Here’s something to try if squirrels and blackbirds are eating all your birdseed.

I do remember the fun of getting out there early to play Santa, making sure Christmas morning was all the family dreamed it would be. Remembering the letters to Santa, the lists and the anticipation has me wondering what we’d put on our lists now if someone were to fulfill our dreams? Here’s mine…

Golden currant (Ribes aureum) is both an ornamental and edible shrub.

Wahoo (Euonymus atropurpurea) is a great non-invasive alternative to burning bush (E. alata).

Turk’s cap (Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii) is a shrubby plant with red summer flowers that attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

Barberry, bittersweet and burning bush are three popular plants that can be problematic (as in aggressive or invasive) in many areas. Here are some alternative plants that achieve the same effects.

Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) is an easy-to-please plant with vivid red summer blooms. Read how to grow cardinal flower.

I was pushing my daughter in her stroller the other day and we spotted a very busy bumblebee, a beautiful butterfly and—most exciting—a hummingbird. All of these winged creatures do important work for the plants …

Can you give me some planting ideas and other tips for attracting hummingbirds to my garden?

The scene is an herb and wild garden planted in a dry stone terrace that hugs two sides of our house. It measures about 1,600 square feet—less than a twentieth of an acre. Before we made this garden, the area was a lawn—a brown lawn, for this hot, south-facing terrace lies on sterile soil that in some places barely covers the granite ledge below. And in most seasons, there were no birds.

You can eat your way along the roadsides of Vinalhaven, Maine, all through the summer and, if you are a bird, gorge during fall migration and snack through the winter as well. Blueberry follows Juneberry, …