Okay... I do see one hummingbird early in the morning and just before the sun goes down. She comes once each time. Once again I am guessing that either my yard is in between where she hangs out during the day and where she goes to sleep, or she gets chased away from other yards at these two times. I have 5 feeders up. One an each side of the house and three in the back. None in the front yard. Of the three in the back there is one that basically got used all the time, a window feeder that I want to keep up as I want that one to get used, and a third that got used occasionally. I am thinking of taking down this occasional feeder, but I am thinking of leaving the other 4 up. Two questions. Here in NJ when does one stop filling the feeders? Second, do you fill all your feeders or do you take them all down but one? This allies to feeders from other parts of the yard and not ones that you may have had bunched in one spot due to heavy activity. Ken

Bob - that's a Perky Pet hummingbird feeder (the model is often called the 8 oz "4-fountain", although the company calls it the "pinched waist" bottle feeder). Mine also came with plastic "Bee guards", that will fit on the tubes that are in the plastic flowers and will allow a beak to push through but will keep the bees out. I generally don't use them because they are yellow (which itself attracts bees). Although when the wasps start coming and harass the hummers and then lounge on the feeding ports, I'll put them on for a day or so and then take them off, since the wasps usually give up pretty quickly and don't bother coming back for awhile. Plus the hummers sometimes have problems figuring out what the heck the things are, so I don't like keeping them on too long. LOL I actually bought my feeder at one of the Home Depots here and they are sold at various online places that sell products for feeding/housing wild birds. Alternately, alot of people use the newer saucer feeders (particularly the various ones called "Humzingers"), which are easy to clean, so that is an option too. Also some come with ant moats and others can be fitted for one as an option. I made my own (using a plastic coffee jar lid). When hung above the feeder and filled with water, it can help keep the ants and other crawlers away from the feeder. I had one online place bookmarked as I think someone who had posted earlier had ordered from them and they had a big selection. The below are links to the different feeders: Bottle feeders (this place calls mine the 4-fountain) Saucer feeders (including the Humzinger)

I'm much further south than you, but I planted my fennel plants (bronze and green-4 inch pots) in the fall and it's been gorgeous the past 2 months. I'm hoping they'll carry on through the summer and hungry catepillars. I'm going to buy more plants next fall. Through all the heavy frosts we had this winter, they've carried on and look terrific. I haven't been in this location for a full year yet, but my herb/butterfly/hummingbird garden is in a much better location than at our last house. I'm hoping my stellar fennel performance is a preview of what's to come! (If only my chives would get half as big as my fennels!) Bobbi

We planted dafodils in our woods last fall for the first time. The deer have totally decimated the whole understory of our woods...When I remember what used to be there, it makes me want to weep. In my opinion, what is ecologically unsound is that our communities are not confronting the deer problem. In my area it is the native plants that once were food for the birds and other creatures of the woodlands that are now gone. Nature has a wonderful way of fitting things together, and our refusal to deal with the deer problem has thrown everything out of wack. For example, we had a large grouping of Cardinal plants which bloomed just before the hummers were about to take their long journey south. How wonderful it was to see the hummers feast on the nectar of the Cardinal plants, as well as to enjoy that vivid red that I have never seen in any other plant. Alas, the deer have eaten all of them. The groups that work to protect the deer seem to have forgotten about all of the other creatures that used to call the forest home. It is a truly sad situation.