Indholdsfortegnelse for August/September 2022 i Birds & Blooms

It’s my family’s first summer in a new house. The yard is a bit wild and unruly, so most of our free time—or my husband’s, since I am usually wrangling our toddler—has been spent doing cleanup and maintenance. Rather than planting this year, we’ve been taking inventory on what’s popping up. But one thing I cannot live without is a tomato plant. We are growing only one tomato plant and it is in a pot, providing plenty of cherry-size fruits for us to indulge in straight off the vine—one of my favorite summer traditions. Whether you’re a whiz at growing tomatoes or struggling to get a bumper crop, the tips, tricks and reminders in “Oops! Common Tomato Mistakes” on page 38 are worth a read. It’s about this time of…

1 Redwood Honeybee The 5-inch blooms of Redwood Honeybee are a blend of yellow and pinkish orange. It starts blooming around eight to 10 weeks after planting and continues to flower until a killing frost if deadheaded. This cultivar stands tall in the garden, with stalks growing up to 6 feet tall. Why we love it: The plant is always decorated by half a dozen blooms at a time, which make excellent cut flowers. 2 KA’s Papa John Named after the plant’s creator, KA’s Papa John is an award winner and has some of the highest scores in trial gardens across the U.S. and Canada. It’s an impressive specimen with great form, a large size and a bounty of huge, pure white blooms. The flower heads can measure a colossal…

Late summer is generally slow here in Connecticut in terms of bird photography. One exception, however, would be the sunflower fields and the abundant goldfinches that feed on them. I stood for 30 minutes or more waiting for this little guy to land on the flower. Larry Akers LEDYARD, CONNECTICUT Bells Bend Park in Nashville, Tennessee, has bountiful opportunities for viewing wildlife. While on an early morning summer walk, I observed some incredible bird activity. A male blue grosbeak with an insect let out repeated metallic calls, alarming his neighbors. An orchard oriole pair came to investigate the disturbance. Just as the three birds landed on the same stalk, I captured this image with my Nikon D500 camera and a Sigma 150-600 mm lens. Being in the right place at…

1 FORGETTING THERE ARE DIFFERENT TOMATO TYPES Perhaps the greatest decision to make with your tomato garden is whether you want to plant determinate or indeterminate plants. Determinate tomatoes grow to a particular height and produce all their fruit in a short time span—within a month or two—in the summer. They work well for folks who want to harvest many tomatoes at once for projects such as making and preserving tomato sauce. Indeterminate plants will continue to grow and produce fruit until frost hits or you pinch off the growing tips. These are great if you want to have access to fresh tomatoes throughout the warm months. 2 THINKING ALL HEIRLOOM TOMATOES ARE THE SAME The word heirloom conjures images of gorgeous but irregular tomatoes in all sorts of hues.…

Whether you are lucky enough to see them in your backyard or plan to head to a local spot for prime viewing, lightning bugs are synonymous with summer. Let’s illuminate some little-known truths about these fascinating, glowing creatures. What’s the Real Name? More than 2,000 species of lightning bugs and fireflies exist worldwide, including 170 in North America. According to Adele Wellman, Allegany region environmental educator for New York State Parks, calling them either fireflies or lightning bugs is fine. “There is no difference between them; they are the same insects,” she says. Though both names are correct, these flashers are technically neither bugs nor flies. Instead, they are beetles. Next time you’ve got one in your hands, look closely for hardened wing cases, the elytra. This is a key…

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 June/July issue, we hid it on page 33. 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 July 11, 2022, and ends on Sept. 12, 2022. Visit birdsandblooms.com/contests for official rules. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Sweepstakes sponsored by RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC.…

We love hearing from you—in fact, we couldn’t publish this magazine without you! How to submit: Share photos and stories with us using the online form at: birdsandblooms.com/submit. Please send submissions only through our online form. What you’ll get: If we print your submission in the magazine, we will send you a complimentary copy of the issue in which it appears, and any compensation as may be specified by us in writing. Returns: We regret that we cannot return unsolicited materials. Rights: By submitting material to us, you grant RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC, its affiliates, partners and licensees worldwide use of the material without time limitation, including the right to use your name and city/state/province in connection with any such use. We reserve the right to modify, reproduce and distribute…

46 Common loons may appear compact while bobbing in the water, but a loon’s wingspan is approximately 46 inches. 6 Loons have at least six distinct calls. The wail, tremolo, yodel and hoot are the most used. An adult typically hoots to communicate at close range with its young or its mate. 600 To heft their bodies into the air, loons need a long runway—as much as 600 feet of open water. 4 Common loons are special, but not one-of-a-kind. Four other species of loons are found in the United States and Canada. 70 Once airborne, a loon can reach speeds of 70 miles per hour 5 Adult loons might remain underwater for five minutes while searching for fish or other small prey. 1,000 A family of loons eats roughly 1,000 pounds of…

Tianshan Seven-Son Flower Heptacodium miconioides ‘Minhep’, Zones 5 to 9 Truly a plant with four-season beauty, Tianshan features clusters of fragrant white flowers in late summer, purple-red fruits in fall and interesting exfoliating bark in winter. Attracts: Light needs: Full sun to part shade. Size: 8 to 12 feet high and 5 to 7 feet wide. Grown for: Use as an upright shrub or small tree. Foliage: Shiny dark green leaves that transform to yellow in fall. Care advice: Prune in late winter or early spring. PLANT FACT Seven flowers adorn each whorl on this plant, contributing to its common name. A whorl is defined as an arrangement of leaves or flowers.…

Grab your camera and get outside, because it’s once again time for the annual Birds & Blooms Photo Contest. Send us your best photo in one (or each) of our three categories—birds, butterflies and blooms—for your chance to win the $1,000 grand prize. Enter by Aug. 31! The 12 finalists will be featured in the December/January issue and on our website, where you can vote for your favorites in each category. ENTER TODAY! It’s easier than ever to submit your photos! Go to birdsandblooms.com/contests for the official rules and entry details or hover your phone’s camera here. WIN $1,000! Send us your favorite shots for a chance to score the top prize.…

Watching birds at backyard feeders is one of life’s greatest simple joys—but with that joy comes responsibility. “Just as you wash your own dishes for guests before you have a party, it’s good to wash your bird feeders periodically,” says Emma Grieg, project leader for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Project FeederWatch. “It helps reduce the spread of diseases transmitted by germs left by sick birds.” To-Do List Emma recommends cleaning your seed feeders every two weeks. If you see sick birds, you should clean your feeders more often or consider taking them down. But if you have few visitors and everyone seems healthy, you can clean a little less often. It’s important to regularly check your birdseed, suet and other foods to ensure they haven’t gone moldy or rancid,…

Ragweed BOTANIC NAME Ambrosia. TYPE Annual. FOLIAGE Purple-tinted stems with lobed, fernlike green leaves. BLOOMS Very small green-yellow flowers. SIZE Common ragweed grows 2 to 3 feet tall while giant ragweed reaches 6 to 8 feet or larger. Goldenrod BOTANIC NAME Solidago. TYPE Perennial. FOLIAGE Usually green stems, although several types have hints of purple, with smooth, undivided green leaves. BLOOMS Large clusters of bright yellow flowers. SIZE 1 to 6 feet tall. WATCH FOR POLLINATORS If you see bees or butterflies hanging around, it’s most likely goldenrod—it has the type of pollen insects prefer, in addition to nectar (which ragweed doesn’t offer).…

Q How do hummingbirds spend their time when they aren’t at a feeder? David Worrell ROCKVILLE, VIRGINIA Kenn and Kimberly: Even in a yard that is well-stocked with sugar-water feeders, hummingbirds will regularly visit any flowers that are available and catch tiny insects to supplement their diet. In the breeding season, the females are extremely busy with building a nest, incubating eggs and feeding their young. Male hummingbirds don’t take any part in nesting or chick-rearing duties. Instead, they spend most of their spare time chasing away rival males or watching for females so they can resume courtship activities. Q I found milkweed tiger caterpillars on my milkweed plants. Can they harm monarchs? Karen Funk HILLMAN, MICHIGAN Kenn and Kimberly: The milkweed tiger or milkweed tussock moth (Euchaetes egle) looks…

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