You would think that we
gardeners would spend the winter months curled up by the fire, perusing seed
and bulb catalogs and daydreaming about our gardens in the warmer months ahead.
That is well and good from about Christmas to mid-January and then we start to
get the itch – you know the one – our fingernails are just to clean and it’s
time to get our hands in the soil. A great way to satisfy your green thumb
during the winter is to tackle a classic indoor gardening project. Mini gardens
have become all the rage. They can be open topped terrariums, saucer planters
or low dish gardens. The imagination can run wild with ideas to make it a
“playful” space. My granddaughter loves to play with my gardens by moving in dinosaurs
or fairies and playing “Princess Stories”. This is great way to get the
children interested in plants.
It is also time to think
about starting any garden and flower seeds in the house that you may want to
grow this year. The choices are many. Our last frost date is around May 1st,
so back up the weeks on the calendar for seed starting so you know when the
best time for planting in the house would be. Ample light is very important for
this task. Seed varieties can be found in many forms also. Besides the tried
and true varieties grown for years, heirlooms and organic seeds are now readily
available. Botanical Interest is a wonderful line of garden seeds that offers
health and recipe information on the packets. They are great for the beginner
gardener.
Now going beyond the garden,
from dinner on a city rooftop garden to watching football in suburban outdoor
living rooms, we Americans have once again fallen in love with the great
outdoors. Outdoor living is more than dressing up patios with a few containers.
People are transforming their ordinary backyards into “specialty rooms”
complete with kitchens, bars, televisions and even heaters for cool nights.
Flowers, trees and shrubs are being used as accents, room dividers, carpets and
curtains. As we go outdoors more often with our families, friends and pets, it
is only natural to think more consciously about how safe our own backyards are,
giving way to the new twist in outdoor living: the “eco-chic” movement.
Environmentalism is on the upswing and is changing everything from the types of
cars we drive to the food we eat and even the way we garden.
And last but not least,
February is National Bird Feeding Month. So if you have not enjoyed this hobby
before, it is not too late to start. Bird feeding is an entertaining and
educational pastime that can be enjoyed by everyone. You can invite the kind of
birds you want to your yard by choosing the right feeder and food they prefer
to eat. They are many bird behaviors and seed preferences. The “sit and eat”
birds stay at the feeder while they eat. Goldfinches and Siskins prefer Nyjer
seed offered in tube feeders, and Cardinals and Grosbeaks prefer black oil
sunflower seeds form a hopper, or platform type feeder. The “grab and go” birds
include chickadees, Titmice, Nuthatches and Woodpeckers. They take a seed and
eat it somewhere else. They prefer black oil sunflower and peanuts out of the
shell or split. These bird types come to tube, hopper or platform type feeders.
The “floor feeder” birds are the ground feeding birds that may also eat on an
elevated feeder. Juncos, Sparrows, Towhees, and Doves are in the group.
There is a coming event to
be held in Washington that will offer great information on wild birds in our
area. Interested in naming all of the beautiful birds that visit your backyard,
and attracting more? Your invited to “Life
in the Landscape,” A Winter Bird Workshop, on Tuesday, February 26th at
Hillermann Nursery & Florist. A Seminar and Question & Answer Session
will be held from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m., and
a “Birds in the Hand” Banding Demonstration will be held from 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. The Missouri River
Bird Observatory will teach you how to identify birds, the species you are most
likely to see during Missouri's winter, and how to make the birds at home in
your yard via bird-feeders and landscaping. A one-hour seminar will be followed
by a bird-banding demonstration where you will get to see birds up close and
personal! Likely catches include cardinals, woodpeckers, and chickadees. Learn
more about the Missouri River Bird Observatory online at http://www.mrbo.org/.
Until next month,
Sandi Hillermann
McDonald
