If you have high speed internet may I suggest you try Googling or another search engine? I Googled 'Gardens in Newfoundland' and came up with 352,000 hits. Of course most will be useless to you but there are some to peak your interest. You never said where in Newf you were visiting. Certainly talk with the average man or woman working in their gardens as these are very friendly folk on the island. Be very careful if driving at night as the huge Moose population are attracted by the vehicle lights. You will be warned of the danger if you cross on the ferries but possibly not if flying in. Just a great place to visit, different in so many ways from the rest of Canada. We have friends in a fishing village 60 miles outside of Gander and have been over 3 times now.

I'm glad your bird problem turned out to be seasonal but just in case you ever face this problem again (or any bird infestation problem) I thought it might be helpful to just mention a different angle on this. The problem is not that the birds are pooping (or whatever they're doing) in your pool. That is simply a symptom of your real problem: that your environment is attractive to birds. If you really want to keep birds from being destructive to your property you have to make it so that your land is a place they don't want to hang out on in the first place. There are a lot of different approaches to this but yes, stopping the food supply is one of them. Another would be the mylar balloons someone else mentioned up above. There are also specialized bird scare balloons with 'eyes' that follow the birds wherever they fly as well as holographic tape. These incorporate movement so they are usually more affective than static decoys. There are other senses to attack as well: taste/smell, touch, and hearing. Birds hate methyl anthranilate (a chemical derived from concord grapes that has long been used for grape flavoring)--it gives them a similar sensation to what we feel when we encounter bleach. This comes in commercially available sprays. Also, there are sticky gels, netting, or spike strips that keep birds from roosting on certain surfaces. Lastly, there are sound devices that utilize recordings of predators/distress calls that scare birds away. For a partially or fully enclosed area you could use an ultrasonic device as well (one that can't be heard by humans but is annoying to birds and bats). Make sure that you switch up whatever you use from time to time. If you use balloons, move the location (but always keep it near where the birds are nesting). If you're using a sound device change the interval between effects, try to randomize the effects being used. Also, using the products together in a synergistic way will create a more effective and longer-lasting reaction. I'm glad to hear that no one has mentioned killing or injuring the birds...don't do that. As mentioned before that would be reacting to the symptoms rather than truly solving the problem. Furthermore, it would be very easy to accidentally tamper with one of the MANY birds protected by the Migratory Bird Act of 1918 (and then you'd be in big trouble). Just a side note: be careful when cleaning up the bird poop. Birds can transmit over 60 diseases to humans. Some of them are fatal. Bird dropping particles can be unknowingly inhaled and lead to serious health problems. Good luck in your future bird encounters! Here is a link that might be useful: click for examples, case studies and FAQs about bird pest control

Hi! I live in St. John's. I'd love to help you plan your trip. If you want to email me through my profile page you can, or i can just share some suggestions here. I assume you are renting a car. If so, rent it as soon as possible. There are not a lot of rental cars here. May and June are popular months because tourists come to see the icebergs. Hopefully you will see some while you are here. Don't expect warm weather that time of the year. Pack rain gear. You will see lots of rain and fog. Day trips from St. John's can take you to some pretty scenic places. In half an hour you can be in Cape Spear, the easternmost point of land in North America. There are 2 lighthouses there, the old one which is now a museum and the new working one. There are hiking trails along the coast. In 3 hours you can get to Cape St. Mary's, a seabird sanctuary. Gannets and murres nest on the cliffs there. A spectacular site. There is also Bell Island. A short (15 minute) ferry ride will get you to the island. You can take the mine tour. That's neat. In less than an hour you can be in Ferryland. There is an archaeological dig there with artifacts from the earliest settlements. The lighthouse has fantastic picnics. If you're going to do just one thing I think the lighthouse picnics should be it. Just book in advance because they're really popular. The food is made on the premises with organic and local ingredients. You eat on a blanket on the hills surrounding the lighthouse. When I ate there with my 2 sisters we watched whales spouting. There are many small fishing communities around the area. Quidi Vidi is less than 5 minutes from downtown. Petty Harbour is about 15 minutes away. Witless Bay is half an hour away and from there you can take the whale and bird watching boat tours. I highly recommend that. And of course icebergs if there are any around. In St. John's there are several museums. The Geo Centre is cool with many hands on activities for kids and adults. The Rooms is a bit more upscale, it has a museum section and an art gallery. There's also a railway museum. St. John's has many many restaurants and pubs. Live music in many Irish pubs. You can eat at Raymond's and spend $100 per person or more or get fish and chips at Ches's , a local "institution". I'd also recommend going to Signal Hill for the view of the city and ocean. Walk water street and go in the shops. Tour a couple of our many churches. I'm sure there is much more but that's what I can think of off the top of my head. Like I said, feel free to email me for more info. And my website, Bitstop.ca has lots of Newfoundland pictures if you want to have a look,

There are only 2 species of Lupinus in eastern No. America. L. perennis and L. polyphyllus, a garden excape. Yours looks like L. perennis. The difference appears to be in the number of leaflets: L. perennis has 11 or less per leaf whereas the larger L. polyphyllus has up to 17 or so leaflets. Another difference that might help is that the flowers of L. perennis tend to be distinctly bi-color with softer hues than those of L. polyphyllus and the flower spikes tend to be smaller in overall size. L. polyphyllus is the one you can find at garden centers.