David, at least you are staying out of that other exotic Asian dove location, "This site is for consenting adults only and should only be accessed by adults over the age of 21." Or did you? I'm not sure if there is any "native" plant invasive in my yard or garden. Amongst the dozens of weeds, they're all from the "old world" (& then there's your Russian olive). I don't have a good excuse for the pleasure I had at learning that the black locust trees are considered invasive in western Europe. The islands are terribly impacted but we're told that the development of so many useful domestic species is a result of the size and diversity of the Eurasian landmass. The Suez canal or not, Africa is a part of that same landmass. Over in the tomato forum, Carolyn linked to an article on genetic diversity. The authors' idea was that one of the reasons for problems of low resistance to pests in the older varieties was that the tomato gene pool was isolated in Europe by limited importation of tomato seed centuries ago. Utilizing new strains from South America in plant breeding wasn't undertaken until the 1950's. Genes from resistant varieties were very successfully made use of after that. Also, hybrid vigor is significant in those older crosses. Seems like it sometimes takes the people of the old world to take what is here and then give it back to us in a more appreciated form. The Russell lupin is an example but I'm not sure what the people or fauna of New Zealand think of the lupin invading acres of land there. Or, what they think about the American wild turkey or California Valley quail, for that matter. I believe you make some use of the German brown trout and where'd these Chinese ring-neck pheasants come from? The wild turkey is around here in what must be record numbers. I doubt if it was ever here prehistorically. With global warming, maybe we'll get that lesser goldfinch up here. But, will the Bohemian waxwing still come south from Canada every Winter? Oh, gosh. I'd fly away myself out of sheer nervousness but where would I go? Steve's digits

Interesting about the kinds of seed everyone feeds. I feed primarily black oil sunflower 9expensive at Lowe's, but cheap at Tractor Supply - ($15 for 50 lbs). Black oil seems to be the preferred feed for cardinals, chickadees carolina wren, downy woodpecker, mourning dove, flickers, tufted titmouse,bluebirds, and an occasional jay. Sparrows feed on it, but prefer the hulled seed, as do the chickadees and wrens. An added bonus - the sunflower hull of the black oil seed seems to help the compost, and it mulches nicely in the flower beds! Used to get that weedy flower in GA, when I didn't use the sterile seed. You are also probably getting thistle seed in there. I feed probably 80 pounds of thistle in the winter, for the finches, primarily gold and red, with some buntings showing up in spring. If you feed thistle be very careful to get the sterile seed. its fertile and tends to fall below the feeder (doves and mice will eat it). I actually like the look of thistle, and the fact that it attracts bees, so my thistle feeders at the wood line all are not sterile. Come spring, I will get hundreds of thistle plants, that by summer will be beautiful purple flowers for the bees, and come late summer, natural seed for birds passing through. If you can tolerate the spiny leaves, and thistle 'fluff'(which bluebirds use all winter here for nesting), let it grow, it really is a pretty plant If you want to get rid of that 'smell' below the feeder, avoid seed with corn, when I fed a mix with corn, the corn would sometimes sit and ferment, or, as you discovered, grow. Corn here, whole or cracked, is an attractant of crows. I do throw cracked corn in the woodline to keep them away from the sunflower. Using cracked corn away from my garden, also keeps rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, and racoons at bay! Crack corn doesnt seem to grow into stalks either. It does, however seem to cause my grass to die, so I keep it in areas that I don't have plantings.

There are alot of tutorials on making these flowers on you tube. I will have to check out the one Jeanne shared. Here's a bolg that has some pretty flowers too. I didn't see the one that I really liked before. My DGD and DM made so many crafts and yes 'Rusty' they made kleenex tissue flowers in the 60's.lol Hope you make some and share pictures with us. Punk Here is a link that might be useful: Two shades of pink

Thank you ladies. I enjoyed reading all your nice compliments. oakleyok.. I can see men who like the outdoors enjoying these plates. I thought that was so funny about the turkey on your porch...quite daring, don't you think? lol nana..the amber goblets are even nicer IRL..the photos don't do them justice..glad you like them. Candy...I'll try to get that 'Candy Shot' done soon. I'm sure some here are wondering what we're talking about! lol Luvs. we've had turkey pass through every so often, but not this many. They do seem to be very active around this time of year and with so much hunting going on you would think they'd lay low! kathleen...Candy did a few tablescapes taking overhead shots that you'd swear was taken by 'hanging from her chandlier'! So although my overhead was not as dramatic as hers....I called it a 'Candy Shot'! I did go to CTS on Fri and used the coupon (Thank you again) and gave the extras to other shoppers. I bought quite a few things and it came in handy...like a beautiful King Quilt for $39 and got the 20 0ff! They finally emailed me one a few days after I received yours..I don't know why so late. jeanne..that fabric is even more lovely IRL. It has a wonderful texture and doesn't wrinkle either! If you come over to watch the Turkeys...I'll make you a 'Chicken Sandwich' instead of Turkey! lol lynne..I'm surprised whenever I see the Turkeys around here...there's so many hunters and other prey, that I'm surprised they survive. Punk...lol.. I know what you mean about your DDG not wanting to go swing after seeing so many Turkeys. As it is my DGkids don't like to go out 'Alone' w/o us, cause they are 'city' kids, and always feel scared of all the 'creatures' in the woods! Glad you enjoyed everything. Thanks again ladies.