Jane, if you only have one feeder out, you might try a good mixture with black oil sunflower seeds stirred into it. Don't get the cheapie kind with those little reddish-brown "BB's" in it. I have never seen ANYTHING actually eat those. I get mine at PetSmart, and I really love the Stokes mixture that has no hulls in it. I feed it, black oiler sunflowers and safflower seed. Safflower seed goes into a feeder that doesn't have squirrel protection, because they don't really like it, but cardinals and titmice do. HOWEVER, no matter what you are feeding, there will be times when birds are not around for various reasons. I have hardly any right now, mostly due to a pair of hawks hanging about our neighborhood. And even without the hawks, birds often disappear for a few weeks now and then. One more thing...don't forget that WATER is probably even more important than seed in luring birds to your yard. You'll notice that most of Maureen's pictures feature her great birdbath. Be sure to provide several "baths" around the yard. They can be anything from decorative features to trashcan lids on the ground with 2" of water in them. I often turn clay pots upside down and put a clay saucer on top for water. Keep the water CLEAN and shallow, maybe even adding a rock in the center for birds to stand on. Good luck! Marcia

I have found 9-pound bags of a mix of mostly millet with some sunflower seed and, I think, safflower seed, at a dollar-type store here called Big Lots. $7 per bag. Birds gobble it up in winter, but in the winter they'll eat anything; in the spring they are picky, kicking out the milo for the pigeons and doves, so I stop feeding them and concentrate on hummingbirds and, this year, suet for Ladderback and Downy woodpeckers. Also I have nyger thistle feeders (both metal mesh feeder and sock feeder) out for our sweet, tiny lesser goldfinches. To complete my first post in this forum, I spotted and got pictures of a male Northern Cardinal this morning, a rare sighting for our area (Albuquerque). A similar male bird (the same one??) was reported a few miles further north back in February. I also photographed a rare Vermillion Flycatcher in April. Maybe more birds are moving into my state -- and I'll have figure out how to feed them if they visit my apartment complex :)

If it sits on the grass to water and drain then sneaky snails could have snuck in within an hour. And caterpillars are laid as eggs on plants by flying insect adults. It does look like damage from one of these munchers though. Kind of a relief, I believe. Do you have lettuce or even potatoes? You can lay them on top of the media to try to attract snails then squish and flush them. Also, if you repotted it and havent had it long its entirely possible there were snail eggs on the roots and they hatched after you repotted. Some people spray roots with hydrogen peroxide to kill snails and their eggs but I'm not sure how a fern would handle such treatment.

I would most likely not repot it quite yet, give it a bit of time in its new residence. These guys can be a little melodramatic. If it’s seemingly healthy and still producing new leaves, it’s okay for now. You will likely have some really solid growth in the meantime. I have made many mistakes by repotting immediately after purchasing a new plant and caused undue stress. In fact, my biggest rookie mistake was the constant itch to repot at the first sign of roots. With that said... You COULD definitely size up an inch or two when you’re ready to pot. I would pot in a loose peat based mix. (Or coco coir blend if you have any), and NOT disturb the roots, as they look fragile. I would plop that in a new pot with a 1/3 of soil and just fill the potting mixture around it and allow it to loosen on it’s on. It is not always necessary to loosen and spread the roots.. Unsure where you are in terms of humidity but I live in dry Colorado climate and use pebble trays for all my ferns and they respond very well. I have two birds nests in the shower l and they are very happy and have no crisping, which occurs easily in them. I hope this helps!