Garden Talks and Garden Thoughts (update)

Hello again,



After much thought our good bird feeding friend Liz Cardinale is more convinced that the birds plaguing my bird feeder are migrating grackles who should be cleared out in a few days. According to Liz, starlings are still in feeding on insects and have not yet had to "stoop" to feeding from our bird feeders.


I do think that Liz is right about the birds being grackles. I did put some safflower in some of my feeders this morning but while Liz is certain the grackles will not like the safflower, she is not certain that any other birds will like the safflower as well. I have definitely heard mixed reports about whether or not birds like safflower.


Check out http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ for more information about grackles, starlings and other birds!


I do not mind feeding the grackles, it is just that they stay for hours it seems and they consume huge amounts of food. While doing this, they absolutely keep all the other birds away! But as Liz points out, they are probably eating so much because they are trying to store up nutrients for their long trip south.


To the grackles, I say "Bon Voyage".



Good gardening friend Barbara Gardener tells me that she has been working on "one cleanup project after another" in her expansive gardens.


She also passed on a great tip about planting daffodils. Last year, she planted about 150 daffodils under the cover of some perennial ground covers and it worked out quite well. The daffodils came up through and bloomed before the ground covers came up strong. Then once the ground covers came up thriving, the ground covers covered the declining daffodil leaves and saved Barbara the time and hassle of having to braid the daffodil leaves as they turned from green to brown. Remember, in the Spring you don't want to trim the daffodil leaves too soon as there is much nutrient flow from the daffodil leaves down into the bulb. It is late Spring that the daffodil bulbs themselves put on much growth.


Barbara has been around the "gardening block" once or twice and her experienced advice is always appreciated at the Skillin's Garden Log.


Let us know at info@skillins.com what projects you have been working on in your garden that might be beneficial to your fellow gardeners. Or leave a comment by clicking on the icon just below this Garden Log post!