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Dear $$firstname$$,

We love spring here at Birds & Blooms. Sure, there’s still snow on the ground at our offices in Wisconsin, but every day of sunshine is like a breath of fresh air. It won’t be long before the tulips start popping up and the birds start looking for nesting material.

Now is the perfect time to start planning your garden, and to help you with that, we just released a new book. Gardening for Birds & Butterflies is packed full of reader tips and secrets to help you make the most out of your garden. Birds & Blooms Editor, Heather Lamb, hand-picked the stories for this book, based on what you love most! Order yours now.

Speaking of Heather, we’re currently taking reservations through our World Wide Country Tours for a trip that she’s hosting! She’s heading to Arizona in August to search for hummingbirds, and she’s looking for readers to join her. Don’t wait to reserve because space is limited. Learn more below.

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• READ ON TO DISCOVER...
• 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

Bird of the Month: Mourning Dove

Some people love this bird while others aren’t impressed. Either way, it’s a fun one to watch and easy to attract. With as many as five nests in a single season, it’s sure to keep you entertained from spring through summer.

Scientific Name: Zenaida macroura.
Family: Pigeon.
Length: 12 inches.
Wingspan: 18 inches.
Distinctive Markings: A brown, pigeon-like bird that is larger than an American robin, but smaller and slimmer than a pigeon. It has a long, pointed tail with white edges conspicuous in flight. Male and female look alike.
Nest: Commonly found in an evergreen, 10 to 25 feet above ground on a hotizontal branch. Builds a loose, bulky platform of sticks in which it lays two pure-white eggs. Pairs raise two to five broods each year.
Song: A coo that consists of five to seven notes: "coo-ah, cooo, cooo, coo."
Habitat: Open woods, evergreen plantations, orchards, farmlands, roadside trees and suburban backyards and gardens.
Diet: About 98 percent seeds and plant materials.
Backyard Favorites: Tray feeder filled with wild bird seed mix or cracked corn. They will visit birdbaths to drink and bathe.

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

Art Susmann of Rutland, Vermont took this photo of tulips on a warm, spring day.

See more great photos in our online Photo Galleries.

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Plant of the Month: Sweet Pea   

This fragrant flower is easy to grow and provides a season’s worth of cut flowers. In fact, sweet peas perform best if you harvest bouquets often. Like the garden peas, sweet peas prefer the cooler weather of spring and early summer, gradually declining under hot August skies.
    
Common Name: Sweet pea.
Botanical Name: Lathyrus odoratus.
Hardiness: Annual.
Bloom Time: Varies by region; spring and summer through early autumn.
Size: 4 to 12 feet high.
Flower: Wide variety of colors including pink, purple, salmon, blue, red and white.
Light Needs: Full sun to partial shade.
Growing Advice: Plant presoaked seeds 1 inch deep and 6 inches apart in garden, or start seeds indoors and transplant outside after about 6 weeks.
Prize Picks:  Royal Mix and Old Spice Mix are fragrant and heat tolerant. Also recommended: Captain of the Blues, which is prized for its lavender to purple flowers.

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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.

No Blooms
My hyacinths produce lots of green leaves each spring but no flowers. Can you tell me why? —Barbara Riley, Flippin, Arkansas

Melinda: Hyacinths and many of the newer hybrid tulips tend to put on a fabulous show for a few years then produce leaves but no flowers. You could try digging up the bulbs and dividing them in fall. This often invigorates the plants to encourage blooms for spring.

Always leave the fading foliage on the plants for at least 6 to 8 weeks after flowering (or when they should have) before disturbing the bulbs. This is essential for next year’s blooms.

For a more reliable flower display, replace hyacinths every few years.

Song to Sing
I’m hoping you can help me identify the vocalists behind two bird songs I’ve heard in my yard. The first is a rapid phrase that sounds like, “teacher, teacher, teacher.” The second bird sings, “sweet, sweet, too sweet,” with the last note ending on a sharp upward whistle. Do you know what these birds are? —Betty Hamlett, Woodruff, Arkansas

George: If you’re hearing “teacher, teacher, teacher” during spring and summer, it may be an ovenbird, a member of the wood warbler family. The “sweet, sweet, too sweet” could be a black-throated green warbler.

But if the birds you hear are calling year-round, the Carolina wren—a common backyard resident in your region—likely is the source of both songs.

Since it’s much easier to identify bird calls by listening to a recording, try to find a CD at your local birding store or library

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

Typecast Rival
A male Gila woodpecker often declares his territory in my backyard with a “rat-a-tat-tat” on my TV antenna. He’s a faithful alarm clock, beginning his routine at daybreak. One year, he thought a rival had invaded his domain when he heard my typewriter. This lead to even more incessant pecking.

So I decided to buy an artificial woodpecker and place it on a nearby pole. What a surprise when I looked outside one day and saw them both on the pole—staring eye to eye! —Virginia Hiatt, Tucson, Arizona

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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

We’re still on the lookout for great “Fantastic Feeders.” Do you have a bird feeder that you designed or someone 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

Spring is in the air, which means our gardening expert is busier than ever. Melinda will be at gardening shows all around the country this spring. Is she coming to your area? To find out, go here.

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