Birds & Blooms Newsletter
May 2001

Dear $$firstname$$,

Greetings from Birds & Blooms magazine! We hope you enjoy this month's newsletter, which combines practical advice and homegrown humor. Read on and you'll discover...

>Sneaky 'Snakes' Save Seeds
>Potted Plant Basics
>Town Names Are for the Birds
>A Test for Bird Brains
>On Second Thought...
>Home Gardeners Share Secrets

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Sneaky 'Snakes' Save Seeds
GAYNELL D. of Portsmouth, Virginia enjoys the bird orchestra that wakes her up each spring morning.
"But when gardening time comes, their rent is up," she says. "I work hard at planting--and don't like to do it twice."
When birds kept eating the planted seeds, Gaynell's son-in-law suggested she get an inflatable "snake" at the feed store to scare the birds away. She considered that solution for a bit, and then decided to try a couple of brown belts she found in her attic.
"Next morning, about 7:15, I went to the garden and quietly laid the belts on the ground," she recalls.
"On my way across the yard, the birds were singing at the top of their voices. But when I laid the belts on the ground, you could almost hear a pin drop. Then the birds began flying from tree to tree, as though they were warning their neighbors of the dangerous intruders. It was an air show that would put the Blue Angels flying team to shame.
"After that, the birds flew no closer than about 10 feet from my garden," she adds. "The restaurant was closed!"

To view a photo, visit http://www.birdsandblooms.com/newsletter/bnbnl5.15.01p1.asp

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Potted Plant Basics
PRETTY PLANTS in the yard are a pretty good indicator that the owner enjoys color indoors, too.
Patricia M. of Tucson, Arizona has a local reputation as a magician with houseplants as well as outdoor plants. It's not magic, she says, just common sense. Here are her tips:
> Always use clean pots. She prefers clay.
> Put a layer of pebbles in the bottom of the pot to keep the soil out of standing water. Put a coffee filter between the pebbles and the planting soil.
> Use good quality potting mix and dip plant roots in Rootone or a similar product to help transplants get started right.
> Water the plants regularly and fertilize about twice a month.
> Make sure the amount of sunlight matches the particular plant's needs.

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Town Names Are for the Birds
BIRDS HAVE long been the inspiration for literature and art.
And, of course, we've all heard of a Mockingbird Lane or some other street named after a winged creature.
But what about the more unusual names of towns? For instance:
Bird City, Kansas got its name from one of the "early birds" to the region. But Benjamin Bird was a cattleman, not a chicken farmer.
Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts was given its name by Indians who lived there before the Pilgrims arrived. The Native Americans held a certain type of local buzzard in very high esteem.
Red Wing, Minnesota honors a chief of the Dakota Indian tribe who used the area for summer hunting grounds. The chief wore the wing of a wild swan, dyed scarlet, as decoration, and was called "KooPoo-Hoo-Sha", Red Wing for short.
Goose Creek, Oregon residents believe the city was named because a woman carrying a dressed goose home for Thanksgiving dinner accidentally dropped the bird into the creek. She probably plucked it from the water and got a better grip on it for the rest of the walk.
Cuckoo, Virginia got its moniker from an inn that operated there in the early 1700's. Tradition has it that the inn featured one of the first cuckoo clocks in what would become the United States.

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A Test for Bird Brains
THEY ALL have feathers and all but a few of them fly. But birds are even more different from each other than people are. To prove it, Bob L. of Clarkston, Washington worked out this little quiz to test your avian awareness.

1. Birds sleep:
a. half the time.
b. half the time standing and half the time sitting.
c. only in their nests.

2. Most owls nest in trees, but the burrowing owl:
a. hangs upside down in caves, like bats.
b. kills snakes and moves into their ground holes.
c. digs a nest out of the ground.

3. While it sits, the hummingbird:
a. can't eat, it has to keep moving.
b. will burn up half its weight.
c. will breathe 250 times a minute.

4. Male and female ostriches are called:
a. cock and hen.
b. driver and talker.
c. drake and doxy.

5. A woodcock's eyes are:
a. behind its ears.
b. on top of its head for all-around seeing.
c. on stalks that stick out so they can turn in circles.

For answers, visit http://www.birdsandblooms.com/newsletter/bnbnl5.15.01p2.asp

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On Second Thought...
TALK ABOUT wearing out your welcome. Consider the story of kudzu, the Japanese plant that a century ago was planted in the South for shade and fragrant flowers.
By 1935, the federal government was recommending kudzu to help control soil erosion in farm fields. But just 3 years later, observers began to warn about how kudzu can completely take over an area, even covering trees.
By 1960, official government efforts had reversed from recommending kudzu to helping farmers and homeowners eradicate it. And the battle continues to this day against "the vine that ate the South". It's estimated kudzu now covers 7 million acres across Southern states.

To view a photo, visit http://www.birdsandblooms.com/newsletter/bnbnl5.15.01p3.asp

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HAVE A FRIEND who enjoys bird-watching, bird feeding or backyard gardening? Feel free to forward this newsletter!

If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you can sign up for yourself at http://www.birdsandblooms.com

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Home Gardeners Share Secrets
OUR homegrown gardening book, 1,112 Down-to-Earth Garden Secrets, is a bounty of know-how from the readers of our magazines. They share their proven methods and little-known tricks for juicier tomatoes, bigger blooms, heartier hanging baskets, lusher lawns and time-saving shortcuts.
Here are a few of the amazing garden secrets
you'll learn:
> How to produce bigger, sweeter-tasting tomatoes with the help of a household remedy for aching feet!
> What common cooking seasoning will kill unsightly thistles.
> How to protect your garden against slugs using eggshells.

That's only three of 1,112 proven garden secrets you'll discover when you read this book! It's available for just $16.99 from Country Store--$5.00 OFF the regular price. To order, visit http://www.countrystorecatalog.com/productDetail.asp?refurl=NV001&txtproductId=27015. You'll find 1,112 Down-to-Earth Garden Secrets and dozens of items in Country Store's Outdoor Living department to make your yard a bloomin' showplace!
You'll harvest big, juicy tomatoes earlier than your neighbors with our crop-doubling Tomato Boosters...have the garden of your dreams with our green-thumb gardening items...and attract more beautiful birds to your backyard with our inviting birdhouses and feeders. So visit http://www.countrystorecatalog.com/category.asp?refurl=NV001&CatID=OUT and remember, everything at Country Store is backed by our 100% Money-Back Guarantee!

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Birds & Blooms magazine brings beautiful backyards from across America into your living room--through vivid, full-color photos. It's like a friendly "chat" over the back fence with your bird-and flower-loving neighbors. To subscribe on-line, visit https://commerce.cdsfulfillment.com/BNB/subscriptions.cgi?IN_code=IB0NLV

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BYE for now from the Birds & Blooms staff...see you next month!

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Copyright 2001 Reiman Publications. All rights reserved.