Ask the Experts
Pros offer solutions for hungry birds and identify mystery plants.
My mother and I make peanut butter cakes for the birds. Is it OK to use white cornmeal instead of yellow?
Kenn and Kimberly: White and yellow cornmeal differ mainly in color. White cornmeal is made from white corn, yellow cornmeal from yellow corn. Beyond that they’re almost the same. Perhaps the only thing to consider when using it in bird food is that yellow cornmeal may be slightly more nutritious. One alternative we’d like to suggest is using half chick starter and half cornmeal. Chick starter is a special feed made for baby chickens, but it’s also an excellent ingredient for homemade suet and peanut butter cakes for wild birds.
My sister received a cutting of this plant from a friend. What is it?
Melinda: Your sister is the lucky recipient of mutabilis.
The seed capsules that appear after the flowers fade release fuzzy seeds, inspiring the plant’s common name: cotton rose. It grows into a shrub 6 to 8 feet tall in Zones 9 though 11. In
Zones 7 and 8 it may die back to the ground but reappear in spring. In colder climates it is treated as an annual or overwintered indoors. Cotton rose grows best in full sun to light shade and in rich, well-draining soil.
Hibiscus
If you have a new variety of a plant that you’re eager to share, first check