That would have been fascinating, Gil. I remember seeing those as a kid although not since or maybe I am just not as curious as I was in my younger years. Back then I usually had a basement bedroom in this old house and I would put my butterflies and moths in between the window panes. Sort of a built in terrarium. Dad didn't ever really try to stop my zoology collecting until I caught 32 frogs and made a home for them in his rainwater tub under the hose! Still have that old tub out in the garden. :) I also had a bubble bee named Flyby. She died. :( 100% animal lover this girl. Konrad, I have also noticed lots of cabbage moths this year. Maybe the mild winter? I have to say that I don't have near as many bugs around here since I have so many bird brains coming to dine. =:)...........cept ANTS and SKEETERS! Ginny

Well, I finally figured out where the Orioles are nesting. They are not nesting in the Pin Oak again, but in the Linden tree on the other side of the house! After I noticed the female pulling on the fibers from the old nest, I decided to put out some more cat fur for her to use in the nest (Orioles will collect animal fur to line the inside of the nest). Every Spring in late March/early April I fill a large suet cage with cat fur. My sister has long-haired cats and she collected the fur when she brushes them. I "fluff" the fur up and put it in the cage and it's usually gone within a few weeks because the birds and even the red squirrels collect it for their nests. This time I only put out a little fur. The Tufted Titmouse and the Oriole female collected it all within 2 days. Here she is collecting tufts of fur that fell on the ground - And here she is bringing a little fur to the nest!

Wow...an hour and a half, or more, drive for me....guess I'll just stick with Joann fabrics, lol !

I've only had foliar nematodes on two occasions. The first time, I had no clue what happened, as I grow in pots. I just trashed it. The second time, I blamed the grower. It was in a big gorgeous, very expensive hosta. I trashed it as well. Luckily, ken advised me not to mention it on the forum, as I was livid, having paid that for the hosta and it having nemadoes. In retrospect, I'm sure they came from hanging baskets of fern. (I didn't know at the time that they were often infected with nematodes.) In the spring, every big box store and grocery store has cheap ones. I always buy several. On occasion, I have hung them over hosta. So, that's how I think I got nematodes. Lesson learned. I still buy them, but don't put them over my hosta. bkay