Geranium Blog

Geranium Blog Set For Wild Gardening Frenzy

I'm completely manic with new geranium projects this spring:

• Set up fluorescent light for rooting and seed growing
• Super tough scented geraniums - I'm developing a list of scented geraniums that gardeners in desert cities can count on. Stay tuned for these sizzling recommendations.
• My little online store is now operational. Drop by Sunshine Hill Gardens for scented geranium seeds and cuttings. I've got canna rhizomes, too!
• Scented geranium leaf gallery - 'nuff said.
• In the name of better organization, some of the articles on Scented Geraniums will be moving to the Geranium Blog over the next few days.
• And how about an update on Gracie the Grackle?
• Plus more, more, MORE preying mantids, deformed vegetables, desert tortoise antics, new scented geraniums and lovely pictures.

Grackle Update

Baby Grack has been with me for about six weeks now. He has turned out to be a really fun pet. He is quite smart and loves to play. He follows me around the house, either walking, flying or riding on my head. I fed him a caterpillar this week. It was a satisfying experience for both of us.

Introducing Grack - Avian Ambassador

Grack is a juvenile Great-tailed Grackle. Grack fell from his nest into my front yard. Cats would have surely killed him, so we brought him in. He eats puppy kibble soaked in water, hardboiled eggs, cooked rice, bits of fruit and vegetables. I've been feeding him every few hours during the day.

In the last few days he has become increasingly playful at feeding time. He plays with his food: dropping it, looking at it with one eye and then the other, retrieving it and dropping it again. He struts around with it and flips it around in his beak. This evening my husband handed him a twig, which he dipped in his water bowl repeatedly.

Also, Grack is starting to fly. He loves me very much for feeding him, so he flies to me and then to the top of his cage.

I keep calling Grack a "he", but the fact is that all young grackles have the same drab appearance, grey-brown with darker wings and tail. Not until adult feathers come in will we find out if it is a male or a female. Stay tuned.