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Community Corner

Garden Enthusiast November Update, Part Two

Upcoming events on Main Street, and more.

The following events are sponsored by the Old Town Tucker Merchant’s Association (OTTMA). Proceeds benefit the Main Street District.

Thursday, Dec. 6 - Christmas on Main with music, Santa, food and craft vendors, children’s activities, lighting of the tree, music, and more. 6-9 p.m.

Saturday, March 2, 2013 - Chili Cook-off.

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Classes & Events

Second Annual Secret Santa – Dec. 8 & 9 – Children can again purchase gifts for their parents, siblings and others. They’ll have cookies and juice, get to help with wrapping, and make a card to go with the gift. If you like, you can give us a list to help guide them. Please pre-register (404-474-7072), if possible, so we know how many supplies we’ll need.

Find out what's happening in Tuckerwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

GARDENING

For extra color in the garden, be creative with container gardens using pots or other containers such as the Pamela Crawford baskets that we have in the store. Add pansies, kale, cabbage, hardy ferns, rosemary and other winter hardy plants for you display.

It’s time to cut back your faded perennials for the winter.

I’ll be out soon cutting some holly, magnolia leaves and other greenery to incorporate into the decorations for Christmas. There are so many things you can use from the garden to bring the outdoors in and create a festive holiday appearance. 

BIRDING

Here are a few of the birds we may see year round in Atlanta: Brown Thrasher, Northern Mockingbird, American Robin, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Cardinals, American Goldfinch, Eastern Towhee, American Kestral, and House Wren.

It’s a great time to put a suet feeder out. Suet provides birds with high energy which they need when it gets cold.

Bird of the Month: Northern Cardinal

  • Only a few female North American songbirds sing, but the female Northern Cardinal does, and often while sitting on the nest.
  • Cardinals attack their own reflection in spring and early summer. Within a few weeks, aggression hormone levels begin to subside and these attacks should end. One female Cardinal kept up this behavior every day or so for six months without stopping.
  • The Northern Cardinal is the state bird of seven states.
  • The oldest recorded Northern Cardinal was 15 years 9 months old.
  • Nearly any bird feeder you put out ought to attract Northern Cardinals, but they particularly seem to use sunflower seeds. Leave undergrowth in your backyard or around the edges, and you may have cardinals nesting on your property.

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