Thanks Miguel, I have their catalog :-). I think BorS explained their system of ordering to me. The truth is - I DO NOT NEED MORE CLEMATIS, LOL! We just moved to a new home. The lot is very small. Half of it spoiled (in terms of planting new plants) by mature Maple trees. I will have to figure out how to squeeze my Clemmies (about 40 of them now) in the garden after we will redo some hardscaping. I also have many Lilies and Peonies in pots. I would really appreciate if somebody can stop me! But you know how it works: you see a nice variety and you say: "Oh, this is shade tolerant! I need one!" Then you see poor neglected plants al Lowe's at $2 for the 2 Gallon pot. You think that they have to be rescued. And so on... The only reason I ordered from Bluestone this year is my greed. I could not resist their 1/2 off sale, so I ordered 4 more for $3-5 each. All four are doing great. I ordered from the Silver Star because I fell in love with 'Fransisca Maria' when I saw it in bloom at the local nursery. I added 'Mr Spenser Castle' because shipping cost will stay the same. I am so weak:-)

I'm not sure they were robins that were flocking in my yard today as I didn't see any orange like the first flock I saw, but they were so thirsty. There were at least a dozen or more on both the bird bath and a half barrel water garden drinking like they just couldn't get enough. Gary, I have hummingbirds in my yard too and the only thing bloomig is the queen's wreath vine. I had never seen them on that before, but they are visiting it now. I also got a hummingbird feeder after the freeze and have seen them feeding on that. I can't wait for the plants to come back.

I use tube feeders hanging from a double shepherd's-crook. On the ground around the pole, I have wall about 8 inches high and about 7 feet in diameter to contain the fallen seed. (The squirrels and ground-feeding birds tend to swish it around.) When grackles and starlings show up, I put a cover over the "seed circle" (which I made in two semi-circular pieces) for a week or two. The best material for this cover is 1/4-inch wire mesh (called 'hardware cloth'). It must fit snugly so that small birds don't sneak in and get trapped. Click on the picture below for a photo gallery with details: Back Feeders Usually, grackles and starlings find it awkward to use the tube feeders. (The shorter the pegs, the better.) But if there are a few that have learned how, I find that a "sparrow spooker" will also deter the grackles and starlings. I make my spookers with stiff wire (rather than string or fish line) hanging vertically around the tube feeders, because the string can tangle, and may even snag a bird. Birds with larger wingspans don't fit between these vertical wires. And house sparrows feel trapped if they can't exit the feeders in any direction; that's how I think they are deterred.

How SWEET to be able to call wild birds to a meal! A sure-fire photo op there! Whatis123, that's what I want to hear - Spring has arrived for you! Going on through the stages of Spring, I'm still waiting for the House Wrens to arrive. There's a Wren house outside my bathroom window that got knocked off it's base and I've yet to repair it. I need to get on that! And am still looking for Baltimore Orioles and RT Hummingbirds. I have oranges in place and the most popular hummer feeder ready and waiting.