readily removed if needed. And yes, you can still see out the window!
CollidEscape can also be purchased from Wisconsin Humane Society.
Put decals, stickers, sun catchers, mylar strips, or other objects on the outside surface of the window.
It reduces the mirror effect of reflective windows and makes windows more visible. They must be spaced close to each other to be effective – at most 2 inches apart horizontally, and 4 inches apart vertically.
The design of a decal or sticker is immaterial. Hawk silhouette stickers are probably no more or less useful than any others.

You can purchase static cling window appliques called whispering windows or window alert at Wisconsin Humane Society.

Hang brightly colored fluttering ribbons in front of windows.

Irritape holographic mylar tape

Install external sun shades or awnings on windows, to block the reflection of sunlight
Keep the slats only half open on interior vertical blinds

I got my information from.. Preventing Home Collisions , Minimizing Window Collisions and Keeping Birds Safe around Windows

Buy something new for your backyard today!! Check out my website for lots of cool stuff. Wooden Outdoor furniture, Outdoor bench, Wooden Outdoor Chairs, Decorative Birdhouses, Wild bird birdfeeders, garden birdbaths, tuned windchimes, Poly Recyled Furniture, Outdoor Lanterns, Garden Water Fountains, and much more.

Some other posts that may interest you:
Peanut Feeder for Birds
How to help baby birds that fall out of nests
Concerns for birds in America

Care For Your Poinsetta & It Will Bloom Next Year

2010-01-08T08:33:00.025-05:00

With the proper care, you can enjoy these beautiful plants for many years to come. Poinsettias seem to follow the seasons when it comes to caring for them.

The process for saving your poinsettia and getting it to rebloom begins with the care you give it the first season. So be sure that the poinsetta you to keep for next year is in good condition.

Care for during the holidays is detailed at the end of this post

After Christmas Care

January - March: Keep watering the poinsettia whenever the surface is dry.
April: cut back old flowering stems to 6-8 inches in height to promote new growth. Replant in a pot 1 to 2 inches larger in diameter or shake old soil off the roots and repot in the same container, using a new soilless mix. Choose one that is not very finely textured. Don't use soil from the garden can introduce disease to the plant.
Water the soil thoroughly after potting; wait five minutes and water again.
Then put the plant near the window that is exposed to the most sunlight; will need 6 hours of light.
Keep the plant at a temperature of 65 to 75 degrees F, and water when the surface of the soil is dry to the touch.
During this period, the plants will also need fertilizing monthly.
May: After new growth appears, fertilize every two weeks with a complete water soluble fertilizer at the rate recommended on the label for flowering plants.
Will need to be kept away from heat sources.
Water when the soil is dry
June: Move the poinsettia outside, pot and all. Keep it in a partially shaded location. Continue regular watering during the growth period, and fertilize every 2 to 3 weeks.
Turn the pot regularly to keep the plant from rooting through the hole in the bottom of the pot; a quarter of a turn weekly should be enough to prevent the rooting. The turning will also help the plant grow evenly
July: In early July, pinch back each stem by about one inch. This is to encourage a stout, well branched plant. If left unpinched, the poinsettia will grow tall and spindly.
Continue to water and feritilizer every two weeks with a complete 20-20-20 soluble fertilizer.
August: Between August 15 and September 1, cut or pinch the new stems back, allowing three or four leaves to remain on each shoot.If the plant is not pinched, it will grow too tall and be unsightly.
After this second pinch, bring the plant indoors and again place it near a window with a sunny exposure.
Keep the plant at a temperature of 65 to 70 degrees F at night.
Continue watering and fertilizing.
September: Continue regular watering and fertilizing.
Make sure the temperature stays above 65 degrees F.

The poinsettia is a photoperiodic plant, meaning that it sets bud and produces flowers as the Autumn nights lengthen. To re-bloom, poinsettias need about 10 weeks with 12 hours or less of sunlight per day. You will have to artificially create these conditions and it’s crucial that you be diligent.
October: Starting October 1, the plants must be kept in complete darkness for 14 continuous hours each night(from 5 pm to 8 am).
Accomplish this by moving the plants to a totally dark room, or by covering them overnight with a large box. Any exposure to light will delay blooming. Many people place their plants in a closest, but if light gets in though the cracks or if you open and use the closet, it will affect the buds setting.
Move the plant back to the sunny window during the daytime.
Continue watering and fertilizing.
November: Around the last week of November, you can stop the darkness treatment and allow the plant to remain in the window. You should see flower buds at this point
December: - Stop fertilizing about December 15th.
Keep watering and treat your plant as detailed below. If all has gone well, it should be back in bloom and ready to begin the process all over again.

When You First Bring Your Poinsettia Home or Subsequent Years:

Light - Place it near a sunny window. South, east or west facing windows are preferable to a north facing window. Poinsettias are tropicals and will appreciate as much direct sunlight as you can provide.

Heat - To keep the poinsettia in bloom as long as possible, maintain a temperature of 65 - 75 degrees F. during the day. Dropping the temperature to about 60 degrees F. at night will not hurt the plant. However, cold drafts or allowing the leaves to touch a cold window ca injure the leaves and cause premature leaf drop. If you’ve ever see a gangly poinsettia in bloom, with only a couple of sad looking leaves hanging on, it was probably exposed to temperatures that were too cool or extreme shifts in temperature.

Water - Water the plant whenever the surface feels dry to the touch. Water until it drains out the bottom, but don’t let the plant sit in water. Wilting is another common cause of leaf drop. A wilted plant can be revived and salvaged, but it will take another season to improve its appearance.

Humidity - Lack of humidity during dry seasons, in particular winter, is an ongoing houseplant problem. If your home tends to be dry and your poinsettia is in direct light, you will find yourself watering frequently, possibly every day.

I Got much of my Information from: Poinsettia Care in the Home , How to Re-Bloom Your Poinsettia, and Poinsettias - Keepers or Compost?

Buy something new for your backyard today!! Check out my website for lots of cool stuff. Wooden Outdoor furniture, Outdoor bench, Wooden Outdoor Chairs, Decorative Birdhouses, Squirrel proof birdfeeders, garden birdbaths, tuned windchimes, Poly Recyled Furniture, Outdoor Lanterns, Garden Water Fountains, and much more.

Some other posts that may interest you:
What to do with those Easter Plants...
Planting and Caring for Annuals
Eight Plants that Flower in the Winter

13 Expert Tips for Dazzling Christmas Lights

2009-12-17T10:59:00.013-05:00

1. Start out small. If you're a Christmas lights novice, light just two or three items, such as trees or bushes, to serve as focal points. Add new displays each year.
2. Stay safe. Only use lights with the UL (Underwriters Laboratories) label and be sure you're using lights designed specifically for outdoor use.
3. Know your lights. When it comes to holiday lights, there's a type available for every nook and cranny of your house and yard. Whether you want blinking rope lights outlining windows or net lights blanketing bushes, wising up on your holiday light knowledge will help you get the most bang for your buck.
4. Check for burned-out lights. Test light strings and replace any burned-out lights before decking the halls. Burned-out lights drain power from the entire light string, and the other bulbs will grow dimmer.
5. Out with the old, in with the new. Avoid old-fashioned nails, staples, screws, or hooks when mounting your display. Electrical tape is a quick and easy alternative -- it won't destroy your roof, and it's a good tool for protecting electrical connections. Clips, such as shingle tab or parapet clips, hold lights to surfaces by applying simple, safe pressure.
6. Use a sturdy ladder. Enlist a helper to keep you steady as you hang lights on very tall tree -- you'll stay safe and you'll be able to reach the branches easily. Attach lights to branches with tree clips or twist ties.
7. Work your way up. To string trunks of deciduous trees, start at the base and wrap the lights around in a spiral. If you want to illuminate an evergreen, however, start at the top and zigzag lights through the center of the tree, getting wider with the tree's shape.
8. Consider the location. If your evergreen can only be seen by passersby from the front, save lights and work by decorating the tree front only.
9. Add some dimension. Consider ground and stake lighting for extra holiday oomph. Multicolored lights work well for outlining walks, paths, and driveways.
10. Avoid bright light overload. Holiday lights can be dazzling and fun, but be careful not to overload your circuits. Include no more than 1,400 watts on a circuit. If other lights in the house dim when you turn on the holiday lights, your circuit is overloaded.
11. Look around for added sparkle. Find illuminating inspiration in unexpected places. Perhaps a birdbath or decorative porch columns would look pretty with a little extra light. For hard-to-reach spots, or any place you don't want to use electricity, try battery-operated mini lights.
12. Call in the pros. If you don't have roofing experience, limit your lights to eaves, gables, and the edge of the roof. Keep lights and cords away from metal. Beware of overheated wires, aluminum gutters, and ironwork decor. If you want more lights on the roof itself, call a professional lighting company.
13. Hit the switch. Turn off outdoor lights before going to bed, and don't leave them on when you're away from home, unless they're attached to a timer with a photocell.

This is reprinted information from Better Homes and Gardens' Christmas Ideas Editor Ann Blevins.

Other articles that may be of interest to you:

Outdoor Christmas Lighting -what you need to know

6 Things to Consider When Decorating Your Lawn

Peanut Feeder for Birds

2009-11-18T20:50:00.012-05:00

Sorry, squirrels...this feeder is reserved for feathered friends.

If you want a parade of colorful birds coming to your backyard, try offering them something new...peanuts.

We recommend serving them in the shell. It makes it difficult for squirrels to get to the goobers, while woodpeckers, blue jays and nuthatches have little trouble breaking the shells with their bills.

Here's What You'll Need...

One 2-foot 1-inch x 6-inch board
Approximately 12 inches x 18 inches of hardware cloth with 1/4-inch squares
36-inch-long light-duty chain
One screw eye
Netting staples
Waterproof carpenter's glue (or 1-5/8-inch deck screws)

Recommended Tools...

Band, saber or scroll saw
Wire cutter
Needle-nose pliers
Soldering iron (optional)

Let's Start Building...

Cut out four disks-two should measure about 4-3/4 inches across, and two should measure about 3 inches across-with a band, saber or scroll saw. Make the circles with a compass, or simply trace the rims of quart and 1/2-pint paint cans (or other cans similar to the dimensions above). Cut the smaller disks carefully—they should be as close to identical as possible.

Center and glue (or predrill and fasten with three 1-5/8-inch deck screws) each small disk to a larger disk. Clamp these pieces together until the glue completely dries. This will form the top and base of the feeder.

Fasten one end of the chain to a screw eye. Open the eye with two small pliers. (Twist in opposite directions until the eye opens just enough for the chain to be inserted.) Close the eye with a pliers.

Drill a pilot hole in the center of one of the small disks and turn in the screw eye. This will become the feeder's base.
Wrap hardware cloth around the completed base. (If using a 1/2-pint paint can to determine the size of the smaller disks, wrap the hardware cloth around the base and the can, which should be positioned about 10 inches higher than the base. Wrap heavy-duty rubber bands around the base and can to form a cylinder.)

Cut the hardware cloth about 1/4 inch beyond the last complete square where it comes together. This will leave small wire tabs on one end (see illustration above). Now you can remove the rubber bands and paint can.

Bend hardware cloth into a cylinder and attach to the feeder's base with netting staples (with the chain inside).

Join the two ends of hardware cloth to form a cylinder. Secure by wrapping the tabs around the other end using needle-nose pliers. Make sure the cylinder isn't too tight at the feeder's top, otherwise it will be difficult to lift up and close when filling with peanuts.

We recommend spot soldering the wire at the seam about every 2 inches for a better hold. If there is excess wire at the tabs, trim with a wire cutter.
The chain can be looped for hanging or attached to a S hook.
Slide the top up along the chain and then fill the cylinder with peanuts. We think you'll enjoy watching the "peanut gallery" of feathered friends.

Got this great information off Birds and Blooms website

Great Ideas for Your Garden Retreat this Fall and any Season.

2009-10-10T22:32:00.013-04:00

There are so many things you can do to create a garden retreat or enhance your existing retreat.

It may take several years to get exactly what you want. But if you do something each season you will be sure to get there sooner rather than later. I find that if I skip a season I get off schedule and get further behind.

Here are some great suggestions to consider when deciding what you want to do this fall:

1) Create different areas of your outdoor space for seating, dining or reflection.

If you don't have a backyard, do something special with the front to blend a public entry with a private retreat and create a corner courtyard.
Tuck a patio in an area of the garden that is quiet and peaceful. Concrete pavers will provide a sturdy floor for seating or dining.
Define an elevated private seating area with a pergola and flagstone paving just off a main patio.
Install a circular flagstone patio for dining near the back kitchen door.
Draw guests into the garden by locating seating areas away from the house. Use small trees or large shrubs to block the view of your home.
Look for spaces in your garden to create a commanding view. For example, create a narrow swath of lawn that leads to a outdoor bench and garden birdbath.

2) Add some casual seating to a corner of your patio or deck.

Adirondack chairs can create a backyard oasis perfect for relaxing conversation or quiet contemplation. Add a coat of paint to your Adirondack chair and it will also add some color to your space.
Purchase new Adirondack chairs in the color you want. Adirondack chairs made from recycled poly lumber come in over 20 colors
Outdoor benches, gliders and wooden outdoor chairs can also provide comfortable seating

3) Create more privacy for your retreat

Soften a wood fence by adding color and texture with Japanese anemones and ornamental grasses.
A giant Japanese Silver Grass (Miscanthus sinensis) and Japanese maple can transition to tall evergreens to provide privacy from neighbors when you do not have a fence.
Golden bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea) can also provide privacy around a patio or pergola. Planting it in beds atop a timbered retaining wall will add to their height.
A slanted arbor planted with fast-growing wisteria will, once established, fully cover the arbor and provides a screen of privacy.
Sink your patio to make it feel intimate. A patio 2 feet below the surrounding grade encourages the feeling of privacy

4) Add some character to existing parts of your retreat.

Frame a garden water fountain or existing water feature with an arbor or pergola.
Soften lines of your garden birdbath by planting some Japanese blood grass and rosemary nearby. If you have only one garden birdbath then add another. Several baths in various locations in your yard will attract the most wildlife to your backyard. Some flat on the ground and others several feet off the ground is a good idea
Place decorative pots and urns in a pattern or randomly throughout the garden for a whimsical touch.
Tuck away garden art, a decorative birdhouse, or other found object to create visual appeal throughout the landscape.
Light a pathway to take your focus away from streetlights and unsightly security lighting. Landscape lighting or outdoor lanterns makes traversing your yard safer.
Incorporate large stones and boulders into the landscape to create an instant sense of permanence and age. Bury a portion of some stones to achieve a more natural look.
Gourds, pumpkins, orange fruits, dried hydrangeas, and mums turn a drab setting into a stunning feature. Arrange the bounty into a colorful combination. Add other items, such as cornstalks, wicker baskets, or even old garden implements

5) Small structures add a sense of scale and solidity to a garden retreat

A simple arbor can serve as an entrance to the backyard from the driveway guiding visitors to your pathway.
A larger arbor can be placed in a quiet corner. Add a small sitting outdoor bench under the arbor.
A small gazebo or summerhouse makes for an extravagant garden retreat. Populate the space with books, pictures and a few choice pieces of furniture for a quiet getaway.
This gives you a spot to relax and entertain even during stormy weather.

6) Add a water feature or garden water fountain to enhance the peacefulness of this area.

The splashing water muffles neighborhood noises and creates soothing background sounds
Install a series of waterfalls and water features to enhance the garden retreat with the sounds of rushing rapids or a trickling stream
Ponds can also add a sense of calm and serenity by themselves or with Koi fish.

7) Plant a Tree

Raised-bed planters with Japanese maples built into the slope makes an attractive solution when you have a change in grade
A sugar maple planted near a deck provides a colorful backdrop in fall. In summer, its foliage creates a solid screen of privacy and welcome shade late in the afternoon.
Planting larger trees or quick-growing shrubs will create drama fast.

8) Add plantings of Perennials, Annuals, or Shrubs

Add fall color by planting a shrub that has awesome fall foliage. Arrowwood viburnum,
Sumac, Fothergilla ,Tor Spirea , or Blackhaw Viburnum are great choices.
Add some spring color by planting some azaleas or rhododendrons
Choose flowers, foliage and shrubs that are good in winter and summer. Take the time to do the research.
A plant to consider is CORAL BARK JAPANESE MAPLE (Acer palmatum 'Sangokaku'). It has golden foliage in the fall, and then once the leaves are gone its vibrant red bark remains. It adds interest to the yard all winter long.
'Espalier' refers to the training of a plant or tree to grow flat against a wall or trellis. Espalier has considerable merit in today's garden design. The practice was originally used in the old world to conserve space in small orchards and gardens. Today, espaliers are used for introducing a decorative accent in the landscape. More information
Use colorful annual flowers to fill spaces between trees and shrubs and while large plants get established. Small-scale annuals bring intimacy to the garden.
Japanese maples and ornamental blue fescue pick up on plant colors and shapes used near water features.
Keep plantings interesting all year by using a mix of evergreen and deciduous varieties.
Shrubs lend structure and year-round interest to a perennial border. Incorporate them among your perennials and use them to play off one another
Contrast Colors- It only takes two plants to make a big impact. Yellow green and reddish purple are perfect mates because they're opposite each other on the color wheel.

Some other postings that may be of interest:
Overseeding in the Fall for a better lawn
Great Plants for your Fall Containers & Planters
October Backyard Garden Care Tips
Why You Need to Plant a Tree this Fall

Fall Foliage Smackdown from MSN Travel

2009-10-05T18:56:00.022-04:00

Found this article on MSN Travel

Last year I found a similar article and I just put the link on my blog. What I found is that the link expired and could no longer be found. So this time I decided to cut and paste.

In addition the following link is worth bookmarking and for Fall 2009.
Current status of fall foliage by state on weather.com

Fall Foliage Smackdown: Eastern Reds Versus Western Golds
By Beth J. Harpaz, AP

It's time for a fall face-off! Where will you find the nation's best autumn foliage? New England may be the odds-on favorite by reputation, but leaf-lovers out West say their scenery is nothing to sneeze at....
Here's a fall foliage smackdown, with recommendations for places to go leaf-peeping in both regions, from the Northeast's king crimsons to the West's golden underdogs.

Fall foliage picks for New England

Connecticut: Route 169 is described by Yankee senior editor Polly Bannister as "one of New England's prettiest country roads" as it runs through 32 miles of Connecticut farms and fields. "In autumn, this national scenic byway is at its best: a gentle landscape of trees and stone walls glides its way through historic towns from Woodstock to Lisbon, all with a backdrop of brilliant foliage in a palette of red, orange, gold, yellow and russet," Bannister said.

Maine:"Begin in Rangeley, Maine, forcing yourself to leave the lake-studded town, and head north on Route 16, then follow Route 27 through Kingfield, then along the Carrabassett River to Sugarloaf Mountain," suggested Allen, the Yankee editor. "In this 45-mile or so drive, your mouth will drop at least a dozen times, and no more so as you wind around what locals call 'Oh My Gosh Corner' and the mountain appears as if dropped from the sky."

Massachusetts: Yankee assistant editor Justin Shatwell said Massachusetts' northwest region sometimes gets overlooked, "but in fall it's the place to visit. The Mohawk Trail passes by a lot of state forests, but you don't even have to get off the road to see some striking foliage. The view coming down from West Summit into North Adams is about as good as it gets." The trail is part of Route 2 and runs through the Berkshire Mountains.

New Hampshire: The Kancamagus Highway, which runs between Lincoln and Conway, N.H., on State Route 112, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. "With no houses, no restaurants, not even gas stations, the Kancamagus Highway is all about breathtaking panoramic views of the White Mountain National Forest, particularly from the height of land at Kancamagus Pass," said YankeeMagazine.com editor Barbara Hall. "Named the first national scenic byway in the entire Northeast, what the 34-mile stretch of road does have is waterfalls, hiking trails, numerous scenic overlooks and hundreds of thousands of visitors every autumn."

Vermont: Route 100 "has been called the most scenic in New England," according to Yankee magazine writer Michael Blanding. "In some circles, it's known as the 'Skier's Highway,' since it connects Vermont's giants — Mount Snow, Killington, Sugarbush and Stowe — like knots on a whip. But the road really comes into its own in autumn, hitting the peak of fall foliage not once but many times as it traces an up-and-down course along the unspoiled edge of Green Mountain State Forest."

Fall foliage picks for the West

California: "Driving inland from the North Coast in California, Eureka to Redding, is gorgeous," Sunset's Taggart said. "The pines pop with the deep red leaves of poison oak vines." Other Sunset magazine recommendations for seeing fall color in California: June Lake Loop in the Eastern Sierra; aspen trees in Carson Pass and Hope Valley along State Route 88 south of Tahoe; Highway 395from Lee Vining south to Tom's Place; big-leaf maples and vine maples along the Avenue of the Giants and Redwood National Park; sycamores in the Southern California coastal canyons; and black oaks in Yosemite Valley.

Colorado: This state is known for bluebird skies and white-capped mountains. But in autumn, the landscape gets another color: gold. Aspen and Vail "simply glow gold in the fall; the state is luminous with aspens," said Taggart. You can hike, bike and take plenty of scenic drives, and lodging prices, even in upscale ski areas, are low compared to winter and even summer. Near Aspen, the Maroon Bells wilderness area is especially pretty.

Idaho: Old Mission State Park in Cataldo in northern Idaho is a lovely place to view fall colors. It's also home to Idaho's oldest building, the Mission of the Sacred Heart, which was built in the 1850s by Catholic missionaries and members of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. The mission is framed by trees that turn orange, gold and red in the fall, creating a pretty picture to rival the classic New England village scene with a church nestled amid colorful maples.

Montana: Cottonwoods, aspens and tamaracks provide the golds and yellows here. One way to experience the scenery is to travel east along Highway 200 from Missoula, along the Blackfoot River. You might see a moose wading in the water or elk moving toward their winter home, the Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Management Area. Turn left at Clearwater Junction and head north on Highway 83 to the Seeley-Swan Valley, where you'll find the Seeley Lake Giant, the largest known tamarack tree in the country. The tamarack's needles change from green to gold, and the Seeley Lake Tamarack Festival is held to celebrate the transition, Oct. 3-4.

Utah: The Alpine Loop is a 20-mile road through American Fork Canyon in Utah's Wasatch Mountain range, 15 miles from Provo. In fall, the maples turn red, the aspens turn yellow, and wildlife is plentiful, including turkeys, elk and bighorn sheep. Visitors will also find plenty to do along the way, from Timpanogos Cave National Monument, a series of caves with unique formations and underground pools, to Robert Redford's nearby Sundance Resort, where you can take a chairlift ride to the top of Ray's Summit.

Some other postings that may be of interest:
Overseeding in the Fall for a better lawn
Great Plants for your Fall Containers & Planters
October Backyard Garden Care Tips
Why you need to Plant a Tree this Fall

Why You Need to Plant a Tree this Fall

2009-10-04T10:48:00.015-04:00

1) It is a Great Time for Planting Trees.

In Winter Climates, the best time to plant trees is late winter or early spring. Often this is not a convenient time for homeowners. The next best time to plant is in the Fall from Mid August to Mid October.

You do not want to plant in the summer because actively growing trees are too susceptible to damage. Most of winter is not good also because the ground freezes making it difficult to plant.

You want to plant trees when they're dormant because it is least disruptive to the trees. During dormancy, no growth occurs in the upper branches and attention is given to growing a stronger root system.

Deciduous trees dormant stage begins when their leaves begin to drop and ends when signs of buds are evident. This provides you a good guide as to when to plant.

Evergreen trees can be planted earlier in the fall and later into the spring. The best guide with these trees is temperature. You'll want to avoid planting them when it's hot.

In summer climates you would think you have more flexibility with planting trees but you really do not. Heat is still the enemy thus making December to March really the best time for planting.

It will always be debated whether Spring or Fall is better for planting. The commonly held belief is that plants with shallow, fibrous roots can usually be planted with greater ease than those with fewer, larger roots. Slow-to-establish species that are better planted in spring include fir, birch, American hornbeam, American yellowwood, ginkgo, sweetgum, hophornbeam, oak, willow, and bald cypress.

2) To add great Fall color to your Outdoors.

Trees that provide Brilliant Orange:

Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) - Sun to partial shade; prefers evenly moist, well drained soil. Zones 4-8. More info
Washington Hawthorne (Crataegus phaenopyrum) - Sun to light shade; well drained soil; tolerates damp sites for short periods; drought tolerant. Zones 5-9. More info

Trees that provide Golden Yellow Color:

Sweet Birch (Betula lenta) - Sun to partial shade; prefers moist, well drained soil but does will in dry, sandy and clay soils. Zones 3-8. More info
Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) - Sun; range of soil types except wet soil. Zones 4-9. More info
Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) - Sun; range of soil types (sand, clay); tolerates hot dry conditions. Zones 3-7. More info

Trees that provide Red Color

Amur Maple (Acer ginnala) - Sun to light shade; range of soil types; tolerates wind, dry soil and drought. Zones 3-8. More info
Red Maple or Swamp Maples (Acer rubrum ‘Red Sunset’) - Sun to shade; range of soil types. Zones 3-9. More info
Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) - Light dappled shade; evenly moist, well drained soil; protect from drying winds. Zones 5-8. More info
Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida 'Cherokee Chief') - Partial shade; moist well drained soil. Zones 5-9. More info

The very special Sweet Gum (Liquidambar styraciflua) - Sun to shade and well-drained soil. Zones 6-9. More info

The sweet gum generally follows a progression of yellow color followed by yellow/orange, then orange/red, red, and then deep purple. With its broad limbs at the bottom rising to a point at the top, the combination of shape and color makes the sweet gum appear like a match aflame.

Important Note: Intensity of fall foliage color can be lessened due to extreme summer heat and drought. And you’re not even out of the woods once fall arrives. Optimum fall foliage is dependent upon sunny days and crisp nights at the beginning of the autumn season.

Some other postings that may be of interest:
Overseeding in the Fall for a better lawn
Great Plants for your Fall Containers & Planters
October Backyard Garden Care Tips

8 Reasons to Buy a Wind Chime this Fall

2009-09-26T09:28:00.015-04:00

1) Soothes Your Soul.
Listening to quality garden wind chimes can help calm your mind and release stress. Nothing can beat the soothing hum of wind chimes to help relax frayed nerves after a stressful day.

Imagine sitting or lying down on your favorite couch and listening to the soothing and relaxing sounds of chimes tinkling in the wind. Feel the tension leave your body and be energized by the refreshing tones.

Quality chimes shaped like a tube produce the most soothing and pleasing sounds. Others that are made up of solid pieces hanging from nylon threads or small chains generally create a less appealing sound.

2) Adds Music and Style to your Garden or Backyard.

Wind chimes provide you with the ability to transform your garden and outdoor living area into something extraordinary

Quality wind chimes add beautiful sounds to your garden. You can find unique wind chimes that perfectly blend with your personality and your surroundings.

Wind chimes use Mother Nature’s wind to create a mood in your garden or yard.

Large wind chimes are great for expansive outdoor living areas while smaller sets of chimes can compliment a porch or even an indoor area. There are endless types and sizes to choose from along with various appealing sounds to choose from

Choose wind chimes that emphasize your decorative style or focus more on the type of sound you want. It is up to you

Wind Chimes are frequently hung on patios and balconies, if you want to enhance your garden area, why not hang your chimes on a set of decorative poles and enjoy the tinkling sound of music among your flowers and plants?

Personalized wind chimes allow you to place your own individual stamp in your garden.

For a more distinct musical serenade choose wind chimes that are produced with tubes of various lengths and diameters. By selecting a variety of different chimes and placing them throughout your garden you will be able to achieve more depth to the sounds created by your chimes.

3) Is One of the Most Effective Feng Shui Remedies

For centuries people have believed that wind chimes bring harmony, health, wealth and serenity to their surroundings.

As a Feng Shui cure, your wind chimes could help you gain luck and prosper. Metal wind chimes are recommended for the North, West and Northwest, Wood for the East, South and Southeast. For good luck, it is recommended to use chimes with 4, 6, 7, 8 or 18 rods. If it’s bad energy to want to keep away, then go for a chime with 5 rods. For outside the house, bamboo chimes are best.

More information on Feng Shui in a future posting.

4) Is A Great Welcoming Sound for Visiting Guests.

A garden wind chime placed at the front door or on your front porch is a greeting for your visitors.

When entertaining outdoors hanging your wind chimes near the table for your guests to enjoy their soothing tones as they enjoy the aroma of meals being cooked on the grill.

5) Lets You Know about Weather Changes.

If the atmosphere is gentle and light then the sounds of your chimes will articulate nature’s motion. If the atmosphere is angry and blustery then your chimes will sound nature’s alarm.

Historically, wind chimes were used to assist both farmers and fishermen in making short-term weather forecasts.

With wind direction and speed serving as critical indicators for forecasts, a set of carefully placed wind chimes could provide information about the direction of the wind. Several sets of wind chimes could help determine different wind directions.

6) Makes Incredible Indoor Home Accents.

Artisan glass wind chimes, much like a sun-catcher, lights up with the morning sun and adds just the pop of color needed in the window.

If you collect or just love art glass, you will find these to be a creative new way to decorate with glass art.

Adds a "touch of glass" to any room in your home that you want to illuminate with color and provides pleasing musical notes as you brush by or open and close a door nearby

Artisan glass wind chimes bring the outside in.

7) Is a Great Gift Idea

A personalized set of chimes makes the gift that more unique. Inscribe a special message on the plates of the chimes to create a uniquely inspired gift that will stand the test of time.

See my posting as to why garden wind chimes are a great gift idea.

8) Great for Use when Meditating

Pure and finely tuned sound is a powerful tool when combined with different meditative stress-relieving techniques to ease physical and emotional pressures on the mind and body.

The use of hand tuned quality wind chimes helps to focus awareness and makes practicing these strategies much easier, as the melodies intertwine and are pleasing to the ear.

As you engage in meditation with wind chimes use their gentle ringing as a reminder of your intentions, allowing deeper and further release into your practice.

See this article for more specific information on these techniques. “Breathe Into Wholeness: Meditation Using Wind Chimes”

One of the greatest benefits about searching for chimes in today's market is the ability to be able to sample your chime before you purchase it. This is one of the few items that you can actually sample online and be assured that the product you receive is the same as what you experienced

On my website you can see and hear the sounds of quality garden wind chimes.

Some other postings that may be of interest:
6 Reasons Personalized Wind Chimes make a Great Gift Idea
8 Tips for Choosing Outdoor Furniture that you Will Love
Add Style to your Otherwise Dreary Outdoors This Winter

Overseeding in the Fall for a Better Lawn

2009-09-20T08:50:00.024-04:00

Fall is the very important time to attend to your lawn. As I outlined in my post Fall Lawn Care Tips overseeding is important for your lawn.

There are two reasons to overseed in the fall.

1) Warm weather grasses which produce unappealing brown lawns during winter season. If you have a warm weather grass such as Bermuda grass, buffalo grass, zoysia or St. Augustine grass, you know that this grass goes dormant over the winter. Overseeding with a annual rye grass (Lolium multiflorum) which is a cool season grass will provide a green lawn during the winter. In addition it will die back once the hotter weather returns allowing your warm weather grass to take center stage.

2) Cool weather grass lawns with bare spots caused by the assault of summer temperatures.
If you have a cool weather grass such as Rye grass, Fescue, Bentgrasses and Bluegrass, you know that this grass really prefers the cool temperatures of fall and spring. Therefore often by the end of the summer your lawn has taken a beating and you may find bare spots in your lawn. Overseeding will sow seed over your existing lawn in order to fill in those bare spots.

As you see overseeding your lawn have different purposes in depending on whether you have a cool or warm weather grass lawn. Nonetheless the overseeding is performed in the same manner.

5 Steps to Follow when Overseeding

1) Prepare your lawn:

Since these seeds will be competing with your existing lawn for light. You need to get it as much light as possible. This is done by cutting your lawn to a height of 1.5-2.0 inches.(normally lawns are cut to height of 3.0 to 3.5 inches)
Make sure to rake and bag all clippings so your seed has a good chance of making contact with soil. I have a mulching mower and normally do not do this but do it when preparing for overseeding.
Dethatching is done every two to three years. If it is that time for your lawn make sure that is done first.
It is best if you perform a core aeration on your lawn. This will reduce the chance of thatch getting in the way of your seed getting into the soil. Core aerators (or "lawn aerators") can be rented from local rental centers.
In severe cases, you may need to add a layer of topsoil before overseeding lawns. For instance, due to shallow tree roots popping up on the lawn, your topsoil layer may be too thin. Spread 1/4" of screened topsoil over such an area, and rake it in.

2)Choosing the seed to use and determining how much to buy.

Buy the highest quality that you can find on the shelf. While it will be a bit more expensive than the others, you are getting the most recent technology in breeding for disease resistance and appearance for your money.
When overseeding your warm weather grass you need to use annual rye grass (Lolium multiflorum)
When overseeding your cool weather grasses it is a good idea to use a blend of perennial cool weather grasses. Kentucky blue grass being the most popular.
Bags of seed have information on the back regarding BOTH recommended seeding rates and overseeding rates. Because you do not always have the luxury of time to water and care for newly sown seed that turf professionals have, the germination rate is likely to be lower. Using more seed than necessary compensates for some of the loss. So follow the seeding rates when calculating how much seed to buy.
Do not forget to know the square footage of your lawn also.

3) Sow Grass Seed

Use a spreader. I use the “rotary” type of spreader because it avoids missing spots in the lawn. The “drop” spreader is a bit more accurate in terms of knowing where your fertilizer or grass seed is going but the rate the seed is released is more difficult to control.
When using a seeding device, divide the total amount of seed in half. Spread the entire area to be overseeded with the first half, and then go over it again in a different direction with the second half of the seed. That reduces the chances of missing any spots in the lawn.

If you are using Kentucky bluegrass, which is a very small, light seed, borrow a trick from turf professionals. Give the seed some heft by mixing it with another material, or "carrier," such as sawdust, sand, or fine vermiculite.

lightly rake over the lawn surface to bring the seed into contact with the top 1/8 inch of soil.

Use a garden rake it will take more time, but it gives seed better soil contact than a grass or leaf rake.

You may want to take an extra step and topdress the overseeded lawn with a thin layer(no more than ¼ inch) of organic material such as topsoil, compost, or peat moss. Will protect the new seed and help keep it moist. This is completely optional!! If you do not top dress it just means you need to water more often

4) Watering Your Lawn after Seeding

Grass seeds must be watered properly, in order to germinate.
Use just a fine spray. The soil should be kept evenly moist, puddles should not form
You may need several waterings per day (depending on the weather), for several weeks. Proper watering is so very important. Often people don't stay attentive to this detail and then wonder why grass does not grow!
After the grass blades sprout, you'll still need to water a couple of times per day
You should gradually decrease watering to once a week. How you know if your grass needs water is to push the blades down and if they don't spring back up quickly, they need water.

5) Final tips

Lawn mowing can begin again once the seedlings reach 3 inches tall.
Five weeks after the grass has sprouted, apply a quick-release nitrogen fertilizer at the recommended rate; repeat in another six weeks.
Annual rye grass will die in the summer, conveniently making way for warm-season grasses to take over, the annual rye grass will still, nonetheless, be around in spring, offering unwanted competition with warm-season grasses. One way to minimize this competition is to mow the annual rye grass as low as possible in spring. By keeping it short, you'll at least minimize the amount of sunlight that the annual rye grass robs from your main lawn, which is now emerging out of dormancy.

I got some of my information from About.com:landscaping , Yardener, & Rutgers NJ Agricultural Experiment Station

Buy a new squirrel proof birdfeeder or nest box for your backyard birds. Visit my website for many of your outdoor needs including outdoor wooden furniture, garden outdoor fountains, outdoor candle lanterns, garden wind chimes and much more

Some other postings that may be of interest
Fall Lawn Tips
Great Plants for your Fall Containers & Planters
Plant some Fall Bulbs to add Color to your Garden

California Grilled Veggie Sandwich

2009-09-12T14:22:00.011-04:00

The last fresh vegetables of the season will not be around too much longer. So enjoy this amazing grilled sandwich outside before the nights get too short or cool.

Even meat-lovers will love this dish! I prefer mesquite coals over gas barbeques...however, either works fine.

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com - my favorite website

California Grilled Veggie Sandwich

PREP TIME 30 Min
COOK TIME 20 Min
READY IN 50 Min

1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 cup olive oil
1 cup sliced red bell peppers
1 small zucchini, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
1 small yellow squash, sliced
2 (4-x6-inch) focaccia bread pieces, split horizontally
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

DIRECTIONS

In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, minced garlic, and lemon juice. Set aside in the refrigerator.
Preheat the grill for high heat.
Brush vegetables with olive oil on each side. Brush grate with oil.
Place bell peppers and zucchini closest to the middle of the grill, and set onion and squash pieces around them.
Cook for about 3 minutes, turn, and cook for another 3 minutes. The peppers may take a bit longer. Remove from grill, and set aside.
Spread some of the mayonnaise mixture on the cut sides of the bread, and sprinkle each one with feta cheese.
Place on the grill cheese side up, and cover with lid for 2 to 3 minutes. This will warm the bread, and slightly melt the cheese. Watch carefully so the bottoms don't burn.
Remove from grill, and layer with the vegetables. Enjoy as open faced grilled sandwiches.

Note: I have also added mushrooms and chopped sundried tomatoes.. Sometimes I have used balsalmic vinegar mixed with alittle brown sugar instead of olive oil

Nutritional Information
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving:

Calories: 393
Total Fat: 23.8g
Cholesterol: 22mg
Sodium: 623mg
Total Carbs: 36.5g
Dietary Fiber: 3.2g
Protein: 9.2g

If you are looking to add to your outdoor yard and garden decorations visit my website. Outdoor wooden furniture, outdoor garden fountains, decorative birdhouses and more

Other recipes that you may enjoy:
Pork Tenderloin Recipe for the Grill
Firecracker Grilled Salmon
Great Burger Recipe

American Goldfinch - Bird of the Month - September

2009-09-06T08:39:00.024-04:00

This month I want to highlight the delightful American Gold finch. They are a frequent visitor to wild bird feeders and garden birdbaths.

Bradford Torrey (1885) describes the happy goldfinch this way: "Our American goldfinch is the loveliest of birds. With his elegant song, and his more beautiful soul, he ought to be one of the best beloved, if not one of the most famous; but he has never yet had half his desserts. He is like the chickadee, and yet different. He is not so extremely confiding, nor should I call him merry. But he is always cheerful, in spite of his so-called plaintive note, from which he gets one of his names, and always amiable. So far as I know, he never utters a harsh sound; even the young ones, asking for food, use only smooth, musical tones. During the pairing season his delight often becomes rapturous. To see him then, hovering and singing--or, better still, to see the devoted pair hovering together, billing and singing--is enough to do even a cynic good."

The state bird of New Jersey, Iowa, and Washington

Size and Shape:

A small finch with a body 5-9 inches and weight of 0.5 oz.
a small cone-shaped bill
long tapered wings with a wingspan range of 8.75-9 inches
short, notched tail

Colors:

Adult males in spring/summer have a bright yellow body, black cap, wings & tail, and white rump and undertail.
Females and winter males have duller feathers that are an olive-yellow color. The male's black cap may disappear in the winter or turn a dull black. Adult females have not black cap.
Juvenile birds are a wood-brown, grayer on crown, yellowish on forehead. Sides of head are primrose-yellow brightest on chin.

Behavior:

active little bird with untiring activity
acrobatic- clinging to weeds and seed socks
seeks the company of its own species
moves about in large flocks, feeding together in the birches and alders
flies in a bouncy pattern as if riding the waves of a stormy sea

Habitat:

natural habitats are weedy fields and floodplains, with plants such as thistles and asters as well as cultivated land, orchards and gardens.
can be found at wild bird feeders any time of year, but most abundantly during winter.
breeds from southern British Columbia east to Newfoundland and south to California, Utah, southern Colorado, central Oklahoma, Arkansas, and the Carolinas. Spends winters throughout much of U.S. Some populations are short-distance migrators and move south in the winter.

Feeding:

feeds primarily on seeds; prefers hanging onto seed heads rather than feeding on the ground. Its long legs and claws help it easily perch on plants.
like seeds of grey birch, alder, thistle, sunflower, evening primrose, ragweed, and above all, perhaps, the dandelion.
At feeders prefers nyjer, suet, millet, thistle, fruit & sunflower(hulled)
feeds during the day

Nesting:

do not nest until mid-to late summer when there are lots of seeds
will not use man made nesting boxes
open cup of rootlets and plant fibers lined with plant down, often woven so tightly that it can hold water
makes a downy lining often using the fluffy material taken from the same types of seedheads that goldfinches feed on.
takes about 6 days to build the nest
clutch size: 4-6 pale blue to white blue eggs, incubation period 12-14 days. Males feed female throughout incubation.
they open their eyes after about seven days, nestling period 11–17 days.
are monogamous and because they mate so late in the year, they normally raise only one brood a year

Interesting Facts:

American Goldfinches are the only finch that molts its body feathers twice a year, once in late winter and again in late summer just before breeding season.
they breed later than most North American birds starting in late June or early July.
they select an entirely vegetable diet and only inadvertently swallow an occasional insect.
As of May 2007, the oldest known American Goldfinch was 10 years 5 months old.
Paired-up goldfinches make virtually identical flight calls.
winter flocks, have little difference in plumage leading to conclusion that the sexes are segregated, at least for the most part at this season.

Sources for this posting: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, NatureWorks, WhatBird.com & Life Histories of North American Birds

Buy a new squirrel proof birdfeeder or nest box for your backyard birds. Visit my website for many of your outdoor needs including outdoor wooden furniture, garden outdoor fountains, outdoor candle lanterns, garden wind chimes and much more

Other postings that may be of interest:
Tufted Titmouse- August Bird of the Month
Squirrel Buster tips you need to know
Choosing a Birdfeeder for Your Backyard
Put your Birdhouse this Fall , Don't wait till the Spring!!

September Plant of the Month

2009-09-06T08:30:00.012-04:00

White Turtlehead

Features: This native perennial gets its name from the shape of its unusual flowers, which resemble the heads of snapping turtles. It's a good choice for heavy, wet soils and spreads to form dense colonies of upright stems bearing white flowers from late summer into fall.

Uses: Its height makes it an ideal plant for growing at the back of borders. They are particularly valued for their late flowers, produced in the season when many other perennials have gone to seed. Attracts butterflies, hummingbirds and other insects. In addition provides great cover for wildlife and nesting birds. The foliage is bitter and usually avoided by deer.

Scientific Name: Chelone glabra L.
Family: Figwort (Scrophulariaceae)
Common Name: White Turtlehead

Hardiness: USDA Zones 3-8
Height: 1 ft. to 3 ft.
Spread: 1 ft. to 3 ft.
Exposure: Full Sun to Full Shade
Moisture: Saturated, Moist, Moderately Moist; Temporary flooding is tolerated; if used in border do not let dry out between waterings
Ph Balance: 5-7
Characteristics: Native; Showy Flowers; Showy Foliage
Foliage: Herbaceous; Smooth-Textured; Dark Green
Bloom Time: Mid Summer; Late Summer/Early Fall; Mid Fall; Blooms for at least 4 weeks and will continue with deadheading
Flower Color: White.. also Pink(lyonii); Purple/Lavender(obliqua)
Landscape Use: Beds and Borders, Waterside, shade or woodland gardens, Bog gardens, Pond or water garden peripheries
Great companion plants: rayflowers, rose mallow, astilbe, blue lobelia, cardinal flower, flag iris,various sedges,Ligularia, Petasites, Senecio aureus, & Caltha palustris
Care: Grow in partial shade with moist soil. Will grow in dense shade, or even in full sun if soil is soggy. Tolerates heavy clay soils and will also grow in a bog garden. Follow flowering it should be cut down to the ground. Consider pinching back the stem ends in spring to reduce mature plant height so subsequent staking is not needed
Liabilities: Sometimes will have problems with powdery mildew, rust, or fungal leaf spots. Damage from slugs and snails.

Sources for my information includes Fine gardening, Dave's Garden, Illinois Wildflowers, Plantsmen,& American Beauty Native Plants

Visit my website for many of your outdoor needs including outdoor wooden furniture, garden outdoor fountains, outdoor candle lanterns, garden wind chimes and much more

Other postings that may be of interest:
8 Plants that Flower in the Winter
Great Fall Plants for your Containers and Planters
Plant of the Month - August

Where to Find Eagles in Your Area

2009-09-04T21:22:00.017-04:00

I Found this
article in
Birds and Blooms

Every State seems to have national wildlife refuges that are great spots to see Bald Eagles.

Go Here to find where to go in your state.

Some interesting facts you may not know about Eagles:

Only 10% of bald eagles survive until adulthood, but if they do could live for 30 years.
When mature, both male and female bald eagles have white heads
Female eagles are typically larger than their male counterparts
Bald eagles return to the same nest year after year, adding to it each season.
A pair of bald eagles from Florida is credited for building the largest nest that measures six meters deep, four meters wide and weighs nearly three tons.
An adult bald eagle can eat 1 pound of fish in 4 minutes
Bald eagles can fly at approximately 30 miles per hour and can dive at 100 miles per hour
The bald eagle is not actually bald. It got its name from “piebald” meaning spotty or patchy which aptly describes the bald eagle with its brown body and white head and tail.
They have remarkably good eyesight? They can see four to seven times better than people
From a dangerously low 417 nesting pairs in the lower 48 states in 1963, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife counts 9,789 breeding pairs today

Three of the Best Spots to See those Eagles fly are:

Chesapeake Bay
- Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, 2145 Key Wallace Dr., Cambridge MD 21613; 1-410/228-2692. Largest concentration of nesting bald eagles in the eastern United States, north of Florida. They nest at the refuge from January to April, but are common all year. Take a drive on the refuge's auto trail- Wildlife Drive.
- Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge, 7603 High Point Rd., Lorton VA 22079; 1-703/490-4979. The first refuge designated specifically for the protection of the bald eagle. Take a walk on the refuge's 3/4-mile Great Marsh Trail to reach an outlook known for its frequent eagle sightings
Mississippi River
- Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, 51 E. 4th St., Winona MN 55987; 1-507/454-7351. Spans 261 miles along the river in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois. Not only is it the most visited refuge in the U.S., but 165 active bald eagle nests were identified there last year. Eagle viewing is best in winter and early spring, peaking in mid-to-late March as the river's ice begins to break. Best spot is just below locks and dams just as the ice is breaking in the morning or evenings.
- Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge, Highway 159 S., Mound City MO 64470; 1-660/442-3187. For unforgettable views of up to 200 bald eagles, traverse the 1-1/2 miles of Eagle Overlook trail, situated between the refuge's two largest wetlands. Winter visitors can also travel along the 10-mile auto route.
- Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, 3815 American Blvd. E., Bloomington MN 55425; 1-952/854-5900. A neighboring power plant generates clean, warm water into Black Dog Lake, attracting late-season waterfowl that eagles may scavenge. You can stay warm, too, on the area's Eagle Nest Van Tours, which begin in November.
Oregon Coast
- Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 2172 SE Marine Science Dr., Newport OR 97365; 1-541/867-4550. Most commonly seen on the Oregon coast in spring and summer when they're nesting and foraging on sea-birds. Yaquina Head in Newport, Oregon is one of the best spots to view the birds. Another headland viewing spot, Cape Meares, in Tillamook County has great observation decks and Cape Meares Lighthouse(open April to October).
- Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuges, 4009 Hill Rd., Tulelake CA 96134; 1-530/667-2231. Boasts up to 1,000 bald eagles, one of the greatest concentrations in the lower 48 states where they can be seen scavenging among the areas marshes and lakes. Take an auto tour along Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuges in January and February.
- Bear Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Keno-Worden Rd. and U.S. Highway 97, Klamath County OR; 1-530/667-2231. Early risers visiting the basin will appreciate the impressive group fly-outs just before sunrise in the winter. Head just outside the refuge along Highway 97.

Winter is still a while a way but it gives me something to look forward to this coming winter. I live in New Jersey which means I can easily get to the Chesapeake area. I really never new that the places existed. Glad I found this.

Some other articles that may be of interest are:
Tufted Titmouse- August Bird of the Month
Concerns for Birds in America
What you Need to know about the 39 Most Common Birds in America

If you need decorative birdhouses, wild bird feeders, or garden birdbaths for your feathered friends. Check out my website. In addition we have other great decor for your outdoor space, such as wood outdoor furniture, poly wood furniture, candle lanterns, tuned windchimes, garden fountains, and much more.

6 Tips for Buying & Maintaining Your Birdbath

2009-08-28T09:12:00.069-04:00

1) Make sure you consider the following when choosing birdbath:

The depth of the garden bird bath is very important. Birds will not use it if is deeper than 3 inches if it is a sloping birdbath. If the bath is flat, it shouldn't be deeper than 1-1/2".
Texture of the bath should be slightly rough to ensure good footing
Neutral or earthy tone colors are best, bright colors will probably be avoided by birds
A perch at the edge will provide space for them to land.

2) Decide what style you want

One piece pedestal bird bath

A bird bath and stand that are separate. This allows you to buy multiple bird baths that fit the same stand. If bird bath needs a good clean just replace with another. Allowing you to clean previous bird bath when convenient. Also just enables you to change style when you feel like it

Hanging bird baths- also easy to change out

Ground bird baths- also easy to change out

deck mounted bird baths

3) Add Moving water

Birds are fascinated by moving water so that is one way to attracts more birds to your garden bird bath. Birds behavior in a bird bath is very playful

One option is to purchase a bird bath fountain
Another option is to add a dripper, water wiggler, mister or recirculating pump to any birdbath.
You can also add a homemade dripper using a milk jug.. more details here..

Additionally moving water reduces the chance of algae thus keeping your water cleaner.

4) Take care of your Birds in the Winter too

Clean feathers are warm feathers which is what makes water in the winter imperative for your back yard birds

Keep your bird bath free of ice and filled with water during cold weather.

A water pump that circulates the water
An air pump that vigorously aerates the water
A submersible heater. Be sure it has a thermostat that will turn the heater off when the water heats up sufficiently. It will cost more but is cheaper and safer to operate.
Bird bath Deicer

5) Location, Location, Location

Stay away from shrubs or any low objects that can be great hiding spots for cats
Keep within 10 feet of a tree so bird can fly to after bathing
You may need to change your location from winter to summer. Some shade in summer is important while lots of sun in the winter is very attractive to birds
Make sure you are close to a source of water and bird feeders
Locate the birdbath where you can see it from inside your house
Keep it near some fine dirt to dust their wings after the bath, it gives them more lift by removing some of the oils and water too.

6) Keep your birdbaths clean

Empty the water out of your garden birdbath and refill it every couple of days. Use a brush to remove any algae that may have grown.

If you are interested in purchasing a new birdbath visit my website. We also have great outdoor wooden furniture, recyclable outdoor furniture, outdoor candle lanterns, tuned windchimes, garden yard stakes, decorative birdhouses & wild bird feeders.

Other articles they may interest you:
Water will attract more birds to your backyard
Choosing a birdfeeder for your backyard
Put your birdhouse up this Fall do not wait till Spring

Plant some Fall Bulbs for Added Color in Your Garden

2009-08-22T17:23:00.016-04:00

My garden is beginning to show the strain from the hot August days.

I needed something new to add some color. Fall periennels would probably not bloom this season and I wanted immediate color. So I think I am going to try some Fall blooming bulbs.

Autumn Crocus (Colchicum)

The flowers come up in the fall without leaves. The leaves grow in the spring and then go summer dormant - then the flowers come in the fall.

Height:6-12 in
Spacing:3-6 in
Hardiness: Zone 5A-9B
Sun Exposure:Full Sun
Blooms in: Pale PinkWhite/Near White
Requires consistently moist soil; do not let dry out between waterings

Fall Crocus (Crocus kotschyanus)

This is the most hardy of the fall crocus which blooms in Mid Fall
This plant is attractive to bees, butterflies and/or birds. Also deer resistant
Other more tender fall crocus are C. niveus, C. sativus, C. ochroleucus.
Height:under 6 in.Spacing:3-6 in. (7-15 cm)
Hardiness: Zone 3A to 9B
Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade/Light Shade
Blooms in: Pale Pink & Violet/Lavender
Drought-tolerant; suitable for xeriscaping. Water regularly; do not overwater
Note: Colchicum corms are poisonous so do not allow children to play or handle these corms.

Hardy cyclamen (C hederifolium)

This fragrant flower grows well in shady garden beds that are well drained but rich in organic matter

This plant doesn't want standing water (or almost any water at all) and requires protection from the sun.

The leaves will disappear during the summer months so do not panic when you see them dying. That's what they do. The flowers will appear without leaves in mid fall but independently from the leaves.

Deadhead if you do not want volunteer seedlings next season

Sometimes you may have a problem finding in local garden centers

Height: under 6 in

Spacing:9-12 in

Hardiness: 5A to 9B

Sun Exposure: Light Shade

Bloom Color:Pink

Lycoris, Naked Ladies & Surprise Lily

One of the problems with this family of plants is that the names are terribly messed up. The best thing to do is to buy based on color rather than species
Flowers are produced on leafless stems, in clusters of 6-12 blooms in late summer or early fall. The flower stalks come first and then the leaves come afterwards.
This plant loves rich, well-drained soils and doesn't do well in sandy or clay soils.
There are up to 19 species to choose from in various colors
Height:18-36 in depending on the variety you choose
Hardiness range: zones 6-10
Sun Exposure:full sun or part shade
Requires consistently moist soil; do not let dry out between waterings

Visit my website for many of your outdoor needs including outdoor wooden furniture, garden outdoor fountains, outdoor candle lanterns, garden wind chimes and much more

Other postings that may be of interest:
When and How to Prune Roses for the Novice
8 Plants that Flower in the Winter
Great Fall Plants for your Containers and Planters

Tufted Titmouse- August Bird of the Month

2009-08-15T10:13:00.017-04:00

Beginning this month I will highlight a Bird of the Month. I want to learn more about the birds in my backyard. Since I spend time filling my squirrel proof birdfeeders and maintaining my nest boxes for them, it seemed it would become fun to learn more about them.

A little gray bird with an echoing voice, the Tufted Titmouse is common in eastern deciduous forests and a frequent visitor to feeders.

Size & Shape:

Tufted Titmice look large among the small birds that come to feeders and is the the largest titmouse species
The pointed crest and stout bill help identify titmice even in silhouette
Large black eyes and round bill
Length: 4.5-5.5 inches

Colors:

Wings and back are soft gray
White underparts
A black patch just above the bill makes the bird look snub-nosed.
Rusty flanks

Behavior:

Tufted Titmice flit from branch to branch of the forest canopy looking for food, often in the company of other species including nuthatches, chickadees, kinglets, and woodpeckers.
In the fall and winter they often hang upside down or sideways as they investigate cones, undersides of branches, and leaf clusters.
Titmice are very vocal, social birds and are quick to respond to the sounds of other birds
Its song is quick "peter-peter-peter" repeated in succession..listen hear
Usually seen in small mixed flocks with chickadees and other species following the breeding season.
During the late spring, summer, and early fall, Titmice tend to disappear. This disappearance is during nesting and the subsequent annual molt. These birds are in the secluded depths of the woods and are unaccustomedly silent

Habitat:

Breeds from eastern Nebraska, southern Michigan, and Maine south to Texas, the Gulf Coast, and central Florida
Tufted Titmice live in deciduous woods or mixed evergreen-deciduous woods, typically in areas with a dense canopy and many tree species.
They are also common in orchards, parks, and suburban areas.
Generally found at low elevations, Tufted Titmice are rarely reported at elevations above 2,000 feet.

Feeding:

Eats mainly insects in the summer, including caterpillars, beetles, ants and wasps, stink bugs, and treehoppers, as well as spiders and snails.
Also eats seeds, nuts, and berries, including acorns and beech nuts. Acorns may form most of diet from November to February.
Will come to squirrel proof feeders for Sunflower seeds, suet, bread, safflower, peanuts, peanut kernels

Nesting:

Tufted titmice appear to be monogamous during the nesting season, building their nests in cavities in trees or fence posts.
They sometimes use space excavated by woodpeckers, and they often line the nest with hair that they take from living animals. Often becomes bold enough to collect this needed nesting material from living mammals
Will also nest in artificial structures including nest boxes
Nest construction begins in late April and takes 6 to 11 days.
Clutch Size: 3–9 eggs, Incubation Period: 12–14 days, Nestling Period: 15–16 days
Only one brood is raised and these follow the parents for many months.

Interesting Facts:

Most Tufted Titmice live their entire life within a few kilometers of their birthplace
A young titmouse may remain with its parents into the breeding season and help them raise the next year's brood
They only occur in areas where rainfall is greater than 24 inches per year, and are more common where rainfall exceeds 32 inches per year.
In Cherokee legend, they are regarded as messengers
Tufted Titmice hoard food in fall & winter and take advantage of a bird feeder by storing many of the seeds they get.
The oldest known wild Tufted Titmouse lived to be 13 years 3 months old.

Sources for this posting: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, WhatBird.com, Birding.com & Life Histories of North American Birds

Buy a new squirrel proof birdfeeder or nest box for your backyard birds. Visit my website for many of your outdoor needs including outdoor wooden furniture, garden outdoor fountains, outdoor candle lanterns, garden wind chimes and much more

Other postings that may be of interest:
Squirrel Buster tips you need to know
Choosing a Birdfeeder for Your Backyard
Put your Birdhouse this Fall , Don't wait till the Spring!!

10 Ways to Use Summer's Best-Tomato

2009-08-06T12:27:00.010-04:00

I am from New Jersey and we love our tomatoes!!! So I wanted to find some new recipes to try this summer and I stumbled across these from Food and Wine. I have not tried these recipes yet but am looking forward to making them over the upcoming weeks!!!!

When juicy tomatoes are in season, put them to good use! You can fill your table with summery salads, fresh sauces, savory tarts, and plenty of Bloody Marys!

Looking for a whole meal? Pair these delicious summer recipes with healthy cookout recipes and simple salads with easy homemade dressings.

Fresh Tomato Bloody Marys
From Food & Wine

Savory Tomato Parfaits
From Food & Wine

Tomato Salsa with Cucumber "Chips"
From Food & Wine

Fresh Herb-and-Tomato Salsa with Smoked Cheese
From Food & Wine

Green Bean-Tomato Salad with Herbs
From Food & Wine

Heirloom Tomato Salad
From Food & Wine

Oven-Roasted Tomatoes Stuffed with Goat Cheese
From Food & Wine

Linguine with Tomatoes, Baby Zucchini, and Herbs
From Food & Wine

Fusilli with Summer Tomato Sauce
From Food & Wine

Puff-Pastry Tomato Tarts
From Food & Wine

Buy something new for your backyard today!! Check out my website for lots of cool stuff. Wooden Outdoor furniture, Decorative Birdhouses, Squirrel proof birdfeeders, birdbaths, tuned windchimes, Poly Recyled Furniture, Outdoor Candle Lanterns, Garden Fountains, and much more.

Some other articles that may be of interest:
Other recipes that you may enjoy:
Pork Tenderloin Recipe for the Grill
Firecracker Grilled Salmon
Great Burger Recipe
Marinated Grilled Shrimp Recipe
Cajun Chicken
California Grilled Veggie Sandwich

August Plant of the Month

2009-08-03T01:04:00.016-04:00

Heptacodium miconioides, commonly called the Seven Son Flower is part of Caprifoliaceae family

From the common name, one might suspect that this plant is a perennial or annual; a plant which is aglow with flowers all summer! Quite the contrary, this deciduous plant has the stature of a large shrub or small tree.

The tiered branches of this fast-growing species are covered with white blossoms for over a month, starting in late summer. The flowers fade to reveal fuchsia calyxes that persist well into autumn.

The shape of the plant is truly determined by the gardener. It can be pruned to a single trunk so it appears to be a small tree or be left as a large shrub.

During July, the flower buds appear, but they merely serve to tantalize the gardener since they do not finally open until August! Once they do they give off a sweet fragrance of jasmine .

This is a great shrub for late summer, fall and winter interest. Another plus for this shrub is its salt tolerance, so it could be used near the seashore. It also attracts butterflies.

Hardiness: USDA zones: 5-8.
Mature size: Height: 20 feet. Width: 8-10 feet.
Flowering period: Late summer to late autumn.
Flowering attributes: Clusters of fragrant, creamy white flowers born in clusters of seven, followed by clusters of showy purple fruit with bright purple-red calyxes.
Leaf attributes: Four-inch long, ovate, deciduous, green leaves that turn purple-bronze in autumn.
Light: Full sun is best
Soil: Fertile, well-drained soil.
Feeding: Side dress with compost and a complete organic fertilizer in the spring.
Water: Water regularly; do not overwater
Pruning Methods: In late winter or early spring prune out crossed branches or branches too tall, to maintain good shape
Landscape Use: in small groups, for late summer flowers, for colored sepals in fall & for attractive bark. Also easily transplanted and grown.
Liabilities: 1)introduced in 1980 and therefore a bit hard to find 2)stem dieback possibly due to canker 3)many plants especially those in shade do not seem to develop retained sepals 4)buck deer like to rub their antlers on the trunks

Visit my website for many of your outdoor needs including outdoor wooden furniture, garden outdoor fountains, outdoor candle lanterns, garden wind chimes and much more

Other postings that may be of interest:
8 Plants that Flower in the Winter
Great Fall Plants for your Containers and Planters
Plant some Fall Bulbs for added color in your Garden

Grilling Times for Beef, Pork, Fish, Chicken, & Veggies

2009-07-26T19:22:00.012-04:00

Found a great website that details grilling times for all cuts of meat, fish, seafood and vegetables. Grilling Times.com

Often I have the meat on the grill and I am scrambling to remember how long to cook it. I have printed these times and have them stored in my grill cabinet.

Tips and Grilling times for Beef Roasts

Tips and Grilling times for Beef Steaks

Tips and Grilling times for Fish and Seafood

Tips and Grilling times for Pork Chops and Steaks

Tips and Grilling times for Pork Roasts

Tips and Grilling times for Poultry

Tips and Grilling times for Vegetables

Buy something new for your backyard today!! Check out my website for lots of cool stuff. Wooden Outdoor furniture, Decorative Birdhouses, Squirrel proof birdfeeders, birdbaths, tuned windchimes, Poly Recyled Furniture, Outdoor Candle Lanterns, Garden Fountains, and much more.

Pork Tenderloin Recipe for the Grill
Firecracker Grilled Salmon
Great Burger Recipe
Marinated Grilled Shrimp Recipe
Cajun Chicken
California Grilled Veggie Sandwich

When and How to Prune Roses for the Novice

2009-07-25T08:48:00.010-04:00

Found this very helpful post on Backyard Gardening Tips Blog about how to prune Roses. There is a video that is really great. Having someone talk to me about pruning roses I find very helpful.

How to Prune Roses -Growing Roses-Care of Different Types of Roses

Pruning Roses for Maximum Display- includes video

some other sites I found useful:

How and when to Prune Roses By Marie Iannotti

Pruning Roses..University of Illinois extension

How and When to Prune Roses video

Pruning Roses video

Pruning Roses from Rose Magazine

Buy something new for your backyard today!! Check out my website for lots of cool stuff. Wooden Outdoor furniture, Decorative Birdhouses, Squirrel proof birdfeeders, birdbaths, tuned windchimes, Poly Recyled Furniture, Outdoor Candle Lanterns, Garden Fountains, and much more.

July Plant of the Month

2009-07-13T14:11:00.024-04:00

Obtained information from Gardening Green for Less Magazine & Ball Horticultural Company

Sangria Ornamental Pepper

Features:
It may not pack the heat, but it can take it. A drought-tolerant option for hot summers, this ornamental pepper features loads of striking purple-and-red fruit that is safe (not hot) for small children, should they happen to conduct a taste test of their own.

Uses: This showstopper will stand alone in containers, or look great in mixed displays or the parts of your garden that could use a little exotic flair
Scientific Name : Capsicum annuum
Common Name : Chili pepper
Hardiness Degree : 40°F (4.4°C)
Plant Habit : Mounded, Upright
Characteristics : Drought Tolerant, Colorful/Attractive Foliage, Heat Tolerant, Low Maintenance
Water : Medium
Fertilize : Every two weeks
Spacing : 14 - 16" (36 - 41cm)
Height : 10 - 12" (25 - 30cm)
Width : 16 - 18" (41 - 46cm)
Exposure : Sun
General Information : Plants have a full and somewhat spreading habit, and produce striking purple and red fruits that are non-pungent (not hot when eaten).
Idea & Tips : Extremely drought tolerant and easy to produce under hot summer conditions.

Buy something new for your backyard today!! Check out my website for lots of cool stuff. Wooden Outdoor furniture, Decorative Birdhouses, Squirrel proof birdfeeders, birdbaths, tuned windchimes, Poly Recyled Furniture, Outdoor Candle Lanterns, Garden Fountains, and much more.

Other Postings that may be of interest:
Plants of the Month
Plant some Fall Bulbs for added color in your Garden
When and How to prune roses for novices

View these Garden Paths

2009-07-08T00:03:00.005-04:00

16 Beautiful Garden Paths
By Sunset

This link to msn real estate.. is a slideshow worth viewing..will give you many ideas

Buy something new for your backyard today!! Check out my website for lots of cool stuff. Wooden Outdoor furniture, Decorative Birdhouses, Squirrel proof birdfeeders, birdbaths, tuned windchimes, Poly Recyled Furniture, Outdoor Candle Lanterns, Garden Fountains, and much more.

Some other postings that may be of interest to you:
Grow kids interest in Gardening with these tips
Great Gardening Blogs and Websites
Top Landscaping Sites have great ideas for your outdoor living space

Tomato Blight

2009-07-06T19:37:00.007-04:00

We all know that the amount of rain that we got over the last month is not good for our vegatable gardens.

I found a posting on Doug's Green Garden that addresses the serious problems at hand for tomatoes specifically.

The problem is sweeping the East Coast right now - confirmed lab reports from several states and many gardeners reporting dramatic plant deaths - and with the cold wet weather, this is going to wipe out a lot of tomatoes - commercially and in the home garden.

If you hang out on the Net at all, you're going to be reading about it everywhere gardeners congregate. Here's the real deal on what it is, how you recognize it, and what to do about it if you get it. Tomato Blight Post on Doug Green's Blog

Grow kids’ interest in gardening with these tips

2009-06-24T10:29:00.009-04:00

June has not allowed much time for me to write my own post. But I did some surfing and found this article many parents of young kids might find helpful

Grow kids’ interest in gardening with these tips (from Today's Home and Garden)

These are boom times for home gardening, but as many parents know, it still isn't easy to get kids interested and involved. One way, experts say, is to teach children how to cook what they help harvest from the family garden.

Gardening packs an educational punch: It can teach nutrition, biology, mathematics (sizing up rows and plot perimeters), social studies, geography and languages. Vegetable gardens help save money, encourage exercise, deliver fresh flavors to the kitchen and reduce the risks of buying tainted food.

click here for the complete article

Buy something new for your backyard today!! Check out my website for lots of cool stuff. Wooden Outdoor furniture, Decorative Birdhouses, Squirrel proof birdfeeders, birdbaths, tuned windchimes, Poly Recyled Furniture, Outdoor Candle Lanterns, Garden Fountains, and much more.

When is the Best time to Cut your Garden Flowers

2009-06-17T09:16:00.020-04:00

I have always wanted to know when the correct time to cut flowers in my garden. I found this information on Garden Guides

Following is chart that specifies when to cut flowers so bouquets and arrangements will last longer and look better.


FLOWER	CUT WHEN FLOWERS ARE:
Anemone	½ to fully open
Aster	¾ to fully open
Azalea	fully open
Bachelor's Button	½ to fully open
Bleeding Heart	4-5 florets open
Calendula	fully open
Carnation	fully open
Chrysanthemum	Fully open
Daffodils	when color shows in bud
Dahlia	fully open
Daisy	½ to fully open
Delphinium	¾ to fully open
Gladiolus	as second floret opens
Iris	as first bud opens
Lilac	½ to fully open
Lily	as first bud opens
Marigold	fully open
Peony	bud in color or fully open
Rose	as second petal unfurls
Tulip	bud to ½ open
Zinnia	Fully open

Some other articles that may be of interest to you:
Planting and caring for Annuals
16 Bugs every Gardener Should Love
Great Gardening Blogs & Websites

8 Tips for Choosing Outdoor Furniture That You Will Love

2009-05-30T00:31:00.030-04:00

Your outdoor space is an extension of your living space and can be done so many different ways. It is important when choosing between wooden outdoor furniture, wrought iron furniture, Environmentally Friendly Poly Furniture or any of the many alternatives for your outdoor space that you take time with your decision.

I found out what should be considered when choosing lawn and garden furniture. Read through these tips, you will be glad you did.

1)Set a budget

Purchasing a dining set for example can range from a couple of hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. So you need to decide ahead of time the amount of money you can spend and then stick to that number.
Consider waiting till after July 4th to buy because there will be sales on outdoor furniture.
You can also save alot of money by replacing your cushions, umbrella and other outdoor accessories rather than replacing the entire furniture set

2)Think about where your furniture will be placed.

Does the space get a ton of sun? Will the furniture be sitting on grass or on a hard surface? Your answers will help determine if you need an umbrella or if you need a lighter weight furniture for grassy spots.
What are the views you want to enjoy? Will your outdoor furniture be close to the house or off in the distance? Outdoor furniture that is close to the house needs to stay consistant with you house’s architecture. While outdoor furniture further away, leaves more possibilities for varied styles

3)Measure the space that you're planning to fill.

Keep in mind that the chairs around a table take up an additional 24 inches of space. And then you'll need an extra 24 to 36 inches from the back of the chairs to be able to walk around.
Before you buy, go home with the furniture measurements and use chalk to draw the dimensions or cutouts of your furnitures dimensions.
When working with a small space, consider a bar table set rather than a full-sized table. Bar stools rather than bar chairs will also conserve space. If you must go with a traditional dining table, consider armless chairs.

4)Determine the type of function you want.

Do you want seating for quiet reflection? How many people do you usually entertain and what type of entertaining do you enjoy doing? Do you need a large table and chairs or just a simple set of comfy chairs with an end table between them?
What are your storage needs and where will you store your furniture if you need to get it out of the elements?
If you’d like to be able to move your seating from place to place, then something lightweight would be in order.

5)Determine the pieces you want to buy.

Dining tables
Loveseats Benches
Coffee tables
End tables
Cushions,Pillows
Patio umbrella
Dining chairs
Gliders
Lounge chairs
Rockers
Ottomans
Serving tables
Patio swing
Hammocks

6)Choose the right material for you.

You want your lawn and garden furniture to be durable while you want it to look nice and require minimal maintenance. Garden furniture resides in a harsh outdoor environment so much must be considered.

Wrought iron furniture is indestructible and can be found in many styles ranging from elaborate Victorian detailing to rustic branch and leaf designs to sleek contemporary forms.

This material will heat up during the summer and be very cold in the winter.
It's heavy, so it's best for a patio or deck rather than grass.
Maintenance includes cleaning your pieces with mild soap and rinse with a soft spray from the garden hose at the beginning and end of season. Cracks in the finish should be touched up with paint. If taken care of, it will last for decades.

Aluminum is lighter than wrought iron and doesn't rust. But it certainly doesn't last as long as wrought iron.

If unpainted, protect it with car wax or mineral oil, depending on what the manufacturer’s tag recommends.
Clean this furniture with soapy water and hose down to rinse it off.

Wicker is lightweight and can easily be moved . It also comes in many colors for coordinating with your color schemes.

Should get an all season wicker that will hold up against the elements of the outdoors. Or a resin wicker, which is wrapped around a steel or aluminum frame, making it more durable and easier to clean.
Is very comfortable seating.
Brings the look and feel of upholstered furniture to the outdoors. Be sure to use all-weather fabrics on your seat cushions.
Cleaning includes vacuuming it over. Then washing with a mild detergent in water, rinse it off with a hose and let it air dry

Wooden outdoor furniture makes for a nice earthy look and goes well with a variety of garden styles including Natural, Contemporary, English, French, Rustic, Adirondack and Asian.

This furniture when exposed to outdoor elements will change from warm hues of new wood to the natural tones of the outdoors. Honey turns fawn grey. If you want to keep it the original hue you will need to apply a sealant.
Wooden outdoor furniture is made from two categories of wood.
Tropical woods: teak, eucalyptus, mahogany, ipe, iroko, jarrah, balau, keruing
North American grown wood: cedar, redwood, cypress, pressure-treated pine
Built solid and sturdy and will not blow over easily during storms
Tropical woods last 50 to 80 years and North American woods for 10 to 25 years.
This is a purchase is an investment that will last for many years to come. Tropical wood sets will cost more than North American wood. Quality of teak woods do vary so if you find a great price that indicates lesser quality
Some of your North American woods will require regular application of a preservative. But cleaning for all woods will be easy with mild soap and water

Plastic furniture is very affordable and a great choice if you have a tight budget.

Often this furniture is stackable.
You can get this in in a variety of styles. Contemporary styles really look great in this material.
The color range is practically unending.
There are also Environmentally Friendly Poly Furniture which is made of recycled plastic bottles -- good for the environment but will be more expensive.
Cleaning involves spray it down with the same mildew busting product you use in your shower and hosing it off.

7)Choose the right cushions & pillows.

Make sure you have a place to store them when you're not outside.
Look for pillows that have some kind of color stay protection, as well as polyester fibers to allow air to filter through.
Get cushions with patterns on both sides.

8)Go with an umbrella that's a lighter, neutral color. Otherwise a bright colored umbrella will look faded and dull by the end of the summer.

9)Make sure you have a place to put the furniture during the winter months. If not, consider investing in heavy duty covers to protect each of the pieces

If you are looking for new wrought iron furniture, wooden outdoor furniture, Environmentally Friendly Poly Furniture or many other items to enhance your backyard..spend some time on my website..YourGardenRetreat.com

Some other articles that may be of interest to you:
Fire Pits add warmth and style to your outdoor space
7 ways to transform your outdoor living space
May Backyard and Garden Care Tips

16 bugs gardeners should love..

2009-05-29T08:55:00.032-04:00

I found this on msn and loved it so much I decided to copy and put in my blog for everyone to enjoy.

By Marilyn Lewis of MSN Real Estate
You’re not alone in your garden. Thousands of spiders, flies, beetles, worms, bees and other small creatures are laboring, usually quietly, alongside you. Their presence is a gardener’s gift. Repay it by avoiding nonorganic pesticides, says W.M. Hood, professor of entomology at Clemson University in South Carolina. “If you have to use some of the bad pesticides, do it late in the evening when they are not foraging,” he says. “Some of the effects will have worn off by the next day.”
1) Ladybug
These tiny (0.3 to 0.4 inch) critters are a species of beetle. They look like itty-bitty Volkswagen “bugs” with great paint jobs. Many wear distinctive black polka dots on a background of red, orange, yellow or gray. Others have black splotches or stripes, while some are solid. In many places in North America, native ladybugs are being replaced by species imported from Southeast Asia.
The benefit: When your prize roses or tender vegetable crops are plagued with aphid infestations, ladybugs come to the rescue: Adults eat 100 aphids a day; larvae can consume 100 aphids an hour. Ladybugs also devour garden mites, small insects and the eggs of pests like mealybugs, thrips, boll worms, leaf hoppers and scale.
Locale: Throughout North America.
Attract them: Plant or encourage dandelions, dill, wild carrots, Queen Anne’s lace, angelica, cilantro, fennel, cosmos, geraniums, tansy, dwarf morning glory or coreopsis. Keep the garden moist. Buy a ladybug house.

2) Dragonfly or damselfly
North America has 450 species of Odonata, ranging from less than an inch to 6 inches long. All have big, compound eyes and four transparent wings on a long, narrow body. These stunning creatures are bright and sometimes iridescent blue, green, yellow, violet or red. They lay eggs in or near water, where the young (“nymphs”) live for a time.
The benefit: Dragonflies feast on mosquitoes, aphids and other garden pests.
Locale: Found in most states. The Dragonfly Society of the Americas hosts this list of links and species by state.
Attract them: They’re drawn to bodies of water. If none is nearby, a garden pond or a plastic wading pool will attract them
3)Spider
Spiders aren’t insects; they’re arachnids. There are between 37,000 and 40,000 species worldwide. All have eight legs and a two-part body with a small head and a bigger abdomen. They range from nearly microscopic to giant tarantulas, whose leg span can reach 10 inches. Most spiders are shy and harmless. The ones that enter houses are different from the garden species.
The benefit: Spiders eat huge quantities of insects, killing more garden pests than all other beneficial bugs combined.
Locale: They live everywhere except Antarctica.
Attract them: Spread mulch on the garden; they love moisture and hiding places. Leave some areas uncultivated. Let leaves and stalks stand over the winter.
4)Ground beetle
About 2,500 species have been identified in North America. Most are a half-inch to an inch long, though a few are bigger. Ground beetles are generally black or brown with long, skinny legs. They are nocturnal and hide during the day under leaves and stones.
The benefit: They take down slugs and snails, the bane of many gardeners’ lives, and eat a host of other garden pests, too, including cutworms and root maggots. They clean up the garden, poking under fallen leaves for insects to eat.
Locale: Many species are dispersed throughout North America.
Attract them: Include low-growing plants for them to hide under; grow amaranth
5) Hover fly
Hover flies are also called syrphid flies, drone flies or flower flies. Their size ranges from about a quarter-inch to more than a half-inch in length. The black and yellow horizontal stripes might make you think they’re bees or wasps, but hover flies don’t sting. Here’s how to tell the difference: Bees and wasps have four wings; flies — hover flies included — have just two wings. Hover flies can hang in the air like tiny helicopters, darting and hovering from flower to flower. They’ll even fly backward.
The benefit: They not only eat loads of aphids and lay their eggs right in the aphid colonies, but their voracious larvae eat masses of aphids, caterpillars, mealybugs, thrips and scale. Besides cleaning up garden pests, hover flies help pollinate flowers.
Locale: Hover flies live in most states in the U.S.
Attract them: Plant alyssum, globe candytuft, dwarf morning glory, cosmos, Queen Anne’s lace, statice, lupine and parsley.
6)Green lacewing
Like dragonflies, green lacewings have long, slender bodies and big wings. But lacewings are even more delicate, and their green wings are covered with a lacelike network of veins. They have copper-colored eyes and long, slender antennae.
The benefit: The adults eat aphids. But the appetite of infant lacewings earns them the name “aphid lions.” The babies look like little alligators and they also eat spider mites, leafhopper nymphs, mealybugs, whiteflies, caterpillars and other garden pests and their eggs.
Locale: They live in the American Midwest, West and Northeast.
Attract them: Grow fernleaf yarrow, cosmos, Queen Anne’s lace, fennel and tansy.
7)Bumblebee
These big, noisy insects are often confused with honeybees. Both are furry, but bumblebees are bigger — nearly an inch long. They’re mostly black, perhaps with stripes of yellow, brown or a bit of red. They nest in the ground. Unlike honeybees, which lose their stingers when they strike, bumblebee stingers can be withdrawn and used again and again.
The benefit: In their work of taking nectar from flowers, they track pollen from plant to plant, fertilizing plants as they go. Because of their size, bumblebees are even more efficient pollinators than honeybees. But they are less numerous, with only a couple hundred per colony.
Locale: There’s probably at least one bumblebee species near you. Here’s an illustrated chart.
Attract them: Grow a variety of flowering plants in each season, including these bee favorites: sunflowers, plum trees, clover, vetch, cherry trees, apples, willow and yellow poplar.
8)Paper wasp
There are as many as 21 different paper wasps. They are a mixed blessing, because they will sting, although they usually leave people alone unless they’re bothered. You’ll know them by their long, narrow bodies and their conical, gray, papery nests. Unlike bees, wasps are not hairy.
The benefit: Unless they’ve built a nest too near your home, “détente” is a good policy, since paper wasps eat caterpillars whose ravenous gnawing can badly damage trees and garden plants.
Locale: The American Northeast, Florida, the West Coast, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Colorado.
Attract them: Plant fennel or have a picnic (they like food).
9)Butterfly
Butterflies have slender bodies, knobbed antennae and relatively massive wings with a great range of patterns and colors that vary by species. Some migrate huge distances with the seasons.
The benefit: A few are pests because their hungry larvae — caterpillars — damage crops and trees. But most help humans: As butterflies flit from plant to plant, searching for nectar, pollen sticks to their legs, and they inadvertently fertilize flowers and crops. They’re less efficient than honeybees, but with the losses of honeybee colonies to mysterious illness, the butterfly’s importance as a pollinator is growing.
Locale: Every state has butterflies. This map of the states at TheButterflySite.com shows species by county.
Attract them: Butterflies love big, bright-colored flowers on which they can rest, wings spread, while sipping nectar. Some gardeners create butterfly gardens to attract them. TheButterflySite.com explains how and lists favorite plants — including red clover, oregano, marigold, cosmos, zinnia, butterfly bush, garlic and black-eyed Susans — for nectar and for hosting butterflies and caterpillars. Also, see The University of Kentucky’s site for butterfly gardeners
10)Honeybee
There are many bee species but only one honeybee. Honeybees are about half the size of bumblebees — roughly a half-inch long.
The benefit: Because each colony contains thousands of individuals, honeybees are the best pollinators, making them valuable to both farmers and gardeners.
Locale: Although they have been widely distributed throughout the United States, entire colonies have been mysteriously dying in the last several years. The reason for colony collapse disorder is unclear, although some experts believe that mite infestations, together with susceptibility from environmental stresses, may be at fault.
Attract them: Grow a variety of flowering plants in each season, including these bee favorites: sunflowers, plum trees, clover, vetch, cherry trees, apples, willow and yellow poplar.
11)Beneficial nematode
Nematodes are tiny parasitic worms that attack the larvae of soil-dwelling insects but are otherwise harmless. They are so effective at controlling 200 or more species of pests that they are used on a large scale for agricultural pest control.
The benefit: They’re used in lawn care and gardens to control pests such as fleas, crane flies, caterpillars, large beetles and root weevils. They’re not toxic to people or animals.
Locale: It’s necessary to purchase beneficial nematodes from a supplier to use them in pest control. Products include BioSafe, Guardian, Scanmask, Exhibit, BioVector and Oti-Nem.
Attract them:Beneficial nematodes must be repurchased yearly and applied according to specific supplier directions, at the rate of about 6,000 to 46,000 per square foot. Here’s a fact sheet from Colorado State University extension service.
12)Earthworm
Earthworms (large ones are also called night crawlers) are treasured by organic gardeners. They aerate the soil and break down leaves, wood, grass and stems into rich soil. Researchers report 182 categories of earthworms in the U.S. and Canada; some individuals can reach 12 to 14 inches.
The benefit: Earthworms force air into the soil as they tunnel through it, loosening the ground, which allows roots to spread and water to drain. Their rich castings (excrement) make nutrients from compost available to plants. Earthworms make good fishing bait and, more importantly, they’re the basis for many food chains and sustain numerous species of birds.
Locale: Throughout the United States.
Attract them: Avoid pesticides. Use plenty of organic compost, which gives them food and warms the soil in the winter and cools it in summer.
13)Centipedes and millipedes
These invertebrates lay eggs in the ground each autumn and spring. They molt repeatedly, adding body sections, each with its own set of legs. Centipedes have one set of legs per segment, millipedes have two. They can reach 3 inches in length, depending on the species. Although they can bite, North American species are not dangerous. They like the damp and hide in cracks and under logs, rocks or leaves, coming out at night.
The benefit: Centipedes and millipedes are both a help and a hindrance for homeowners. They’re great for the garden, if only they’ll stay there. Millipedes chew up organic material into fluffy, rich compost. Centipedes patrol the garden for slugs, fly pupae, cockroaches, crickets and worms. Big centipedes, such as those that live in South America’s Amazon jungle, even eat small birds, bats and reptiles. But some species come indoors. Although they eat spiders, carpet beetles and ants indoors, they’re usually unwelcome. Seal cracks and openings to keep them out. This University of Kentucky article tells how to treat more serious indoor invasions.
Locale: Throughout the United States.
Attract them: Mulch deeply and avoid tilling the soil deeply.
14)Praying mantis
This weird, elegant creature can morph from brown to green to gray, melding inconspicuously into its surroundings. The long stem of a neck rotates the triangular head for a 300-degree scan. There are about 2,000 species of this cockroach relative. They range from less than a half-inch to 6 inches long. The mantis (or mantid) has five eyes (two compound and three simple) that spot movement 60 feet away. Its hooked and serrated forelegs fold up neatly, giving it the appearance of a penitent at prayer. (Watch a mantid eat a wasp in this YouTube video.)
The benefit: Mantids eat pests, including aphids, moths, beetles, crickets, mosquitoes, grasshoppers and flies.
Locale: Mantids live wild in parts of the South and the Eastern U.S. They’re the state insect of Connecticut.
Attract them: Mantids are difficult to attract. They’re marketed to home gardeners for purchase as a biological control agent but are not usually effective because of their short lives and tendency to eat other beneficial bugs, including each other.
15)Assassin bug
True to its name, this bug creeps up on prey, using its curved beak to inject saliva that liquefies the captive’s innards, which it then sucks up. Assassins range from tiny to longer than an inch. They have long heads on narrow necks and range in color from dark to pale with splashes of brown, black, orange or red.
The benefit: They eat beetles, mosquitoes, bedbugs, aphids, caterpillars and flies, but they can be tough to have around because they also eat bees, and some species bite humans and carry disease.
Locale: About 100 species are found across North America.
Attract them: Encourage or plant alfalfa, daisies, camphorweed, Queen Anne’s lace, goldenrod, carrots and their relatives, and oleander.
16)Firefly (or lightning bug)
This beetle is a summer evening favorite in many parts of the U.S. because the luminous organ on its abdomen lights up to attract a mate. Fireflies are a half-inch to an inch long.
The benefit: The carnivorous larvae of the 136 species in North America devour other insects’ larvae, cutworms, slugs and snails but also, alas, earthworms.
Locale: Fireflies breed in regions where summer humidity is high.
Attract them: Encourage preservation of large meadows, wetlands, streams and prairies.

Some other articles that may be of interest to you:
Planting and caring for Annuals
May Backyard and Garden Care Tips
Great Gardening Blogs & Websites

Great Burger Recipe for Grilling this Weekend

2009-05-25T13:28:00.008-04:00

I found Glazed Bacon-and-Cheese-Filled Burgers on Country Living Website and it is an amazing recipe

.. a must try..this memorial day weekend

Ingredients:
3 tablespoon(s) dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon(s) paprika
1/2 teaspoon(s) garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon(s) ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon(s) chipotle powder
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
1/4 teaspoon(s) fresh-ground pepper
1 pound(s) ground beef
1/2 cup(s) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
6 slice(s) bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 rolls

Directions

Heat grill to medium.
Combine the sugar, spices, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and set aside.
Form the beef into 8 equal patties.
Toss the cheese and crumbled bacon together and place an equal amount on 4 of the patties.
Place the remaining patties over the cheese and bacon and pinch the edges to seal.
Generously pat each burger with the reserved spice mixture.
Grill to desired doneness -- about 5 minutes per side for medium.

If you want bigger burgers increase the amount of ground beef..

Planting and Caring for Annuals

2009-05-17T10:42:00.024-04:00

I love my perennials and put most of my planning efforts each year into choosing, moving, and planting them. Yet my garden would not be complete without annuals filling in when my perennials fade for their season.

My favorites are: marigolds, blue saliva, ageratum, begonias, pansies, zinnias, cosmos, cleome(pictured above), vinca, snapdragons(taller versions)and geraniums.

Unlike what is recommended I plant 3 plants(from pack of 6 or 4) together in one hole. I have found that this insures that I will have a larger plant sooner in the season and if one of the plants die it is not as apparent since the other two usually thrive.

I used impatiens for the first time this year and the rabbits ate every single one of them the very next day!! In the past I have had to keep my pansies sprayed with deer/rabbit repellent but I did not know they liked impatiens. Did a little research and found that rabbits favorites plants to eat are asters, hostas, hybrid lilies, impatiens, pansies and tulips. That being said if they are hungry enough the will eat anything and I just found evidence that they have been nibbling at my phlox and bellflower!!!

When researching this post I referred to gardenguides.com, howstuffworks.com, and University of Illinois.

When to plant

Don't be in a hurry to plant too soon. Most annuals cannot be planted until after all danger of frost and prefer warm soils and stable temperatures to grow well. In my area (zone 6) I usually plant on Mothers Day and I am fine.

The best time to plant is late in the afternoon. Before planting, water your plants and the soil in your bed well.

Where to plant

Most annuals like at least 6 to 8 hours of sun a day. There are many annuals that will do well in part shade or filtered sun. These include ageratum, browallia, coleus, dianthus, fuschia, impatiens, lobelia, pansy, salvia, Inca, and wishbone flower. Few if any annuals will do well in complete shade.

Soil

Majority of annuals prefer well-drained soil with a moderate humus content. If your soil is clay, you can amend it with compost or well-rotted manure

If your soil pH falls within the 6.0-7.4 range, you should be able to grow most annuals. If ph test reveals that your soil is too acid or alkaline, it can be altered with amendments, such as lime for acid soil and aluminum sulfate for alkaline soil.

How to plant

Lift plants from the cell packs or pots. The best way to do this is to either gently squeeze or push up the bottom of the container if pliable. Sometimes if the plant just doesn't seem to want to come out I gently tear the pack.

Gently break up the root-ball of annuals. Often, the roots have overgrown the potting area and become matted. You'll have to pull off the tangles so the roots will be able to grow freely into the soil.

Dig a hole slightly larger than the root ball. I then put smart release plant food-"Osmocote" in the hole. I find fertilizing this way easier.

Place plant in dug hole at the same level or just slightly lower than they were grown in the container. Carefully put soil firmly around the roots.

Mulching

After annuals are planted, it is suggested that a 2-3 inch layer of organic mulch be applied around the plants. Not only is it attractive, but it also helps conserve soil moisture, retard weed growth and keeps soils cool.

Watering

Water well after planting and keep moist until the plants are established and new growth has started.

Subsequently watering is needed when you test the soil by sticking your finger down 2-3 inches into the soil and it is dry. Remember, it's always better to check too often rather than not often enough. Don't wait until drooping plants indicate that the soil is parched.

Deep, infrequent watering is much preferred over frequent, light watering because it encourages a deep root system. Stop watering when the soil is moistened to a 4-inch depth. A good approach is to use an automatic sprinkler, letting it gently "rain" for an extended period of time. Check at half-hour intervals to see how deeply the water has penetrated. The best approach is soaker hoses which eliminate the problem of excess water on leaves and flowers that could lead to mildew or fungus problems.

Personally I still use sprinklers and water early enough in the day so the foliage dries off before nightfall.. I keep saying I am going to get soaker hoses but have not got around to getting them.

Fertilizing

Like I state above I use smart release plant food and do not need to fertilize again.

However if you have not used this method then you will need to fertilize at least twice during the growing season. Initial soil preparation provides the necessary fertilization at time of planting. Subsequent fertilizing should be done 6-8 weeks after planting and then 6 weeks after that.

Fertilizers are applied in a dry granular or powder form, or mixed with water for a liquid application. The granular or powder foods should be broadcast over the soil surface and dug in; liquid applications can be made with a hand sprayer or a special mixing attachment for your garden hose.

For best absorption, fertilize when the soil is moist. Take care to apply it on the soil rather than on the plant leaves. The plants, your hands, and the fertilizer should be dry when you fertilize. Caution: Always wash your hands after handling fertilizer.

Ongoing care

"Deadhead" your flowers– pick the spent flowers before they start to set seed – the plant will produce more flowers in an effort to ultimately produce seeds. This practice keeps annuals in the flowering stage longer and usually results in a greater number of blooms. Annuals such as marigold, zinnias, salvia, geranium, cosmos and other spike or single stem flowers particularly benefit from this practice.

"Pinching Back" your annuals to encourage compact growth and a neater appearance. Remove the growth bud at the end of the main stem when the plant is in its rapid growth stage. The best time to do this is at the time you set your plants into your beds. This can be done four weeks later also.

The tops of some plants, such as petunia and impatiens, may be cut back 6-8 inches in mid to late summer after the first flush of flowers has subsided to promote a second flowering period in the fall. A good time to do this is right after the Fourth of July holiday

Weeding not only keeps the bed more attractive, but also eliminates possible hosts for insects and disease and allows the flowers to receive the full benefit of the available moisture and nutrients. Weed carefully when the annuals are young so as not to disturb the young roots.

Remember I have lots of neat stuff on my website for your backyard..outdoor garden fountains, wooden outdoor furniture, recycled poly furniture, decorative birdhouses and birdfeeders, outdoor candle lanterns, and tuned wind chimes. Happy Gardening