Funny you should mention the Cardinal. I had never seen one before because we don't have them out here. We were vacationing in the South two weeks ago and saw one in Mobile, Alabama and another two days later in West Monroe, La. Everything was blooming everywhere we went and the Cardinal sightings were icing on the cake. Went to Chamblee's on the way to the airport for the flight home.

I'd plant more L cardinalis and try again. They like organic material. This year I have had to water to keep the party going. They also re-seed I'm told altho it appears I only have 1 seedling this year off the parent plant. I really love this plant and now think of it as a mainstay in the garden. They are so upright you can plant them anywhere. Sorry you've had trouble with stem strength Nancy - I have had the opposite experience, they are almost woody. They also benefit from being mixed in with a lot of lily bulbs and I use Bulbtone once or twice a year, and this year also used SweetPeet to mulch in that bed. They seem to like their root zone a bit protected.

I've always had problems with this plant, but only when growing from seed. It would wither and die on me, never succeeding. I finally purchased a plant, and all is well. I have mine in full sun and water it daily. I rarely fertilize; maybe once or twice during the growing season with Miracle-Gro; that's it. Sorry I can't help :(

I know what a thrill it is to get a cardinal -- the farmhouse I lived in for 18 years had none when I first moved there -- I was so excited when my efforts with feeders, birdbaths, and habitat additions started paying off and the cardinals arrived! Cardinals will come to hanging feeders as long as there's an area big enough for them to land on, as indicated by pondwelr. They often can't feed from tube feeders because the perches are small for them to sit on and twist around enough to get into the ports, but if there's a tray attached to the bottom, like pondwelr has, they can sit on that and feed. Some of my tray feeders have been on posts and some have been hanging -- and sometimes I feed right on the ground or another flat surface (where I live now we have a patio surrounded by a stone wall and we put seed on the top of the stone wall). Unhulled seed is great because you don't have all the hulls all over the ground, and the birds love it (less work for them, too!). It is more expensive but that's the biggest drawback. I don't have a house sparrow or finch "problem" where I am, but in my old farmhouse I had dozens of them -- I put cracked corn and millet on the ground for them; they still ate some of the black oil but they also ate on the ground a lot and it saved me a little $. Or so I like to believe :) And the millet draws in other little sparrows that aren't as common as house sparrows, like the white-throated and white-crowned sparrows, during migration. The more activity you get, the more you'll draw in. Warning: feeding birds can be addictive! :) I'm including a link for the birding forum -- it's a great place to learn more about birds, if you're interested. Have fun! and enjoy those cardinals! Here is a link that might be useful: birding forum