A courting bush?

Rhonda

5 years ago

That's neat Irma! I think that you're right that it may be a convenient place for the males to strut their stuff. I've found that trees with fewer leaves and less crowded branches are popular during mating season (pretty much year-round here) as they allow for quick entry and exit and highest visibility of the courting ritual.

Enjoy the show :)

irma_stpete_10a thanked Rhonda

irma_stpete_10a
Original Author

5 years ago

Thanks, Rhonda. The appearance of the rarely appearing cardinal pair really surprised me.

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Despite the original posters overly extensive post, with certain questionable content, the central point is still quite vaild. We as a nation spend more money on grass than on any other crop. That by itself should be reason enough. Read up on the history of lawns and you'll find that they were orginally created as a means of demonstrating wealth (aka, I have this big area and I can afford to do nothing with it except grow grass I can't eat) Regarding the comments of junegem13 and zachslc, you might want to read up on the legal history of this movement. As it turns out, most weed laws (ones based on hight, not on noxious weeds) are unconstitutional. Nonetheless, if you are in a city or subdivision and decide to do a wildflower meadow where there is not an reasonable ordinance, then you should notify your neighbors and the city about why you are doing and the legal preceedants. The EPA has all this information. Regarding property values, that was the original complaint neighbors made against one landowner when she converted her lawn into meadow. When they were unable to demonstrate an actual decrease in property values, the city ordinance was ruled unconstitutional. Afterwards, the neighbors decided if they couldn't beat her that they'd join her and replace their own yards with meadows. Property values in that one neighborhood are now some of the highest in the city (Specific names and places, are available if you want them). Time and time again, lawn alternatives done correctly have shown to raise values, not lower them. In Charlottesville, VA local government is working on an ammendment to exclude native meadows from our weed ordinance. Other cities are doing the same very quicky, especially since the weed ordinance as written by many localites constitutes a legal liability to local governments.

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Hi MapleGirl- Hey, you're right near me. I'm in RI. Nourse Farms would be a great place for you to order plants from. They too are in MA, have a great reputation (see here.), and I've never seen anyone here online have any complaints about them. No, I'm not affiliated with them... just a fan. I like weedblock, but like oviedo_apples was saying, you need to leave room for new canes to come up. I'd say a good fist size is fine around the blackberries and blueberries, but I wouldn't want weedblock around my raspberries. You want them to spread out and fill in. Once you get a good bed of raspberries going, very few weeds even dare to compete. Raspberries are usually so vigorous, they are the weed! If I were you, I'd give some compost to the blackberry and raspberries. Just spread it on an Inch or two thick around the plants. Both plants keep their roots high and really benefit from it. This coming from a guy who just added compost to his 15 beds of raspberries 2 weeks ago. I give my blueberries MirAcid, but with yours being so fragile right now, it's probably the last thing I'd do. With blackberries, you get berries on last year's canes. So, even if your blackberry were to really take off this year, you wouldn't get berries on those canes until next year. Unfortunately, the same is true if you got Home DepotÂs cartonized "Latham" raspberry: being a "summer bearing" raspberry means that it too produces berries on last years canes which means you get to wait an extra year for your berries. *sniff*. But, it doesnÂt have to be this way. I almost always recommend people go with an "everbearing" or "fall bearing" raspberry, which will give you berries the first year you plant it. Even so, people often still say you wonÂt get many berries the first year. But, I disagree. Yes, youÂll obviously get more berries in subsequent years (once the patch fills in), but itÂs still possible to get a respectable amount of berries the first year. Just to show you whatÂs possible, the pic below was from 5 "Prelude" raspberries ($3 each) from Nourse from last year. By your description, I'm getting the impression that these "sticks" are in pretty rough shape. Any chance you could take a picture for us? You'd need to post it somewhere else online, and just give us a link. IÂm starting to think that your biggest problem was your source. -Glenn New bed of 5 everbearing (Fall bearing) "Prelude" raspberries next to my volleyball court.

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Rhonda

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

We don't see many cardinals here or even blue jays. But, we did have a few cardinal sightings earlier in the Spring. I just love them so. I had lots in Williston, but it's just too hot here, I think. But, I do have new (to me) birds that visit our yard here.....wood storks, blue herons, great egrets, osprey, etc...

This is one of my all time favorite cardinal pics that I have taken :) A female taken 10 years ago in Williston. This was taken with a very long lens, hence the strong bokeh. I have this one printed and framed.

irma_stpete_10a thanked Rhonda

gyr_falcon

5 years ago

I don't know the answer to Irma's question, but that is a very nice cardinal photo Rhonda.

irma_stpete_10a thanked gyr_falcon

Rhonda

5 years ago

Thanks gyr_falcon!

Pea

5 years ago

If you add a very shallow water source you will see more cardinals...i have some buckets with lids on in the back garage and there are many cardinals that come by for drink...doves too.

perhaps the bamboo is a good nesting material? Do they seem to be gathering shoots or leaves?

irma_stpete_10a thanked Pea

Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)

5 years ago

Yesterday, I emptied my neighbor's birdbath... the mosquitoes have been unbearable and they are gone for a long length of time... and just as I did so, a cardinal came swooping by my head acting rather perturbed! Maybe I need to put a little water back in it (or leave today's rain)!

Carol in Jacksonville

irma_stpete_10a thanked Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)

irma_stpete_10a
Original Author

5 years ago

Thanks for the prompt, Pea. I just put a deep plate of water on the ground by that fence and bush. I have 2 water dishes on tables and one on a cement block, but maybe there is too much activity by squirrels, jays, and doves for the cardinals to hang out there. Rarely see a cardinal come for seeds. Funny thing, a dove pair often used to sit by (and in?) one of the dishes of water on a table, but this year nothing goes near it unless I put seeds next to it. It's kept clean.

dirtygardener

5 years ago

If the birds were also being very quiet, they may have seen a predator and were hiding. I had a red shoulder hawk that hung around my old house. He like to perch on a old 4x4 light post on the abandoned property next door. I'd be outside working, and suddenly, lizards started scurrying to safety and birds became silent. I'd look, and sure enough, there was the hawk.

Now cockatiels are just the opposite. I had an aviary on my back porch and one day I heard the birds having a fit! A tiny baby owl had gotten into the porch and was sleeping on top of their cage. I couldn't get him to leave, so I put them into their cage and took them in the house before they beat themselves to death trying to get away from him.

A courting bush?

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A courting bush?

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