Jonas, You may have blossoms next year!!! I have several hardy opuntias which have fruited this year. If you weren't so far, I'd say send me a SASE and I'd fill it for you, but I bet it would be quite a bit of trouble to send a self addressed stamped envelope to WV USA. Shipping would be pretty wild I bet. But if you can't find any, give me a yell. I could probably put quite a bit of seeds in a padded envelope. We had three feet of snow and negative 9 degrees F (a little chilly) Later, Chris

Hi shillanorth, It is still a mystery as to what triggers migration. Length of days and food availability could both be factors As mankind destroys food sources and habitat, many animals may be making a last ditch effort to stay alive. Have you ever made a late night jaunt to your favorite store only to find it unexpectedly closed? Panic and exploration... The Rufous' have just recently started migrating to the gulf areas and then turning northeast and coming back up. Nobody is sure why. Maybe loss of habitat. I would hate to promise food and not be able to deliver. I am researching flowers and plants that will give nectar all winter. I may have just made a mistake with bluebirds by feeding them lots of mealworms that enabled them to raise two broods this year. Great but, will there be enough food here for all of those bluebirds all winter? Playing Time Lord is a risky undertaking. I've been doing it for 55 years and I have found that it is very easy to mess up. Don't make promises you can't keep. The best thing I have found to do is furnish habitat. I have 10 acres with over 1000 birds of 140 species that frequent here. Habitat, habitat, habitat. I added a pic of a member of the bluebirds' first brood feeding a member of the second brood. I didn't know they did that. Here is a link that might be useful: RNWPHOTO.NET

Gorgeous photos! I love your Fragrant Cloud, I have that one too. It is easy to get hooked! This is my first year and I'm already in trouble haha! You have lovely roses.

I never thought to sprinkle salt and pepper on a cantaloupe. Freezing in ginger ale sounds yummy. I have to try it. I bought several personal size watermelons last week at the Super Walmart which were very sweet and seedless. One yielded enough bit size pieces for 10 people to snack on. I appreciate how the personal size fits in the refrigerator easily. I find watermelon and cantaloupe to be very cooling and refreshing on a hot day.