Birdfeeding

[ysabetwordsmith]

Today is sunny and cool. There are still patches of snow in a few places, but others have melted to soft mud.

I've seen a fox squirrel on the hopper feeder. There was a flock of sparrows nearby but not in the forest garden.

Since the weather has warmed up enough, I started clearing space to plant the pawpaw seeds that arrived recently from Buffalo Seed Company. There are a lot of burr-bearing plants in the area, now dried, so I pulled a bunch of those weeds and stuffed them in the garden trolley to haul to the firepit.

EDIT 2/2/23 -- I pulled more weeds around the pawpaw patch.

EDIT 2/2/23 -- I fed the birds. I've seen a female downy woodpecker on the suet cage.

I cut brush around the pawpaw patch.

Comments

[darkcedars]

Ugh, stickers. Sounds like you're making good progress.

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

It's pretty well cleaned up now, so when I get another day with decent weather, I can start planting. Winter planting is an option for pawpaw seeds because they need a long cold time before they will sprout. If the ground's not frozen I can make that happen.

Re: Yes ...

[darkcedars]

Should be plenty of cold left, especially if you believe the groundhog. The ground is frozen solid here. I had planted my "winter" in late November. Milkweed and a couple types of coneflower.

Re: Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Used to be, the ground froze solid here. When I was little, it was Zone 5b. It is now Zone 6a and has been for years. :/ So now there's more mud than snow and ice.

I haven't tried fall planting of wildflower seeds except for what I pull off my own seedheads, although I've gotten good results by flinging those about. Most of my fall planting is spring bulbs. I have a lot of those, and early-rising pollinators love them. I've seen so many bees on a crocus blossom that they knock it to the ground and then fly around sad and confused. I'd like to try a fall order from Prairie Moon because they have some wildflowers meant to sow that way, I've just never gotten around to it.

Re: Yes ...

[darkcedars]

It was my first time trying to plant seeds of those (coneflowers and milkweed) so we will see how it goes. I had purchased some small plants at the zoo's native plant sale last May, but the milkweed died immediately.

I planted a bag of 40 crocus this fall and am ready to see them take off!

Re: Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> It was my first time trying to plant seeds of those (coneflowers and milkweed) so we will see how it goes.<<

Well, keep trying. Especially try different varieties, as they have different preferences.

>> I had purchased some small plants at the zoo's native plant sale last May, but the milkweed died immediately.<<

Bummer.

For a weed, milkweed is oddly finicky. Its flying seeds can land anywhere, but it doesn't always grow well. I'm not sure any of what I planted last spring grew. I have a few plants in my prairie garden, but nowhere near the "cloud garden" of milkweeds and thistle that it once was. Now it's mostly goldenrods. I always thought of those as a weed, but it turns out they support dozens of butterfly species as a larval food, on top of the late-season flower for nectar.

>>I planted a bag of 40 crocus this fall and am ready to see them take off!<<

Yay! That will be fun.

I planted a lot of daffodils, some crocus, some grape hyacinths, and so on. I really like these orange crocus so I bought more of them.