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Take a journey down the Myakka River in Florida to see amazing birds.
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Looking for Webster this month? You might want to try hanging out with our “flying flowers.”
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See more great images in our online Photo Galleries>>


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Visit our Blooms section to get great recommendations on plants to grow in shady areas.
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See George’s Top 10 birding questions.
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See Melinda’s Top 10 gardening questions.
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Get plans for this birdhouse and more on our Web site.
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Dear $$firstname$$,

This is the time of year that many people are starting to build and hang new birdhouses in anticipation of nesting season. In fact, the last week of February is Home for Birds Week where people are encouraged to clean out, fix up and put up homes for wild birds.

If you’re looking for a great birdhouse plan, don’t forget to look in the Birdhouse of the Day feature on our Web site. Here, we offer our “Top 5” birdhouse plans, including a bluebird, gourd and coffee-can birdhouse (pictured below).

Also, in this issue of your FREE Birds & Blooms Newsletter, we’re hoping you’ll weigh in our survey. We’re asking readers to pick their favorite warblers. We’ll feature a story on the top choices in an upcoming issue.

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• READ ON TO DISCOVER...
• Warbler Survey
• Bird of the Month
• Photo of the Month
• Plant of the Month
• Best of Glad You Asked
• Best of Bird Tales
• Win FREE Plants
• Current Needs
• Our Neck of the Woods

Warbler Survey

We’re planning a feature for an upcoming issue on this beloved bird family. What are some of your favorite warblers? Your votes count! Take the Survey.

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Bird of the Month: Scarlet Tanager

You can’t miss this male flier during breeding season. Its gorgeous red coloring and bold black wings are easy to spot among the branches of any tree.

Scientific Name: Piranga olivacea.
Family: Tanager.
Length: 7 inches.
Wingspan: 11-1/2 inches.
Distinctive Markings: Male is fire red with black wings until fall, when they molt to a humble yellow-green appearance. Females look identical to yellow-green males, except they don't have black wings.
Nest: Females build shallow saucer-shaped nests.
Song: Five phrases in a rapid pattern, similar to an American robin with a sore throat.
Habitat: Tends to stay high in treetops.
Diet: Insects in forests, parks and suburban residential areas.
Backyard Favorites: Orange halves, sugar water and grape jelly.

Listen to this bird’s song by visiting our 50 Most Wanted Birds section on the Web site.

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Photo of the Month

Amy McConnell of Sherrodsville, Ohio took this photo of an iris. Its deep purple petals contrast nicely with the surrounding greenery.

See more great photos in our online Photo Galleries.

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Plant of the Month: Petunia 

It’s no wonder petunias are one of the most popular garden flowers—they come in a dazzling array of colors, shapes, and sizes, are easy to grow and tolerate all sorts of weather and soil conditions.

Intense hybridizing has led to the plethora of petunias available today, and there are more varieties being developed each year. To keep things in order, petunias are divided into several categories—multiflora, grandiflora, floribunda, milliflora and spreading, notably the popular, award-winning Wave petunias.

Common Names: Petunia.
Botanical Name: Petunia x hybrida.
Hardiness: Annual.
Bloom Time: Late spring to frost.
Size: 4 to 24 inches high, 12 to 36 inches wide.
Flower: Mainly pink, red, pale yellow, violet-blue, white, or multicolor funnel-shaped single and double flowers.
Light Needs: Full sun to partial shade.
Growing Advice: Common bedding plants. If growing from seed, sow 10 to 12 weeks before the typical last-frost date in your area. Plant seedlings about 6 to 12 inches apart. Spreading varieties such as Wave should be placed 18 to 24 inches apart.
Prize Picks: The compact and spreading Carpet series makes a colorful groundcover. The Wave series offers appealing variations on the color purple, including Lavender Wave, Purple Wave, and Misty Lilac Wave.

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Best of Glad You Asked

Every month, we feature some of the best questions that George and Melinda have tackled over the years.

Roosting Bullies
For many years, Gila woodpeckers have pecked through the stucco walls of our small library to nest in the foam insulation underneath. How can we divert these birds’ attention to a more suitable nesting site? –K.C. Cooper, Huachuca City, Arizona

George: You can try filling the hole after nesting season, then cover the area around the cavity with at least a square yard of hardware cloth (small wire mesh).

If the woodpeckers drill somewhere else on the building, try placing a fake owl or hawk nearby, or hang silver streamers from the gutters—anything that will frighten them away.  

Keep Deer Away
Wildlife is plentiful around our new home, and I’m worried deer will see my perennials as an open buffet. Can you suggest some deer-proof plantings or tips to dissuade them? –Judy Tarrant, Gladwin, Michigan 

Melinda: For the best results, try a coordinated approach. Selects plants that are rated as deer resistant and use a variety of deterrents like repellents or fences. Just be a ware that if deer are hungry enough, they’ll eat almost anything.

Yarrow, sedum, black-eyed Susan, purple coneflower, monkshood, butterfly weed, Russian sage, Joe Pye weed, globe thistle, coral bells, lungwort and gas plant are a few deer-proof perennials. You can also try home-made or commercial repellents. Use them before the deer start eating and keep applying throughout the season.

Subscribers can access our Glad You Asked database with hundreds of questions and answers from George and Melinda.

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Best of Bird Tales

I always know spring is on the way when I hear the chattering arrival of the first purple martins in mid-March.

A few years ago, I’d cleaned their condo birdhouse and started my daily routine of removing the nesting material brought in by European starlings. It was the only way to keep them from claiming the house for themselves.

The condo is on a telescopic pole, and each day I brought out a bright-orange 8-foot stepladder, let the pole down and cleaned out the compartments.

After several days of moving the ladder, I decided to leave it next to the pole for the next housecleaning. Soon afterward, I noticed martins flying around the condo but never entering it. They perched on a nearby electrical wire and twittered away—as if they were trying to tell me something.

Then I decided to move the ladder. Within minutes, martins covered the birdhouse and began moving in. It took a few days, but I’d finally understood their language. –Mae Harrison, Jackson, Tennessee

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Win FREE Plants

Yes, that’s right. You can win free plants and more great prizes, just by signing up for the Backyard Garden Club e-newsletter.

Bluestone Perennials is providing 12 garden kits to Garden Club members. For example, their butterfly kit features purple coneflowers, like the one at right. 

We have even more great prizes, too. Sign up for the Garden Club newsletter and learn more, by going here.

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Current Needs

Our “Fantastic Feeders” file is starting to get low. Do you have a great bird feeder that you designed or a friend made for you? We want to see it! Use the Submit Your Story form on the Web site to send us your photos and ideas.

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Our Neck of the Woods

When our birding expert, George Harrison, isn’t feeding the birds (which he does plenty of in winter), he loves to fish. And during this time of year, that means ice fishing.

George lives on a small lake in Wisconsin, and the fish are almost always biting. Right now, he has to drill through about 20 inches of ice before he gets to water.

Before George heads out, he puts on four layers of clothes and his 1-inch ice spikes on his boots. While he mostly does catch-and-release, he’s always keeping his eye out for a record-breaking blue gill or crappie.

Here’s George with his granddaughter, Ellie. He said she likes to hold the fish he catches and then release them back in the hole.

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