I can't fill feeders. All I then end up doing is making fat raccoons...and squirrels....
I just do a cup at a time as they need it, and as I can. Fla,t screen-bottomed tray type feeders work the best for me. No lids to ice shut or otherwise have to struggle with.
.

Just finished cutting back agastache.What a great smell. I also trimmed the BES vine off the trellis.There is still a lot of vine on it but the biggest part is gone.

Do you do all your clean-up in the Fall, Jo Ann?

>> I can't fill feeders. All I then end up doing is making fat raccoons...and squirrels....

Safflower seeds are rather bitter, and squirrels don't like it, but Cardinals like it. Chickadees, titmice, chickadees, and downy woodpeckers are suppsed to eat it.

I think that Cardinals like a flat tray they can stand on as they eat.

Supposedly, grackles, blue jays, or starlings also dislike Safflower seeds.

Supposedly, chickadees, titmice, chickadees, and downy woodpeckers DO eat Safflower seeds.

I've also read that birds (or some birds?) don't taste the "hot" in chile pepper, so a sprinkle of Cayenne powder may deter squirrels but not birds.

I wouldn't use a whole lot, though, in case it can give them indigestion.

Thanks, Corey.

We have a lot of cardinals, chickadees, nuthatches and sparrows here year-round. I've tried the safflower seed. It's always left whole in the tray. Picky birds. I even tried using just safflower seeds to see if they'd eat it if that was all that was available...nope. I haven't tried the cayenne, I just might do that on a breeze-free day.

I fill a feeder with black oil sunflower only (cardinals do love it), a couple of finch feeders with thistle/niger since we have so many goldfinches, and a couple with just an inexpensive mix - whatever is on sale. Plus I always put some on the ground for the doves and other ground feeders. I also put out suet cakes in a suet basket as my woodpeckers and the other birds who like to cling when they feed love those. And some peanuts for the blue jays and a few others. Nothing is ever left once winter sets in. Before that, they do tend to be somewhat choosey.

Sheryl, for some winter interest....there are some Fall blooming Camellias that are hardy in Zone 6.

'Long Island Pink' is blooming now here.



This Camellia nursery is near us, but is Wholesale only. However, the website has a listing of various available plants(Zone 6 hardy, too) and is a good source of info.
http://camtoocamellia.com/

Info on cold hardy Camellia plants:
http://camellia-ics.org/_ics/a...

Lovely Camellia.

>> Picky birds.

I guess! When I lived in NJ, we had some red Cardinals that liked the safflower seeds, and it seemed that only the Cardinals liked it. I love those Cardinals! Very polite, civilised birds, unlike blue jays. Blue jays would be my next-favorite birds, excpet that they have manners just like NJ people!

I haven't tried the cayenne myself yet, though I have chopped hot pizza peppers in a coffee grinder, and sprinkled them where I wanted to deter cats and squirrels from digging up bulbs. Rain requires frequent re-application, so next I laid down chicken wire.

P.S. One day a bear tore down our bird feeder and ate all the seeds. You could see where some MAJOR teeth had punctured the thick plastic. I thoguht we were too urban for bears, but I checked the newspapers and one had wandered into our area.

In all honesty, I keep a bag of cheap dog food as a decoy for the raccoons and other varmints.

We use suet with pepper added to it. No squirrels on those feeders.

Thanks Janice! I will look that up.

In my list of cool weather plants I forgot cyclamen - I have a couple types that I planted this spring and one that just completed blooming this week.

Cyclamen are such pretty plants. Have they been hardy in your area, Sheryl?

Completely. I've had them prior to this planting, but they always ended up getting in the way of some construction project..... grrr.

Not hardy here. but the one from the florist which were given away after the church season have been returning inside for the last 3 yrs. Nice white flower.

That's great, Sheryl!
Any photos?

I'll have to check tomorrow to see if they're still blooming. I know the leaves are out, which are nearly as pretty as the blooms IMO.

A few of the plants that are still blooming/looking good here in zone 5b, after several frosts.

Annual (although mine come back) Salvia - Victoria Blue
Achillea - Strawberry Seduction (not sure why this one is still blooming, maybe late planting?)
Borago officinalis
Petunias - Wave series
Nemesia fruticans - Opal Innocence
Salvia azurea
Trailing lobelia - Crystal Palace (in sheltered areas)
Rosa - Nahema
Rosa - Acropolis
Rosa - Cinco de Mayo (also has really pretty deep red cold weather foliage)

Nice late Autumn leaf colors -

Ninebark - Summerwine
Red Maple - October Glory
Variegated Moor Grass

Hardy succulents are also coloring up and moving front and center now that our flowering season is almost done. I have most of mine in containers which I've moved in close to my most viewed windows;-)

Japanese Maples are pretty good late Autumn plants. This trio of photos gives me a new idea....plant the moor grass around the bases of the JMs.