Dear $$firstname$$,

Greetings from Birds & Blooms magazine! We hope you enjoy this month's newsletter, which includes some TV-minded martins, a great gift for Mom, fertilizer facts from our new Ultimate Garden Guide and more. Read on and you'll discover...

> Old Antenna Is a Martin Magnet
> Start a Rose Garden for Mom
> This Birder's Gone Batty
> Don't Miss Future Newsletters!
> Doing Their Homework
> Fertilizer "By the Numbers"
> It's THE Book for Birders

IOWA field editor Wendell O. says your purple martin house is not complete until you've provided the birds with a TV antenna. "It's not to improve television reception," he reports. "They just love to perch on it!"

Wendell surmised that with the popularity of cable TV and increased use of underground wiring, martins have fewer perching areas. So he experimented by mounting an old antenna atop his martin house in Charles City...it drew martins like a magnet.

"Purple martins rarely alight on the ground," he says. "They're either flying to hunt for insects or are perched. From my experience, they prefer resting above their house, so the antenna works perfectly."

If you can't find an old antenna, Wendell suggests using pieces of electrical conduit and some clamps to build your own perch. "Our antenna is more than 6 feet wide, but at times there's hardly enough room for all the birds!"

To view a photo, click here.

GOLDEN LEAVES, crisp morning air, and panoramic vistas...ah, there's nothing like fall.

Imagine a picturesque ride through the color-laden countryside. The bright oranges, reds and yellows in the leaves form a patchwork quilt of color that makes autumn a truly spectacular time for Birds and Blooms readers to travel.

Summer hasn't even begun, but now is the time for you to plan your fun fall foliage getaway and World Wide Country Tours has 13 exciting autumn vacations that are sure to bring you a bushel of good times and fabulous scenery. So don't miss this "golden" opportunity.

Hurry, fall color doesn't last long and neither will these seats!
 

Click here and Enjoy the Spectacular Colors of Autumn...

MOTHER'S DAY may have come and gone, but Bonnie A. of Roundup, Montana has a great idea for a gift that'll last for years.

"Why not consider roses? I don't mean cut roses from the florist--I mean her very own rose garden."

Bonnie says this is a project the whole family can get involved in and it will keep giving long after Mom's special day passes.

"Creating a rose garden can be as simple as a few plants or as lavish as a full garden complete with sitting areas, birdbaths and feeders," she notes. "The neat part is this gift doesn't have to be given all at one time. You can start small and add to it each year."

Here are some additional suggestions to help you get started planning for a Mother's Day rose garden:

> Locate the garden in the right area--roses grow best in full sun.

> Make sure you have enough space for each type of rose selected so the garden doesn't look overgrown in a few years.

> Let each member of the family choose their own variety of rose to add a personal touch.

> When designing the layout, think of additional roses and accents you'll want to add in the future.

> Combine miniature, bush, climbing and hybrid tea roses to add interest and character to the garden.

> Don't forget to consider the amount of maintenance your plan will need. A family member may want to volunteer to help Mom care for her garden.

RUDY M. of Calistoga, California had little trouble attracting winged visitors to his property after he planted some natural wildflowers and flowering shrubs. (One of his favorite additions is Virginia creeper, which provides cover and berries for the birds to feed on.)

A gurgling creek also made his property the perfect habitat for sparrows, blue jays, nuthatches, bluebirds, orioles and thrushes common to the area.

But the same welcoming features invite other winged visitors--pesky mosquitoes and gnats. So Rudy followed a neighbor's suggestion and added two bat houses to attract bats to his property.

"Within a month, several little brown bats had moved in. They quickly reduced my mosquito problem and were interesting to watch as they swooped through the night searching for food," Rudy says.

"I've learned a lot about bats since. Now I realize many of the fears humans have of bats are just myths."

To view a photo, click here.

UNWANTED E-mail has become a problem for many of us, and some ISPs and businesses are taking aggressive measures to control "spam". They may soon prevent you from receiving newsletters like this one simply because they are mailed in "bulk" to thousands of subscribers.

If your ISP plans to activate a "bulk mail filter" or "spam filter", be sure to let them know that you wish to continue receiving this newsletter!

If you receive this newsletter at work, you may want to switch to your personal e-mail address. To do so, click here.

By Muriel M., Salem Oregon

WHEN WE MOVED to a house in an old 2-acre forest, I didn't know very much about birds. I began mimicking the calls of every bird I heard, and many would respond and come close enough that I could see them and look them up in my field guide.

One day, a Cooper's hawk showed up. I soon realized it was making a nest in the forest. Later that spring, some unusual movements on the lawn caught my eye. In the grass were three baby hawks!

As I observed their activity from the window, I soon realized they were playing and practicing their hunting skills, pouncing on pinecones on the lawn, grabbing them in their clumsy talons and trying to take off with them.

Occasionally, one would fly and grab a pinecone that had fallen on the roof, but their movements weren't very graceful.

As they got better, the young hawks would chase one of our resident gray squirrels from the lawn to a tree. They never caught that poor squirrel, but they did give it plenty of exercise!

Their "homework" provided great entertainment and had me in stitches several times.

From Birds & Blooms' Ultimate Gardening Guide By Melinda Myers

SHOPPING for fertilizer can be intimidating because there are so many choices. But the task becomes less overwhelming if you go by the numbers.

The front of every bag contains three numbers, such as 10-10-10 or 10-15-10 or 6-3-0. These represent the percentage of nitrogen, or N (first number), phosphorous in the form of phosphate, or P (middle number) and potassium in the form of potash, or K (last number).

Plants need all three elements in relatively large amounts, but too much of any one nutrient can be harmful. What's more, excess levels of one nutrient can interfere with the uptake of others.

Too much nitrogen can result in lush plants with no flowers, brown or "burned" leaves or even death. Years of using complete fertilizers such as 10-10-10 or 12-12-12 also result in high levels of phosphate and potash. You can't take these out of the soil, but you can decrease the problem by adding only the nutrients your soil and plants need.

Many fertilizers will be labeled as fast- or slow-release, indicating how quickly the nutrients are available to the plant.

Fast-release fertilizers dissolve in water and are less expensive, but they pose a greater risk of fertilizer burn and groundwater pollution if misapplied.

Slow-release fertilizers release small amounts of nutrients for plant use over time. They have a lower burn potential and require fewer applications, but usually cost more.

To get the results you need, you may want to adjust your application or use a combination of materials. For example, I use mostly compost and organic fertilizers in my yard. During a cool spring a few years ago, I supplemented with a little quick-release fertilizer to give the plants a boost until the soils warmed and the slow-release nutrients became available to them.

EDITOR'S NOTE: You'll find much more detailed information on choosing and applying fertilizer in the Birds & Blooms Ultimate Garden Guide. We'll share more practical tips from this new book in upcoming newsletters. To order a copy for yourself, click here.

OUR new book, 1,029 Backyard Birding Secrets, will make your backyard the most popular spot for neighboring birds--with barely any effort or expense!

The Birds & Blooms editors selected the most practical, helpful tips from bird-lovers across the country for this book. Their sage advice will keep your birdhouses occupied, your feeders "busy" and your birdbaths sparkling!

What can you rub inside the roof of a birdhouse to keep out bees? Which old-time toy keeps squirrels off feeders? How can you get hummingbirds to perch? All these and more expert answers are in 1,029 Backyard Birding Secrets.

To order 1,029 Backyard Birding Secrets from Country Store On-line, click here.

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