Thanks for not being mad Ms. Jean ,i do get overeager sometimes and totally miss stuff. Love your sunny bottom birdie. I think those are great pictures! That's definitely the little bird i have been seeing all week. They are fun to watch because they are so quick. They are really hunting the grass for bugs i guess because they are constantly on the ground flashing their little yellow bottoms :-) Thanks so much for the pictures. Awww Brenda, you dont have the little fluffy vacuum cleaner wrens? They have so much personality and are so much fun to watch. They are so naughty too :-) i just love love love them! They follow all the other birds around and see what they are interested in and then they start liking it too. That of course makes the other birds mad so then the chase begins and it looks like a game of peek a boo because they are so small and fast the other birds can never catch them! LOL....If one bird likes a nest box then the little Carolina wren likes it. If somebody hides food then the little wren eats it. If somebody is guarding a certain tree then that is the tree the wren wants to be in. If somebody likes guarding a vine then thats the vine the wren wants to be in, and on and on and on. They are so mischievous and fun to watch , i laugh all the time at their antics. They are just so naughty and cute. Wish i could send you some but i only have one pair and i would surely miss them just to much. They even pick the bugs off of our cars and every bug off every hanging plant too. Yep they are just so wonderful. Little reddish fluff balls with big beaks and big voices! LOL....I hope you get some, Brenda they are wonderful. I saw a male Northern flicker today and i never realized how big they are, and their beaks are huge too! Lol...I never ever want to make one of them mad. So pretty though and very shy. I have always heard them but never saw them. Very exciting for me to finally put a real face (and beak) to that wild call they have. He hung on the very tip of a branch to pluck dogwood berries and the northern mocking bird that guards that tree didn't mess with him either. I dont blame him! LOL...Bonnie

Thank you everyone! Sorry, I forgot to post a picture of my cake! I'll post it here later on! I was very tired last night and forgot about it. Shirley, I do have seeds for some host plants already started or have yet to plant. I have common, swamp, tropical and poke milkweed, fennel, rue and parsley seeds too. Bev, I'm hopiing to get all sorts of butterflies in the yard this year! I usually see the swallowtails and many other types (including a hummingbird moth) but rarely the monarchs come into the yard. I did see one while out walking though last summer and it appeared to be a female laying eggs on the common (wild) milkweed plants! Keeping my fingers crossed! Now I'm off to go check my containers! Brad AKA Moonwolf

It depends on which one, the pink one is called "Dawn" and it blooms really early in the season. So early it took me by surprise, and it's done now when the rest are just starting. One of purples ones is Jackmani, but I didn't put up images of that one yet this year. I have 2 unidentified ones, the lable named and showed an image of a peach clematis, so I got 2. One is purple, one is lavendar! I like the combo, so all is good. That's what happens in the 50% off + aisle at a big box store......LOL. I also have Julia Coravan, which is a burgundy color. I debated whether to cross-post the pictures, but this forum has been slow lately, so I decided it couldn't hurt. Jenny P

Chinch bugs like hot soil, so keeping the area cool with deep watering is key. It might need to be a little deeper next to the sidewalk and drive way. After you get them, it's different. I've never had them but I would try attracting birds to that area. Birds like bird baths and seed feeders. If you can't attract enough birds to the spot, then beneficial nematodes. I like the ones called Guardian Lawn Patrol or something like that. Company is in Colorado. Beneficial nematodes carry a disease that kills the bugs within 24 hours. Nobody tells you this but they must be applied to saturated soil. If you apply to dry soil, you just wasted your money.