Dear ##firstname[Friend]##,

I love when the leaves begin to change color and the fall weather starts rolling in. Although I enjoy my cheerful summer birds, the changing of the seasons is a wonderful time of the year.

I'd love to hear what you love best about fall...and all the seasons for that matter! Share your favorite fall moments with me and the rest of the Birds & Blooms online community.

Kirsten Sweet
Birds & Blooms

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• READ ON TO DISCOVER...
• Find us on Facebook
• Bird of the Month
• Best of Glad You Asked
• Project of the Month
• FREE Wallpaper
• Talk to Us!

Are you on Facebook? Our staff is constantly sharing interesting bird and garden stories. Learn about giveaways, new products and more!

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Bird of the Month: Blue Jay

Friend or Foe? While many consider blue jays a pest, others can't get enough of this colorful flier.

Learn how to attract blue jays to your yard, and listen to their song.

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Best of Glad You Asked

Waiting on Wisteria
I planted a wisteria vine a few years ago. Every year, the vine comes back, but it never flowers. Why? —Barbara Mall, Dingman’s Ferry, Pennsylvania

Melinda: Poor flowering is a common lament of gardeners growing wisteria. Patience is the answer—it takes up to 7 years for the plant to mature and bloom.

Too much nitrogen can impede flowering and encourage rampant vine growth, so cut back on fertilizing and consider a low-nitrogen, slow-release fertilizer if you feel wisteria needs a nutrient boost.

For northern gardeners, the weather poses an additional challenge—though Chinese and Japanese wisterias are stem-hardy, cold winters may kill the flower buds. Since you can't control the weather, you'll have to settle for beautiful foliage most seasons.

Or try Kentucky wisteria (Wisteria macrostachya), which I've seen flowering in Zone 4; its flowers are smaller and appear on new growth. Though less showy, this plant is more reliable.

Goldfinches Vanishing
We’ve noticed that for a month in fall and spring the goldfinches vanish from our feeders. Does this have something to do with molting? —Ron and Judy Lane, Independence, Kansas

George: Although American goldfinches grow a new set of feathers during molting periods in fall and spring, they continue to visit feeders during this time. However, goldfinches do travel around within an area whenever they're not nesting, and often seem to have completely disappeared. Even when these birds are abundant at feeders, they're actually moving a great deal—so much so that the goldfinches frequenting feeders in the morning are usually different birds from those at the same feeders in the afternoon.

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Project of the Month

Let your imagination take off...copper wire and beads give this fun project wings. Sit down, relax and have another cup of coffee. You’ll need to empty the can to make this simple birdhouse.
Make your own birdhouse today!

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FREE Wallpaper

Download great wallpaper for your computer, like this photo of fall tress on a cool, autumn day by Lisa Ousley.

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Talk to Us!

We are looking for budget tips for our “For Less” section. Send us your best budget idea and photos by using the Submit Your Story form. If we use it in the magazine, we’ll pay you $25!

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