Birds & Blooms

It’s my family’s first summer in a new house. The yard is a bit wild and unruly, so most of our free time—or my husband’s, since I am usually wrangling our toddler—has been spent doing cleanup and maintenance. Rather than planting this year, we’ve been taking inventory on what’s popping up. But one thing I cannot live without is a tomato plant. We are growing only one tomato plant and it is in a pot, providing plenty of cherry-size fruits for us to indulge in straight off the vine—one of my favorite summer traditions. Whether you’re a whiz at growing tomatoes or struggling to get a bumper crop, the tips, tricks and reminders in “Oops! Common Tomato Mistakes” on page 38 are worth a read. It’s about this time of year that veggie…

Tianshan Seven-Son Flower Heptacodium miconioides ‘Minhep’, Zones 5 to 9 Truly a plant with four-season beauty, Tianshan features clusters of fragrant white flowers in late summer, purple-red fruits in fall and interesting exfoliating bark in winter. Attracts: Light needs: Full sun to part shade. Size: 8 to 12 feet high and 5 to 7 feet wide. Grown for: Use as an upright shrub or small tree. Foliage: Shiny dark green leaves that transform to yellow in fall. Care advice: Prune in late winter or early spring. PLANT FACT Seven flowers adorn each whorl on this plant, contributing to its common name. A whorl is defined as an arrangement of leaves or flowers.…

Watching birds at backyard feeders is one of life’s greatest simple joys—but with that joy comes responsibility. “Just as you wash your own dishes for guests before you have a party, it’s good to wash your bird feeders periodically,” says Emma Grieg, project leader for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Project FeederWatch. “It helps reduce the spread of diseases transmitted by germs left by sick birds.” To-Do List Emma recommends cleaning your seed feeders every two weeks. If you see sick birds, you should clean your feeders more often or consider taking them down. But if you have few visitors and everyone seems healthy, you can clean a little less often. It’s important to regularly check your birdseed, suet and other foods to ensure they haven’t gone moldy or rancid, especially in…

1 Redwood Honeybee The 5-inch blooms of Redwood Honeybee are a blend of yellow and pinkish orange. It starts blooming around eight to 10 weeks after planting and continues to flower until a killing frost if deadheaded. This cultivar stands tall in the garden, with stalks growing up to 6 feet tall. Why we love it: The plant is always decorated by half a dozen blooms at a time, which make excellent cut flowers. 2 KA’s Papa John Named after the plant’s creator, KA’s Papa John is an award winner and has some of the highest scores in trial gardens across the U.S. and Canada. It’s an impressive specimen with great form, a large size and a bounty of huge, pure white blooms. The flower heads can measure a colossal 8 to 10 inches…

Sometimes overlooked as wildlife-friendly, succulents grown in the garden do attract bees, birds and butterflies. It’s easy to offer the plants to pollinators—simply find ones that are hardy for your area or bloom during a time of year that you can keep them outside. Provide an abundance of color, flower shapes, heights and scents for the best chance of attracting pollinators to succulents. Try these top picks! HENS-AND-CHICKS Widely available at most garden centers and a favorite go-to addition in the garden, hens-and-chicks are named for the rosette shape that grows at the center of the plant and its numerous small offspring. The starshaped blooms attract bees and butterflies. This is a super reliable, hardy choice for those just starting to plant succulents outdoors. ECHEVERIA Echeveria is an easy-to-care-for outdoor succulent. This variety will…

Ragweed BOTANIC NAME Ambrosia. TYPE Annual. FOLIAGE Purple-tinted stems with lobed, fernlike green leaves. BLOOMS Very small green-yellow flowers. SIZE Common ragweed grows 2 to 3 feet tall while giant ragweed reaches 6 to 8 feet or larger. Goldenrod BOTANIC NAME Solidago. TYPE Perennial. FOLIAGE Usually green stems, although several types have hints of purple, with smooth, undivided green leaves. BLOOMS Large clusters of bright yellow flowers. SIZE 1 to 6 feet tall. WATCH FOR POLLINATORS If you see bees or butterflies hanging around, it’s most likely goldenrod—it has the type of pollen insects prefer, in addition to nectar (which ragweed doesn’t offer).…