Jim's Patch in the Garden
TAKING ‘BERRY’ GOOD CARE OF OUR BIRDS
Are you a bird feeder enthusiast? Isn’t it a great hobby tending the feeders and luring in some amazing species? And then there’s the hummingbird to attract as well. Did you know there are even more varieties of birds that feeders just don’t attract? Fruit-eating birds have a diverse and peculiar palate.
Robins, thrashers, mockingbirds, tanagers, waxwings, orioles and others are particularly fond of berries and other small fruits. They eat insects also, but have a yearning for berries and fruit. They have a particular desire for insects while nourishing their young, but when the fledglings try their wings, they’ll both be scouring for fruit and berries. If you supply the berries they want, you can enjoy them visiting your yard. While birds may already be flocking to your fruit trees, you can give them a desirable alternative.
Nature provides wild berries in abundance at stream edges, in meadows in the woods and at the edges of open fields. Any place they can get down roots and get some sun. In cities and suburbs asphalt, concrete and natural or synthetic green lawns prevail. Birds hightail it out of town, preferring the country, as their taste buds desire more than the few worms the city’s low maintenance landscape can provide. As our winged fellow countrymen scurry to the wild, your own yard can become an inviting haven for them to visit or inhabit, to your viewing pleasure! Just integrate some sumptuous berries for them to enjoy.
It’s a plus one that berries are ornamental too. Many berry plants show off beautiful flowers and attractive foliage too, giving you summer green and brilliant color in the fall. Now, a lot of these berries are so delicious that you may have to make a decision. Will you harvest them yourself or leave them for the birds?
These are a few of the berries that like our climate. All birds shown may not be common to our area.
Naturally, you can find all three of these berry plants at Jim’s Garden Patch in the ❤️ of LRE.
“The Ugly Duckling”
Hans Christian Andersen told us in 1844 about one egg in a nest of eggs different than the rest. That peculiar egg eventually hatched to present one ugly duckling. As time passed that odd little duckling became more graceful each new day. As maturity came it was found not to be a duck at all, but the most beautiful swan on the lake!
By striking similarity there’s a skimpy, ordinary when young tree that matures into a raving beauty as it grows. It will be a somber shade sensation in the summer, and in the fall a magnificent display of the full spectrum of autumn color. Share with nature as its small green blossoms blend with the foliage of the tree, while feeding birds and our climbing critter friends.
Popular in California for both shade and spectacular fall glory, its spreading canopy is a visual masterpiece in your landscape, reaching a mature height and breadth up to 40 feet that significantly blocks invading heat and UV.
The Chinese Pistache can mature in as soon as 15 years, growing 3 to 5 feet per annum. Veritably invincible, taking to any soil at any pH, loving the sun, tolerating heat and drought and flaunting its charm, it will stave off any cold chill.
So, whether you own the lushest of gardens or boast the hardiest xeriscape, the Pistacia Chinensis will fit right in and lead the way!
Aka Chinese Pistache, these beauties are available at Jim’s Garden Patch for our everyday affordable pricing.
Jim’s Trivia Time Courtesy of Jim’s Garden Patch In the ❤️ of LRE
