melisse
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Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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On the subject of messiness! Planting the "licorice plant" near perennial asters both members of the aster family over many years and leaving the plant material over winter has become my first lesson in tolerating "messiness!" I look forward to contributing to the local population of painted lady butterflies. All manner of bees enjoy the aster flowers, and the goldfinches feed on the seed. The licorice plant never flowers, but the butterfly larvae feed on the leaves!
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squirrels, deer and window collisions have created a yearly re-arrangement of bird feeders. Mid-winter when the snow is deep, the deer stand on their hind legs and eat out of the hopper feeder! So I quit using two feeders. Similarly, the squirrel baffle on the suet feeder is by-passed when the snow is deep. The tube feeders are easily moved throughout the year as long as I place shepherd hooks before the ground freezes. I recently read that window decals are better "seen" by birds if placed on the outside of the windows. Two large windows are covered indoors by vertical blinds which, I hope, help to break up the sky reflecting on the glass. It's all about learning what works best under what seasonal conditions and trying to adapt to those conditions!!
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What growing zone are you in? And how tall has your arrow-wood become? Do you ever prune your viburnum to shape it or control its height? I have planted several different viburnums here in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and the most hardy and eager to grow is the nanny-berry. The maple-leaved viburnum is not happy at all. One nanny-berry is quite old and has sent out shoots, or seeds have spread? It is happily in the middle of a blackberry patch.
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I am interested to know if your planting of highbush cranberry was successful, and what you see coming to them. We have planted highbush successfully, but a bit out of everyday vision. I see the bright red fruits in the fall that remind me of their presence. The fruits must not be high prioity now, or they become better with aging because they remain on into the first of the new year. What's happening with your's?
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We have a good variety of seeds from a garden of sunflowers, zinnias, black-eyed susans...which I leave standing over the winter. We have several acorn-producing red oaks and a lot of red and white pine cone producers! Of the fruit-bearing trees...the most sought-after fruit are the crab apples and mountain ash. Now in late November, we still have plenty of winter-berry, hawthorn apples and high bush cranberry. This year we had an over abundance of apples and grapes which is allowing me to learn more about bird preferences! The red bellied woodpecker and the blue jays love the apples. The cardinals, one remaining robin and the bluejays like the grapes...purple grapes preferred over white grapes. I enjoyed being directed to "insects and spiders" by this course. Unfortunately no birds eat the rose chafers that attack annually in mid-June for three weeks. The robins and the flickers seem to like the unplanted garden spaces...I thought for worms and grubs. But we have a plethora of wolfe spiders...which I now can visualize being of interest to these same birds! I would like to offer water after freeze-up...finding the right heated container is one goal. What I have used in the past is too deep. Our "tree cover" for shelter is changing. Over the 31 years we have lived here...the deer population has become so intense that tree reproduction is difficult...any new trees must be fenced. Maples and birches are dying. I added our asparagus stalks to the brush pile...the deer loved the softer ferny branches! Nothing has flown out of the pile when I approached as yet. I will watch for tracks after snow fall!
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I live in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and, with my husband, we've gardened for 30 years...a mixture of vegetables and small fruit-bearing plants on about an acre within a ten acre piece of mixed hardwoods and conifers. We've established an orchard of apples, plums and crab apples...all of which attract birds at various times of the year. As we enter our 80th year...our needs have changed...and our love for just watching what's "out there" is what is important. Last year we seeded half of the vegetable garden in native plants. I keep bird feeding stations and participate annually in Project Feeder Watch. The pollinator plants now are seed-bearing plants...a large natural bird feeder! The goldfinches and dark eyed juncos are busy demonstrating the value of letting everything stand through the winter. I have two well established sitting-places, but I want to develop another one. I love reading what everyone else is doing...
Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)