Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2017 i Birds and Blooms Extra

When I moved into a house last year, I was thrilled to finally have space to grow veggies. Tomatoes were first on my list. As soon as my cherry tomato plant was in the ground, I checked it daily (yes, that was excessive). I was like a kid on Christmas morning waiting for the inaugural fruit. Soon my plant was dotted with delicious red globes, and my routine trips to the side yard involved filling a small dish with my bounty. It didn’t matter if I brought one tomato or 12 back to the kitchen. It was my favorite time of day. Growing your own food is extremely popular among gardeners of all ages, so this issue is full of veggie tips! If your plot isn’t complete without tomatoes, see…

STUFF WE LOVE Spoon grape jelly into the orange glass bowl, top with the metal flower and hang from a branch. Jelly feeder, $20, gardeners.com JELLY VS. JAM Across the pond, birders serve grape jam to their birds. “Jelly” is what the Brits call Jell-O. PUT OUT PB&J Birds love this classic pairing just as much as people do. Stuff peanut butter into log-feeder holes or smear it on tree bark to give visiting blue jays and woodpeckers a protein boost.…

Tomatoes are the bright red gems of veggie gardens. In a salad or sandwich or on its own, a fresh slice of sweet goes a long way. Up your grow game with these tomato tips from the National Garden Bureau. 1. LOOK FOR THE SUNNY SIDE Set yourself up for success by making sure tomatoes are planted in a space that receives a lot of direct sunlight. “They can get by with six hours of sun but, ideally, eight hours or more is best,” says Diane Blazek, executive director of the National Garden Bureau. “Less than eight hours of sunlight results in fewer and smaller fruits.” Warm weather is important, too. Until nighttime temperatures reach 55 degrees, hold off on planting. 2. TRY THE TRENCH METHOD Dig a 4-inch hole…

things are looking up for those who crave farm-fresh veggies but have little to no acreage. A vertical vegetable garden is the ultimate solution for your small-space backyard. It’s easy to do, and your favorite veggies—tomatoes, green beans and cucumbers, to name a few—are up for the job. Container-grown or vertical veggies are perfect for condo or apartment dwellers, or anyone who deals with difficult terrain or soil conditions. That’s because vertical gardens can be placed almost anywhere—a balcony, patio, front porch or along a fence. And you can grow more veggies per square foot this way than in a more traditional garden. Plus harvesting is a breeze with the fruits of your labor right in front of you. No more stooping! Vertical options also offer people living in close…

Q I have heard that you should make sugar water strong for hummingbirds when they first arrive in spring. Is this true? Evelyn Goodspeed WITHERBEE, NEW YORK Kenn and Kimberly: When the hummers first arrive in spring, it’s not necessary to sweeten up your mixture. We always recommend mixing 1 cup of white granulated sugar with 4 cups of water. Boil it and then let it cool to help reduce impurities in the solution. You should steer clear of brown sugar, powdered sugar, honey, red dye or any other ingredient but plain white sugar. Q I took this photo at the Texas State Fair a couple of years ago. What is it? Paula Mischel PLANO, TEXAS Kenn and Kimberly: At first, you might think this striking creature is a moth…

BEAUTIFUL AND BIRD-FRIENDLY Purple Robe black locusts bloom for about 10 days in late spring. Extremely fragrant, 8-inch, dense flower clusters bring the tree to life and attract swarms of pollinating bees. Grow this black locust in Zones 4 to 8 and expect it to reach 30 to 40 feet tall. DOUBLE UP A feeder like this has spots for jelly and oranges, the two foods Baltimore orioles love most! TO-DO LIST May • Celebrate International Migratory Bird Day. It’s May 13, and the purpose is to bring attention to migration and introduce the public to conservation. Look for an event near you. • Get kids involved in the garden . When the danger of frost has passed, let kids plant easy to grow annual seeds, like sunflowers. • Know…

TURN UP THE SWEET These super veggies are loaded with vitamin C, calcium and iron. Turnips also tolerate fall frosts and become sweeter in cool weather. 1 Hakurei turnip BRASSICA RAPA 38 DAYS TO HARVEST Quick-growing salad turnips, like Hakurei, are popular at farmers markets but are easy to grow at home, too. Ready to dig up just weeks after seeding, they are known as a dual-purpose crop, yielding sweet roots as well as tasty greens for salads and stir-fries. Why we love it: The golf ball-size roots are delicious raw, cooked or pickled. 2 Smooth-leaf spinach SPINACIA OLERACEA 38 DAYS TO HARVEST Seed companies offer three types of spinach: savoy, semi-savoy and smooth-leaf. For rapid growth, stick with smooth varieties, like Corvair or Space. Their round to oval leaves…

two years ago, 8-year-old Logan Diehl posed outside his home in Lapeer, Michigan, elated to show off the American Sign Language sign for “butterfly.” He was taking the Butterfly Heroes pledge. “My son, who is on the autism spectrum and tends to get lost in his world of electronics, is now involved and aware of the impact he’s making on the environment,” says Logan’s mom, Jenny Diehl. “He gets excited and points out when a butterfly lands on ‘his’ flowers.” Logan is one of more than 42,000 participants who joined the National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) inaugural Butterfly Heroes program in 2015. By the end of 2016, more than 80,000 people had enrolled. Now in its third year, NWF hopes to continue making heroes out of novice and experienced young gardeners…

WHY I LOVE IT Birders from around the world flock to Magee Marsh and other northwest Ohio hot spots. A prime time is spring, when migrating warblers and other birds choose the shores of Lake Erie as their stopping-over point on their long journey northward. THE BIGGEST WEEK Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned birder, the area (known as the Warbler Capital of the World) is a must-visit, especially during The Biggest Week in American Birding (bwiab.com), a festival organized by the Black Swamp Bird Observatory that coincides with spring migration. The boardwalk at Magee Marsh, near Oak Harbor, runs through a patch of woods where more than 30 warbler species, including cerulean and blackpoll, flit through the trees. Follow Biggest Week on Twitter (@biggestweek) to be notified when…

Find the Hummingbird In each issue, we hide a hummingbird like the one above left. In the March issue, we hid it on page 46. If you find it, enter at birdsandblooms.com/contests . We’ll draw winners to receive Birds & Blooms seeds. HIDDEN OBJECT GUIDELINES No purchase necessary to enter to win. Purchase will not improve your chances of winning. Sweepstakes is open to legal residents age 18 years or older of the U.S., its territories and possessions, or of Canada (excluding the Province of Quebec). Sweepstakes begins on March 29, 2017, and ends on June 1, 2017. Find official rules at birdsandblooms.com/contests . VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Sweepstakes sponsored by RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC. Contact Us! CUSTOMER CARE For subscriptions, renewals, gifts, payments, account info and inquiries: Email:…

Go beyond birdseed this spring and mix up your backyard menu with grape jelly. Fruit-eating birds like orioles, catbirds and tanagers can’t get enough of the stuff, especially now, when their usual sweet treats are hard to come by. And as migrating birds make their long journeys north, they’re especially inclined to stop by backyards that feature energizing jelly on the menu. Orioles aren’t too picky when it comes to jelly, but Bullock’s and Baltimore orioles in particular love the grape flavor, because it tastes similar to the dark, ripe fruits they normally eat, grapes included. Watch your feeder long enough and you might also glimpse other guests, like gray catbirds, which are attracted to yards that offer both jelly and a water source. Additional birds that visit these sweet…

• PATIO PRIDE PEA Ready to harvest six weeks from seeding, this 2017 All-America Selections award-winner bears plump edible pods. It grows about a foot tall and is a fantastic find for hanging baskets. • PAYLOAD SQUASH Disease resistance and heavy yields of smooth green fruits in 45 days make this summer squash a real winner. • KORIST KOHLRABI Crisp, rounded stems of kohlrabi are delicious raw or cooked. Korist grows 4 inches wide. Begin harvesting 55 days after sowing seeds. • PORCH PICK BUSH BEAN No space is no problem. Porch Pick forms compact plants for small gardens or containers. Expect a bumper crop of tender green pods 55 days from sowing.…

I monitor the bluebird boxes at Mosquito Hill Nature Center near New London, Wisconsin. The boxes provide me with plenty of opportunities to find and photograph all of our feathered visitors. This male prothonotary warbler was singing for a mate. I never did see a female, but his song was so lovely it should have attracted many. Deb Potts WEYAUWEGA, WISCONSIN Wood ducks are very shy waterfowl. I spent many days in chilly, early-spring water with these ducks before they eventually warmed to my presence and gave me some fantastic photo opportunities. Harry Collins HELLERTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA I took this picture of a northern mockingbird at the San Antonio Botanical Garden. Some spring rain showers had started to move in, so I was preparing to leave when this mockingbird landed on…

NORTHEAST/MIDWEST Butterfly weed (A. tuberosa) Common milkweed (A. syriaca) Poke milkweed (A. exaltata) Swamp milkweed (A. incarnata) Whorled milkweed (A. verticillata) SOUTHEAST Butterfly weed ( A. tuberosa ) Common milkweed (A. syriaca) Swamp milkweed (A. incarnata) White milkweed (A. variegata) Whorled milkweed ( A. verticillata ) SOUTH CENTRAL Antelope horns milkweed ( A. asperula ) Green antelopehorn milkweed ( A. viridis ) Zizotes milkweed ( A. oenotheroides ) WEST Broadleaf milkweed ( A. latifolia ) Showy milkweed ( A. speciosa ) ARIZONA Antelope horns milkweed ( A. asperula ) Arizona milkweed ( A. angustifolia ) Butterfly weed ( A. tuberosa ) Rush milkweed ( A. subulata ) CALIFORNIA California milkweed ( A. californica) Desert milkweed ( A. erosa) Heartleaf milkweed ( A.…

Benedict Cumberbatch portraying Sherlock Holmes. I can imagine him calling out multiple species and the features of each with the speed and accuracy of a computer. No guidebook or app needed! Judy Roberts GRAYTOWN, OHIO Leonardo DiCaprio because he has a true understanding and appreciation of nature. Megan Blackwell CONNEAUT, OHIO Oprah! She has fun with the outdoors in her magazine. Mary Anne Thygesen PORTLAND, OREGON Martha Stewart, because her flower, vegetable and herb gardens likely attract an array of birds, butterflies and other small creatures during peak bloom time. Kathy Lorigan EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA I would love to bird-watch with David Allen Sibley . Not only would he be an expert at identifying birds, but I might pick up some helpful drawing tips from him as well! Grace Huffman OKLAHOMA…

35 Director Alfred Hitchcock often made cameos in his films. The Birds was the 35th movie of his in which he made an appearance. 10,297 After 10,297 balloons lift his house away in the Pixar film Up , 78-year-old Carl meets Kevin, a large tropical bird that resembles a Himalayan monal pheasant. 2.4 When Follow That Bird, a now-beloved movie about Big Bird, hit theaters in 1985, it was a total flop, earning only $2.4 million on its opening weekend. 5 To prepare for her physically intensive ballerina role in Black Swan, Natalie Portman trained five hours a day for a year. 2016 Angry Birds, a mobile game with hundreds of levels, inspired a 2016 movie featuring the titular characters. 8,000 One of the hypercompetitive protagonists of The…