Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2022 i Birds and Blooms Extra

The best things in life are free—and that’s definitely true for one of my favorite visitors, a pair of northern cardinals. They frequent the pear tree in my backyard and couldn’t care less about the seed I buy. Instead, they pick at the bugs and fallen fruit on the lawn. In this issue, our backyard experts and readers offer easy ways to feed birds while sticking to a budget. Flip to page 32 to read “Meals on the Fly,” where you’ll meet birds—such as grosbeaks, chickadees and bluebirds—that are constantly on the hunt for insects. Many of these bug lovers may already be in your backyard. For free birdseed, check out the roundup of perennials in “Easy Breezy Grasses” on page 12. For the cost of a plant, you get…

1 Pink muhly grass MUHLENBERGIA CAPILLARIS, ZONES 5 TO 9 Make room in the garden for this late-season standout. Muhly’s pink flowers, followed by purplish seeds, add welcome color in fall when many annuals and perennials are past their peaks. Tolerant of heat, humidity, drought and salt, this plant grows 1 to 3 feet tall and is even more impressive when used en masse. Why we love it: The native grass provides food and cover for birds, butterflies and other kinds of wildlife. 2 Blue oat grass HELICTOTRICHON SEMPERVIRENS, ZONES 4 TO 8 Blue oat grass is an excellent choice for well-draining to dry soils in sunny to partly sunny locations. The arching blue-green leaves form a mound 2 feet tall and wide. Blue flowers appear in summer, then…

Introduce young readers to the world of birds. A NEST IS NOISY Explore where baby birds and other animals grow up in this picture book filled with vivid photos. $10 at amazon.com THE LITTLE BOOK OF BACKYARD BIRD SONGS Even the youngest members of your family can learn bird songs with the help of this interactive book. Listen to sounds from red-winged blackbirds, mourning doves, northern cardinals and more. $18 at amazon.com BIRD-WATCHING BOOK FOR KIDS Budding wildlife enthusiasts can jot down observations and learn classic birding lingo in this journal. $10 at barnesandnoble.com WHY SHOULD I WALK? I CAN FLY! Enjoy the inspiring story of a young robin as it works up the courage to try something new: taking flight for the first time. $17 at amazon.com CROWS: GENIUS…

Q House finches eat the leaves off my succulents. Is there something I can do to stop this? Donna Shultz MIDLOTHIAN, VIRGINIA Kenn and Kimberly: Various kinds of finches, including house finches, have a mostly vegetarian diet, so they may cause problems by eating buds, flowers or leaves from garden plants. With small succulents, they can remove enough leaves to cause serious damage. House finches are native and protected by law, so the only option is to find a way to keep your succulents out of their reach. Melinda: As Kenn and Kimberly suggest, purchase or make your own plant cover to keep your succulents safe. Materials such as chicken wire or hardware cloth offer protection while allowing sunshine and moisture to come through. Cover your plants as soon as…

Beyond Pink’d Bluebeard Caryopteris incana, Zones 7 to 9 or annual With its small size and pale pink color, Beyond Pink’d breaks all the rules while holding on to bluebeard’s best attributes. It starts to flower in summer when some gardens can look tired, and keeps the show going through fall. Attracts: Light needs: Full sun. Soil: Needs free-draining soil for root health. Size: Compact at about 21/2 feet tall and wide. Grown for: Mixed perennial borders and gorgeous cut and dried flowers. Foliage: Serrated and dark green in a mounded habit. WILDLIFE BENEFITS Watch hummingbirds, bees and butterflies visit the bloom clusters from midsummer into fall. Deer tend to leave it be throughout the year.…

You don’t need a sprawling orchard in your backyard to grow fragrant, delicious fruit. You just need plenty of sun and indoor space, plus some patience. Laurelynn Martin and Byron Martin, authors of Growing Tasty Tropical Plants in Any Home, Anywhere and co-owners of Logee’s Plants for Home and Garden in Danielson, Connecticut, offer some expert tips. LIGHT IT UP Most fruit trees—even the more shade-tolerant ones—need at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight per day to produce a crop. A large, unobstructed southern- or western-facing window is an ideal spot for a potted tree. If you don’t have enough natural light, look into grow lights. ROOM TO GROW When planted in the ground, fruit tree roots spread out to find water and nutrients. Most potted plants do…

I planted sunflowers all over the yard in hopes of attracting more birds. One morning a pair of goldfinches was eagerly checking out the sunflowers to see if the seeds were ready to eat. The seeds weren’t quite ripe yet, but I captured this photo of the male goldfinch, taken with my Nikon D500 camera. Andy Raupp MONTELLO, WISCONSIN Wild cardinal flowers were growing along the stream where I snapped this photo. I was originally attempting to get images of dragonflies but was pleasantly surprised to see a female ruby-throated hummingbird at the blooms. Anne Donovan Fortier BANGOR, MAINE While at the Botany Bay Plantation Wildlife Management Area on Edisto Island, South Carolina, during the summer, I was so excited to capture this image of a male painted bunting on…

Find the Hummingbird In each issue, we hide a hummingbird like the one above left. Enter to win at birdsandblooms.com/contests if you find it. Winners receive a one-year subscription to Birds & Blooms. In the July issue, we hid it on page 39. HIDDEN OBJECT GUIDELINESNo 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 Aug. 8, 2022, and ends on Oct. 7, 2022. Visit birdsandblooms.com/contests for official rules. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Sweepstakes sponsored by RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC. Contact Us! CUSTOMER CARE For subscriptions, renewals, gifts,payments, account info and inquiries:Email:customercare@birdsandblooms.comVisit:birdsandblooms.com/customercareWrite:BIRDS & BLOOMS CUSTOMER CAREPO BOX…

We all have opinions on the best ways to attract feathered friends. But we can all agree on one thing: The greater variety of birds, the better. Serve up black oil sunflower seeds, also called oilers, and you have a pretty good chance at a big payoff. Low Risk, High Reward Birds focus on foods that have a big return on investment. So setting out seeds that are high in fat, such as black oil sunflower seeds, is an easy way to help birds enjoy a nutrient-dense snack, especially during the breeding season and winter weather. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, black oil sunflower seeds have thin shells, making them easier to crack open than striped sunflower seeds. “Black oil sunflower seeds are related to regular sunflower seeds,…

I thought this butterfly was a leaf! It’s called a question mark because of the white markings on its wings. Mary Gabriel TUNKHANNOCK, PENNSYLVANIA This is an infrequent visitor to our backyard butterfly bushes. But working at home allowed me the opportunity to see and photograph the beautiful question mark butterfly, providing a silver lining to the pandemic. The brilliant orange topside of its wings is a dramatic contrast to the underside, which perfectly mimics a dead leaf. Consequently, this butterfly is easily overlooked if its wings are closed. Thomas Wetmore SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND I was on the porchwith my dear granddaughter Ava when we saw this newly emerged question mark as it dried its wings. When Ava lay down to get a closer look, the butterfly simply climbed on…

6 Hundreds of hydrangea species and cultivars exist, but the six most common types are bigleaf, oakleaf, panicle, smooth, mountain and climbing. 5.5 Not all hydrangeas change color, but those that can are blue when the soil pH is below 5.5 and pink when the pH is 6.0 or higher. 1999 In 1999, Alabama designated the oakleaf hydrangea as its state wildflower. 2 Bigleaf hydrangeas have two types of blooms: large, showy mopheads or lacecaps that sport tiny budlike florets surrounded by larger blooms. 30 With the right support and conditions, climbing hydrangeas grow 30 feet tall or more. 3 Panicle hydrangeas tend to be the most cold tolerant, with varieties that are hardy in Zone 3.…