Indholdsfortegnelse for December/January 2025 i Birds & Blooms

Besides more than 15 pages of beautiful winter bird photos, this issue is full of helpful hints about indoor gardening for those looking for ways to nurture a green thumb inside. I wish I had some sage advice to insert here, but my own houseplants are barely hanging on. In “Grow This, Not That” on page 34, garden writer Luke Miller shares his thoughts on which houseplants are worth skipping—and which you might want to try instead. I will definitely avoid the fussy plants he talks about and stick to the more forgiving ones should I ever decide to expand my collection. If you are a pet owner, be sure to read “Houseplant Hazards” on page 18 before buying any new additions. The four mentioned may be dangerous for your…

1 Giant allium ALLIUM GIGANTEUM ZONES 5 TO 8 A softball-sized cluster of star-shaped purple florets atop a thick, naked stem grows up to 6 inches in diameter and creates a stunning focal point in the garden. Plant bulbs in full sun and medium to well draining soil. The so-called giant onions have leaves and stalks that smell like the pungent veggie but aren’t edible. Why we love it: Flowers bloom in late spring and can be cut or dried for floral arrangements. DIVIDE AND CONQUER Fall is the best time to divide perennials because plants have stored sufficient energy to recover from transplant stress. Transplant at least six weeks before the first frost to give plants enough time to get established before winter. 2 Yarrow ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIUM ZONES 3 TO…

I TOOK THIS PHOTO of a black-capped chickadee in our yard on a snowy winter day. It landed on a red cedar branch and looked up at the sky, almost as if it was admiring the beautiful snowfall! Andy Raupp MONTELLO, WI I DECIDED TO PUT OUT my platform feeder on a frigid December day. This flock of blue jays appeared almost immediately! Victoria Schwinabart SWANTON, MD WE HAD JUST RECEIVED our first snowfall of the winter overnight, and this downy woodpecker stopped by for breakfast at my feeder. Debbie Parker MEDINA, OH The Naris Knows The feathers around a downy woodpecker’s nostrils, or nares, protect it from inhaling wood chips as it pecks on trees. IN THE DEPTHS OF a cold Saskatchewan winter, this crabapple tree, still laden with…

Step 1: Choose a proper container. Select a lidded container that will trap moisture inside and hold enough soil and drainage layers to support the growth of your plants. Note: Due to the high moisture level and lack of drainage holes, a closedlid terrarium has a high risk for root rot, fungus and disease, so drainage layers are extremely important. Step 2: Select plants. Choose plants that will thrive in the high-moisture environment of a closed terrarium—consult someone at your local garden center for recommendations. To give your mini garden plenty of visual interest, select plants that are different in height, leaf shape and color. Note: Succulents and cactuses are better for open-style terrariums and require different growing conditions (more on page 43). Step 3: Start with a draining base layer.…

Q A flock of grackles was devouring my suet, so I switched to an upside-down feeder. But now it seems as if no birds will eat from it. Woodpeckers have ignored it completely. What can I do to attract birds, especially woodpeckers, to the new feeder? Erroll Jackson MARIETTA, GA Kenn and Kimberly: Woodpeckers and other acrobatic species can easily access these upside-down feeders, but it can take a while for the birds to notice them and realize that the food is on the underside. One way to help them is to keep the feeder located where you want it, but rig it up with wires so that it’s sideways, with the suet on the side instead of underneath. After birds find it, you can gradually shift its position until…

A PLANT WITH MANY NAMES Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter cactuses may all be known as holiday cactus. The three are very similar, but they flower at various times and have different stem segment spikiness. Holiday Cactus Schlumbergera truncata With long, flat, flashy stems and showstopping flowers in shades of pink, purple, white and red, this cactus is a long-lasting houseplant that can blossom long after the holidays are over. Just keep it in a consistently warm spot (70 to 80 degrees) during the bloom season. Light needs: Bright, indirect. Size: 6 to 12 inches tall and 12 to 24 inches wide. Grown for: Showy blooms. Water needs: Water when top few inches of soil begins to dry. Growing tip: Minimize changes in environment to avoid bud and flower drop.…

Hydroponic gardening is a method for growing plants without soil, indoors or outside. The plants get nutrients directly through water. Benefits include higher yields and fewer pests (no soil for pests to hide in!). Whether starting with a hydroponic garden kit or DIYing your own system, choosing the best plants for hydroponics helps set beginners up for success. Here are some things to consider. Start Small “It’s wise to focus on growing one easy vegetable first, such as lettuce, and learning that well before attempting to expand and grow a variety of different plants,” says Cris Tuhy, co-owner of Sweetleaf Farm, an Andover, New Jersey, farm that grows a multitude of hydroponic produce. “You will get a sense of accomplishment and have a higher success rate overall.” Skip Underground Growers…

LIFESPAN OF A TERRARIUM Quality terrarium care means constant adjustments to the light, the temperature and the watering schedule. On average, terrariums last four months to two years. Most people give up easily on a terrarium because they aren’t aware of how of care differs for open and closed vessels. Scan the code to learn how to make an open-style terrarium from our friends at Family Handyman.…

A tight ball of fur and bones lies in the leaf litter under the evergreens—a telltale sign that an owl is nearby. The nocturnal raptors cough up these grisly artifacts at their roosts once a day. After snatching up a rodent or fellow bird, they swallow their prey whole, squeezing together the indigestible bits in their gizzard and discarding what’s called a pellet. Or in other words, owl puke. Birds such as hawks, kites, herons and cormorants can cast pellets too, says Eres Gomez, the research coordinator for the Urban Bird Project in San Antonio, Texas. But owls make a habit of it, given their fuzzy, crunchy diets. In fact, you might be able to identify the exact species based on the contents of a pellet. “Small owls such as…

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 get a one-year subscription to Birds & Blooms. In the Oct/Nov issue, we hid it on page 37. 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 Nov. 20, 2024, and ends on March 18, 2025. 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.com Visit:…

Whether foraging atop trees or nesting in low snags, brown-headed nuthatches are often chattering with one another in the mature pine forests of the southeastern United States. “It’s a coordinated back-and-forth between group members until they come across a group of neighboring nuthatches. Then all hell breaks loose as they defend their space against the other group,” says Jim Cox, a biologist at Tall Timbers, a research station and land conservancy in Tallahassee, Florida. Early Nesters These year-round residents mate for life, and start building cavity nests in early February while snakes are hibernating, Jim says. “They’re easy prey for snakes, which basically shimmy up the tree and take the young and sometimes the female.” Both sexes look for a dead tree or snag, typically a pine but sometimes a…

FOR YEARS, MY WIFE WOULD SPOT what she deemed to be a good photo of an animal, and each time, if I didn’t agree, I’d say, “If it had a butterfly on its nose, that would be a good shot!” While on a river boat in Costa Rica, our guide said there was a turtle with a butterfly on its nose ahead. My wife and I laughed. He continued to tell us how butterflies land on turtles to get salt. Again, we laughed, as we thought he was embellishing. Then we saw it! We couldn’t believe it. Conrad Peloquin WALNUT CREEK, CA Help us select the winner! Readers submitted thousands of superb entries to the 2024 Birds & Blooms Annual Photo Contest, and our team picked four exceptional images from each…