Plant the seeds after the threat of frost is over, when the soil is warm, in a very sunny place. Keep them constantly watered till they grow a few inches tall. It's fun to watch the goldfinches pluck the petals to hasten the seed ripening. After that, you can just use pantyhose to cover the seedhead, but you can also leave them open and watch the birds have a good time till all the seeds are gone. People usually cover them in order to harvest the seedheads, to eat the seeds themselves. I'd rather watch the birds! Enjoy your flowers!

I think she is a warbler...but there are so many kinds. A search on the net and I thought maybe a Yellow Rumped Warbler.

That's a juvenile Hermit Warbler..these guys have a very limited US breeding distribution. Usually seen up high in conifers.

thank you guys for even reading my wordy post! and for responding with great/helpful ideas ;) i fixed the google sketchup drawings with correct wall height. alx and lzgdns - i'm not married to an accent wall, but dd wanted bright pink walls and all 4 walls = approx 713 sq feet of azalea pink! good info though, that focal wall has to be focal for a reason. i was trying to do a satisfying dose of pink for her, without losing the light reflectivity of the other walls, and trying to make the dingiest north wall/ceiling area look crisp white by contrast. the ivory on upper half of room now looks greyish-ivory "BM faded orphan dress" thank you for the paint color suggestions, especially on dealing with the northerly light (and website) purply-pinks clash with the carpet for sure. the color dd keeps coming back to is behr's springtime bloom - lol - fun job to name paint colors - BM peptobismol SW benydryl tablet pink FPE chalky calamine lotion would you really paint the ceiling pink too? there is no flat ceiling, it's all on a slope. that's exactly why we want the loft for her - cozy book nook, place where she and her friends will want to be as they get a little older - we wanted the area underneath it to have maybe a desk, storage, bookshelves too - something that i really worry about is that since the light is northerly, putting a loft on the far wall would actually pretty much lower the ceiling over both windows. this has to reduce the amount of light that gets reflected into the rest of the room, making it feel even darker. i Love beadboard, but i have been feeling that it's too out of character with the house to look right. my mil has the similar contemporary 1970s style home, and she has spent years gradually colonializing it - colonial wallpapers, paint colors, furniture. the overall effect is ODD. cottagy finishes in a room with an 15'high x 19'long wall -is it possible? crash&suero, you've both gotten me thinking, corner loft! a triangle wastes a lot of floor space, but a square works maybe? instead of across the room - because the shortest part is useless anyway - the one i drew is directly under the skylight, and has lowest ceiling height of around 4'5" like a staircase but that would take up a lot of space/$, for now i think ladder is best option? i also like that it breaks up the enormous expanse of wall. no kidding if i had a ds instead of dd, i'd do a mural of niagara falls, put fake boulders at the bottom, hang some barrels halfway on hte wall for bookshelves, decorate his bed in lifejacket orange and be done ;) Did another sketch! Loft is around 5' by 8'. Wasn't sure what size it should be but this doesn't block window, and is a golden mean ratio ;) added ladder. hope it makes sense visually. Any thoughts? the wall is pink for fun, will try other paint suggestions too ;) pink does not match actual paint choices. thank you so much! (sorry my messages are so long) my paint color name is: SW chatty blur Here is a link that might be useful: new sketch with corner loft