ooohh, I'm not the most consistent poster, Gleni. :D
But what do I grow here? Sprouting seeds, mostly
I've only just caught the bug, and have put in a few hybrids from mainland nurseries - evergreen, semi-evergreen and dormant - to see what likes it best, but it will take a few seasons to judge. We really don't get that cold - not like frozen ground for months cold! - because we're so maritime. I think it's the short winter daylight hours that have more impact. We'll see.
As for destructive birds... Hemlady, I hope you never see a spoilt Cocky throwing a fit of revenge! Friends of the family used to feed wild cockies on their deck. It became a bit overwhelming, so they stopped putting out food. The angry birds tore the deck to pieces! Or so they say
I bet daylily scapes taste a whole lot better than treated pine decking
They will also de-cone an entire pine tree to rip out the immature pine seeds, not to mention what they can do to crops....
But I'm having my own private battle with sparrows! The little featherballs have been building nests over my windows for months - took me ages to figure out who was stealing my seedling labels (I had string attached)... so many noids this year. Then when I removed all the string tempatation, they took to shredding my new bamboo shoots... and last week they discovered the daylily seedlings! Fortunately they only got two - and one of those I found dropped between the seedling boxes and the window - before I cottoned on to what was happening. Everything that disappears now I just blame the sparrows. I used to think it was the kids!
Gleni 
