All In One Bucket

All in 1 bucket

The All In One Bucket is kinda like a bucket on steroids! It has a nice, tall, handle and a wheel base so that it can easily be transported around your home and yard

The promotional image gives you some ideas of what you could use this thing for, but we’re sure you could probably come up with plenty more all on your own!
Maybe pulling bags of bird seed? Or perhaps carrying your hose to the veggie garden? Or taking the leaves to the compost pile? You get the idea…

Two New Gardenias

It’s what we’ve been coveting for many years, a double blooming Gardenia that will not just survive, but thrive in our area, and now, it seems, we not only finally have one, but we actually have choices!

Gardenia augusta 'Crown Jewel'

The first of these Gardenias is ‘Crown Jewel’. This variety is a dwarf form, only growing to about two feet tall, but with a spread of about four to five feet.
These characteristics make it ideal for bordering natural areas, in mixed plantings, and also for use in mixed containers.

‘Crown Jewel’ is hardy to zone 7 (yup, that’s the zone the Piedmont Triad resides in folks) and will bloom heavily in Mid-Summer.
It prefers some afternoon shade in our region, but otherwise is pretty easy to manage.

Gardenia jasminoides 'Summer Snow'

The second Gardenia of interest this year is a variety called ‘Summer Snow’

‘Summer Snow’ is another double blooming variety, but this one will get to a bigger size. Average mature size on this particular variety is going to be about five feet tall, and four feet wide, so a substantial addition to any landscape.

‘Summer Snow’ is hardy all the way down to zone 6, so it is going to fair extremely well in our positively balmy zone 7!
It’s preferred site is in a location that gets some nice shade during the afternoon to stop it’s leaves from burning up, and if treated correctly will give gorgeous, large, and fragrant blooms in the Summer months.

What makes this particular variety even more interesting, however, is that it’s been produced by one of our local growers right down the road in Browns Summit!

Coles Blazing Hot Blend

Blazing Hot Seed

The war against squirrels rages on, and the people at Coles Wild Bird understand this, which is why they continue to improve upon their anti-squirrel products, and bring in new introductions to combat their wily ways.

Blazing Hot Blend is a great mixture of seeds that birds really love:

• Black Oil Sunflower
• Sunflower Meats
• White Proso Millet
• Cracked Corn
• Safflower Oil

Added to this mix, however, is liquid Habanero peppers. Woooh that’s some hot stuff!
Of course the birds don’t care, but the squirrels absolutely detest it! Pour some in your feeder and stand back and watch the show. Oh yeah, and you don’t need to wait for this item, it’s already arrived!

Easy Change Doormats

Easy Change Doormat

These doormats are decorative rubber material with a nice, thick, coir insert (Coir is made from coconut husks, so not only is it tough, but it’s also a sustainable material, we like that!) which lasts and wears well outdoors.

Well, whoopdedoo, I hear you say, that’s great but nothing terribly exciting. You’re correct. What does make them exciting, however, or at least as exciting as doormats can get, is the fact that they have an interchangeable insert so you can give your doorway a different look depending on the season, the weather, the holiday, your mood, etc.

Each assembled mat measures about 18×29″, so is plenty big enough for most situations.
The inserts are sold seperately, so you don’t need to worry about buying the whole ensemble every time you want to change the look.

Of course that’s just a wee sampling of the new items we’ll be carrying this year. If you know us at all, you know why like to put little surprises in every corner of the store! So just come on by and see what we have in the store, you never know what you might find.

Firstly, because there is a bigger lack of natural resources at this time of year birds are more apt to search out feeders for supplemental nutrition.

Also, because a lot more shrubs and trees have lost their foliage, it is much easier to look at and enjoy all those backyard visitors.

Having said that, we thought you might like to know what some of the birds are that you are looking at. So here’s a short list of some of the more common ones you are likely to see at your feeder at this time of year.

Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis

Northern Cardinal – The Northern Cardinal is prevalent throughout the Carolinas throughout the year, and the male is easily spotted by it’s bright red feathers. The female has more of a tan colored appearance, but still has the distinctive bright orange beak.

Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus

Black Capped Chickadee – The Black Capped Chickadee is a small, sparrow sized bird, that gets it’s name from the sweet song it sings.

Chickadees are pretty brave birds, and with some patience can be “trained” to eat from your hand. They will usually be seen grabbing a seed and taking off with it to de-shell and eat it, and then returning for another one.

Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor

Tufted Titmouse – Usually whenever there are Chickadees in site there will also be Tufted Titmice. These two birds love to hang out together!!

Of course the most distinguishing feature of this bird is, surprise surprise, the tuft that sticks up on the top of their head. Their bodies are a fairly dark gray on top and much paler underneath.

Titmice behave the same way with seed as Chickadees do, taking a seed and holding it between their feet to crack it open. It’s a good show to watch if you get the chance.

Dark-Eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis

Dark Eyed Junco – The Dark Eyed Junco is only seen in the Piedmont during the Winter time, when it travels down from the colder regions of the country to pay us a visit.

This bird is a ground feeder, and can usually be seen picking up a lot of the seed that other birds have kicked out of the feeder.

Juncos have a beautiful two-tone appearance, with buff grey upper bodies, and much lighter underneath. The seperation between upper and lower markings is quite distinctive, and almost seems as if it’s been painted on.

Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus

Carolina Wren – The Carolina Wren is a beautiful little bird which can be seen throughout our region throughout the year, but is more apt to come to feeders in the Winter months, especially if you put out some nice suet for them!

This bird is notorious for living and nesting in pretty much any cavity it comes across, so don’t be surprised if, once you have attracted some, you see them nesting somewhere nearby later in the year.

The most distinctive feature on these birds is probably their flattened looking tail.

Red-Bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus

Woodpeckers – There are a few different types of woodpecker which will visit feeders in our region, though they are definitely more commonly seen during the Winter months.

The Red Bellied Woodpecker (pictured) is a moderate sized Woodpecker, and the male especially has a beautiful bright red head.

Why is it that they are called red-bellied when the majority of red is actually on their head? Don’t have a clue!! If anyone knows the answer to that, please leave a comment, the author would love to know

Downy woodpeckers are also quite commonly seen in our backyard, and are identified by their beautiful black and gray banding. Downies are much smaller than red bellied.

Pileated Woodpeckers will also sometimes be seen, though much more seldomly in the yard. They are the largest of the Woodpeckers, and have a beautiful bright red crown.

White Throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis

Sparrows – There are several types of Sparrow in the Carolinas, and all of them will be happy to come eat at your house if you’ll allow them too.

Sparrows are similar in size and body shape, but their markings are quite different once you begin to study them a little more closely. The White-throated Sparrow(pictured), House Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Wood Sparrow, and others, are all common throughout the area.

Sparrows will feed on the ground as well as on platform feeders, and will also feed out of special Nijer feeders.

Norhtern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos

Northern Mockingbird – The Northern Mockingbird gets it’s deserving name from the fact that it can, quite literally, mock and mimic many different sounds. It is a fairly large bird, and is actually seen more often around the vicinity of a feeder rather than actaully eating at the feeder. In fact, if you just so happen to have a Pyracantha in your yard it’s pretty much gauranteed you’ll have a Mockingbird eating it’s berries!

So there you have it, the more common birds in our area. Of course there are many many more different birds to see than just those listed here, but the ones in this article are definitely pretty prevalent throughout the Piedmont.

If you see one at your feeder that you’re not sure about try to get a photo to show us, or at least a good description, and we’ll try our best to let you know what it is, and what it’s preferred food type is.

Most of the images used in this article were produced by Maria Corcacas

]]>