Storm passed us completely by, though there were some beautiful thunderheads to the east. Not even a drop. Yay! I'm on the other side of the same coin, NJ. I can't conceive of it *not* raining in the summer. I frequently read in gardening books and even on GW here about not getting the leaves of certain plants wet. I've scratched my head for years. Doesn't rain get them wet all the time? We just got back from a road trip to Victoria, BC a few days ago. It doesn't really rain in the summer there either. It was extremely strange to see brown grass (where it wasn't irrigated) and occasional falling leaves and I was told this was normal in the summer. That just doesn't happen here except in drought years. We saw farms all over BC baling beautiful hay. They could cut and bale at the optimum nutrition level because they totally controlled the irrigation. Time to cut? Just stop watering. Take as much time as necessary to dry in the swath; heck, take a couple extra days to flip the swath and dry it through. It's amazing. We just can't do that here most years. Usually, when it looks like there's going to be a rash of a few days with no rain, farmers are dropping everything - even 9 to 5 jobs in town - to 'make hay while the sun shines'. Even then, it's unusual to get hay off with no rain at all on it. Most of the prairies here support "dry-land" farms with no irrigation setup at all. In an average year here, I only usually need to water the garden at the beginning, when seeds are close to the surface and yet to germinate. After they've established, I rarely need to pull out the sprinkler. There's at least an inch of rain per week or so and when there's not, the roots dig deep enough that they're good for a few more days until it rains again. This is only my second year doing dry bush beans, but I'm finding it difficult to mature them on the plant because of the short season and because the rain still comes in the fall, though less. Same for the pole beans, though, they're up in the air and do dry off a little faster. No rain in the winter - just snow, cold and more cold. We can go into the -30s Celcius for a couple of weeks at a time and -40 and below is not unheard of. I don't get to do cover crops. Typically, last frost is within the first week of June (or late May in a good year) and first frost is usually early to mid September (but can come as early as August in a bad year). We can extend harvest into early October by covering on nights where there's frost forecast. Crops mature, but don't really grow much by then. I've tried mulches a few times, but have discarded the idea. I know it's a great thing for many gardeners, but I find it cools the soil too much and there's not really a need to conserve moisture. Should we go back to drought years, I'd see about trying it again. Right now, though, I need heat heat heat to reach my soil. :)

I'm so sorry to hear this, Donna... I went through this, myself, losing many bulbs in the process... it's heartbreaking when you put so much time, effort and care into these beautiful bulbs... I hate using chemicals... and when it comes to outdoor gardening, I'm all organic. But I do realize that there are often times when the application of a chemical poison is the only thing we can do. I, too, would suggest using a systemic, which will work by uptake through the root system and will help to protect the bulb/plant. I only use chemicals on my containerized plants... and never on anything that I'm growing for consumption. Sticking with organic and naturally raised and grown foods has had such a positive impact on my health, mainly helping keep many lupus symptoms in check, though it has also helped me maintain a good weight, feel better overall, aid in digestion and so many other positives. I do hope you're able to use a method to save a portion of the bulb with a bit of basal plate attached, and get some little bulblets to form... if I recall, the term is "chipping", right? It's been so long, and my memory is just not what it once was... but I do remember going through the process and saving part of my "Emerald", I believe it was. Today, it's a healthy little guy, though still gaining size. Really sorry to hear, Donna... I do hope you can salvage!

Absolutely a female HOSP. House Finches have striped breast. They DO occasionally use nestboxes. Other brown birds that use nestboxes include House Wrens (pointy beak) and occasionally Carolina Wrens (pointy beak.) See other brown birds link. Sometimes other brown birds temporarily perch on a nestbox but would not go inside. E.g., chipping sparrow, which has a chestnut cap and distinctive black eye stripe. I have heard VERY sad tales of people killing Black-capped chickaee (black bib) or shooting other song sparrows at feeders. It is, of course, important to be absolutely SURE of identity before taking ANY active control measures. Also important, of course, to check inbox traps hourly. Even tho this is a "live trap," A native bird trapped in a box for longer can die. House wrens will be out and about soon - already in Ohio. Here is a link that might be useful: other brown birds sometimes confused with HOSP

So far I've only seen cowbird babies here with Red-winged Blackbirds and Baltimore Orioles. The size is similar and there seem to be mixed families so the cowbirds don't appear to have displaced the original babies. The red-wings and cowbirds feed together amicably and the orioles brought both cowbird and oriole fledglings to the jam feeders (although the cowbirds didn't eat the jam). None of the cardinals, blue jays, or grackles have cowbirds associated with them, so they probably rejected them. No crows either, although they're fledging now and the adult cowbirds are probably long gone. I can't imagine a crow putting up with a cowbird chick, anyway. I wonder if the cowbird fledglings identify with the birds that raised them, so that a cowbird female raised by a red-wing would be more likely to lay an egg in a red-wing nest. That should give a higher rate of success and maybe skew the egg-laying process toward species like red-wings and orioles. Claire