Greetings Bird Lovers!

The Great Backyard Bird Count returns for its ninth season
February 17-20, 2006. The National Audubon Society and the
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology encourage everyone to COUNT
BIRDS WITH A BUDDY!

Bird enthusiasts of all ages can share their love of birds with
a friend, a child, a scout troop, a class or a co-worker --
opening new eyes to the joy of birding and fun of creating a
unique snapshot of winter bird abundance and distribution across
the continent.

Every pair of eyes is needed and ever birdy counts, whether in a
backyard, on a high-rise balcony, in a park or on any of the 730
million acres of public lands.

Anyone with Internet access can see the results in maps and
charts as the sightings pour in. In 2005, participants sent in
more than 52,000 checklists with a record-breaking 613 species
and more than 6 million birds counted!

In 2006, for the first time, the Lab of Ornithology and Audubon
are launching an element of friendly competition. Awards will be
given to localities that submit the most checklists, record the
greatest number species or count the highest number of birds.
Photos are also encouraged.

Everyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to
seasoned experts. During the count bird watchers tally up birds
for as little as 15 minutes or for as long as they like, keeping
track of the highest number of each bird species they see
together at one time.

Participants enter their numbers online at The Great Backyard Bird
Count. This is the site to visit for details on exactly how
to participate.

We hope that you will share this information with others and get
as many participants as possible. This would be a great project
for a scout troop or classroom.

It's helpful to have a bird feeder out as soon as possible in
advance of the event, so you will have an opportunity to
identify ahead of time the birds that you will likely see during
the count.

Visit WildBirdGoodies.com  to
order feeders now so you'll have them as quickly as possible. We
will process orders as soon as they are received.

We are excited about participating and can't wait to watch the
stats as they come in.

Happy Birding!

About the author:
Janet Winter is a web designer, travel agent and writer on many
topics. She loves her wild birds and delights in providing
helpful resources and unique products for feathered friends at
WildBirdGoodies.com.

by ElmerFizz

A kitchen garden has a charm all its own. There really is
nothing to beat the look and taste of fruit and vegetables that
you've grown yourself. If you add a few decorative herbs to the
mix, there's absolutely no reason why your kitchen garden can't
look as good visually as your flower garden.

It's a fact that fruit, vegetables and herbs are very rewarding
to grow. There's an extra special flavor to produce you've grown
yourself.

But be warned, a kitchen garden is going to be very
labor-intensive. If you're not into hard, manual work in your
garden, a kitchen garden may not be for you. The only way you're
going to get bumper crops of the fruit, vegetables and herbs
that you grow is by lavishing tender loving care and attention
on them.

Starting your growing early can produce a bountiful crop weeks
ahead of its normal time, giving you a home-grown harvest at a
time when those fruits and vegetables are particularly expensive
in the shops.

You can make your kitchen garden as visually attractive as
possible by careful planning. If space is at a premium you can
choose some of the more decorative vegetables and herbs and
plant them in your flower beds.

Ideally you need to choose a sunny site in your garden for most
herbs and vegetables to do well. If you are growing fruit trees,
you should ensure that they do not cast a shadow over the
vegetables and herbs.

Remember that although most herbs are leafy and lacking flowers,
they will provide greenery in your garden, even in the winter.
Just exercise a little thought as to where to place them and
think in terms of what your garden will look like in each of the
seasons and factor this into your planning.

Most herbs will do very well when planted in containers, so they
are an excellent option even if you don't have much space in
your garden. Tall herbs can be planted at the back of a
traditional flower garden and low-growing herbs make excellent
flower garden borders.

The normal method of growing vegetables is in regimented rows.
If they are kept properly weeded, this can still look good.
Again, if you don't have much space, you can still grow a large
range of vegetables in containers e.g. peas and potatoes. Some
vegetables are even attractive enough to be planted amongst the
flowers - but remember that you are going to have gaps once the
vegetables are harvested.

You may be surprised to learn that there's a large range of
fruit that you can grow even if you don't have several acres
worth of orchard plot. Small apple trees can grow in pots on the
patio, you can grow strawberries in containers and there are
even certain varieties of cordon-trained apples and pears that
can be grown against a garden fence.

Nearly all fruit trees prefer a sunny site. You will certainly
suffer from poor crops if you allow frost to damage the blossom
on apple and pear trees. Pears are particularly vulnerable
because they tend to flower earlier than apple trees.

If you don't have space in abundance but still want to try your
hand at fruit growing then you should look at planting trained
fruit trees such as espaliers, cordons and fans against a fence
or wall. They can look very decorative and take up very little
room.

With a modicum of planning, thought and imagination there really
is no reason at all why you can't have the joy of growing and
harvesting food for your own kitchen table in your own kitchen
garden, no matter how small the plot.

About the author:
This article may be reprinted on a website,blog or for personal
use IF the content remains unchanged and this resource box is
included. http://www.gardenjargon.com

by Jeff Slokum

Fresh cut flowers all spring and summer are one of the bonuses
of having a flower garden. Wouldn’t you love to extend that
bonus throughout the year? By choosing the right flowers and
learning methods of drying and preserving flowers, you can fill
your house with the beauty and fragrance of potpourri all year
long.

Growing a Potpourri Garden Potpourri is a fragrant mix of dried
flower petals, leaves, whole flowers and spices. It can be sewn
into sachets, simmered in a potpourri burner, or displayed in an
open bowl. By choosing herbs and flowers that dry well and
maintain their fragrance when dried, you’ll be well on your way
to scenting your home with the natural fragrance of last
summer’s garden.

Your potpourri mix should include both flowers and herbs from
your garden, and be chosen with an eye toward color and a nose
for scent. A potpourri garden might include several (or all!) of
the following:

Fragrant Herbs and Flowers for a Potpourri Garden Lilac- this
flower is both beautiful and fragrant. To use in potpourri, dry
the flowerets separately on a drying screen. For use in dried
flower arrangements, use silica gel to dry whole flowers.

Lavender - another fragrant purple flower, lavender dries well.
Hang in bunches upside down in a dark, dry room. Both leaves and
flowers carry the fragrance of lavender and can be used in
potpourri.

Roses - Roses are a beautiful addition to any potpourri. For
fragrance, separate the petals and dry on a drying screen. If
you want to include whole rosebuds from your potpourri garden,
they’re best dried in silica or another desiccant, but small,
delicate rosebuds can be dried on screens as well.

Mint - There’s an amazing variety of mints available, and nearly
any will add a hint of fresh spice to a potpourri. If you choose
to grow mint in a potpourri garden, be sure to ‘cage’ the roots
so that it doesn’t take over the entire plot. To dry, either air
dry tied bunches, or dry separated leaves on a drying screen.

Lemon Balm - This perennial herb has a light lemony-mint scent
that enhances the fragrance of roses and lilacs. The leaves
should be picked before the plant flowers and dried quickly -
it’s one of the few herbs that benefits from drying in a low
oven on a screen.

Violets - Sweetly scented and brightly colored, violets preserve
their color well through drying. To dry, nip the flower off just
at the base of the head, and lay on drying screens in the sun.

Flowers and Herbs for Color in a Potpourri Garden Many of the
herbs and flowers listed above are brightly colored as well as
fragrant. There are some flowers, however, that will add little
to the fragrance of potpourri but dry so prettily that it’s a
shame not to include them.

Calendula - Bright yellow or blue petals make calendula a pretty
addition to a bowl of potpourri. To use, you can either dry the
entire flower head, or separate the petals to dry on a flower
screen.

Pansies - A relative of violets, pansies retain their bright
color when dried in silica gel. They’re a wonderful addition to
a potpourri garden - besides their appearance, they’re edible
and wonderful in salads or as candied decorations on a cake. In
potpourri, the dried petals or whole-dried flowers make a
beautiful accent.

This article courtesy of
http://www.best-florists.org
>

by Hans Dekker

 Brick Patio Weed Control In researching this article, I found
one instance where a homeowner was so incensed by the weeds in
her patio that she set fire to them with a blowtorch! Luckily,
several items provide better service as a weeding tool and there
are several better alternatives for brick patio weed control.

Of course, the best method of brick patio weed control is proper
installation of your brick patio. An under-layment of pea
gravel, topped by a layer of sturdy landscape cloth, covered
with a layer of sand will give your brick patio a firm footing
as well as cramp the style of any weeds in the area.
Nevertheless, if your brick patio is already installed and
running rampant with weeds, here are some tips to help you
succeed in brick patio weed control.

First, to make your brick patio weed control plan a success,
implement your plan before weeds flower. This keeps weeds from
going to seed and helps make a short-term plan last for a longer
time.

For the following tip and other tips that involve weed dousing
of one sort or another, use a piece of cardboard or scrap of
Plexiglas to protect nearby plants.

One of the best ways to kill a vegetable of any kind is to cook
it. Boiling water is a natural and very inexpensive weed-wilter
and works to kill most forms of annual weeds and kills or
weakens many types of perennial weeds. A teakettle is your
weeding tool. Fill it with water and bring it to a boil. While
you’re waiting (because a watched pot never boils, you know!) go
outside and cut the culprits down to their crowns. When the
water begins to boil, grab the kettle (using a potholder) and
pour the water on the crowns of the weeds, holding the kettle
high enough only to avoid splashing. Killing weeds with boiling
water will also scald any biological organisms that get
splashed, but more will return as soon as the soil cools.

Vinegar will kill most weeds. However, grocery store vinegar is
normally a 5% solution and is too weak to do the job.
Ten-percent vinegar will kill most weeds and usually is found
where canning and pickling supplies are sold. A 20% solution of
vinegar kills really stubborn weeds, but is frequently more than
twice as expensive as 10%. Try the 10% for brick patio weed
control before you make the investment in a stronger solution.
Spray the vinegar directly on the weeds, using the shield
mentioned above and taking care not to inhale fumes. You may
also want to wear gloves and eye protection as a further
safeguard for this type of brick patio weed control.

About the author:
I'm the owner and one of the site 
Patio Furniture Guides
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