They have a light fragrance. You sort of have to stick your nose in the flower and smell, but it is wonderful. Here are my experiences with magnolias. Relatively sheltered yard in Minneapolis. Jane--planted in late august 2004 and died over the winter. I might give Jane, or one of her siblings, another chance this year. Butterflies--rescued from being composted (a 20 gallon tree) and planted in late August of 2005. Perfectly fine so far. Late bloomer, probably by this weekend. Nice yellow flowers. Leonard Messel--Plant in late August 2004 and had 50% winter kill the first year. Has never happened since. Bloomed for the first time this year. Pink tinted flowers are gorgeous. Started blooming a week ago. Star Magnolia--Spring 2005--the earliest bloomer is mostly done. Not a long history so no guarantees. Merrill is also a good one that is quite common in the cities and seems reliable. I think spring planting is advised for best survival. If you like Magnolias I say go to the nursery this weekend and go for it.

Well there definitely is a female and she has started building a nest so we'll see if they stick around. I never expected they would nest this year in a box just put up. Thing is she won't use what I put out for her nest but is getting everything from next door. I guess I'll put my pile next door, LOL.

Nuthatch, Chickadee?

Dear New Congrats! I would DEFINITELY take out some of that nesting material out from the bottom of those boxes that have eggs or babies. You could use a hamburger turner and hold up the top nest and pull out the other nests from underneath. It will be much cleaner and safer because they could fall or get pushed out accidentally. Glad that's a frog. I thought it was a snake at first. Cathy