"Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to water our plants." (With all due respect to Samuel Taylor Coleridge.)

Many birders, even if they don't consider themselves gardeners, are interested in landscaping their yards to provide habitat for birds. There are a couple of upcoming plant sales that people might want to know about.

Seattle Audubon is having a plant sale on Saturday, April 9, which would be a great place to find bird-friendly plants for your yard. The sale is from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the nature shop in NE Seattle.

The Washington Native Plant Society is having their native plant sale on Saturday, May 7, at the Bellevue Botanical Garden, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

With the drought this year, (yes, even though we've had a lot of rain the last 24 hours, we are still having a drought) a rain barrel is a very good investment to collect water for your plants later in the summer. (Note that even drought-tolerant plants need to be watered the first year that you plant them so they will develop a good root system.) Seattle Audubon is also selling rain barrels. They are $44.99 for members, $59.99 for non-members, and the money that is raised goes to their high school birding program. The high schoolers are assembling the barrels as orders come in, so why not order one today and pick it up when you go to their plant sale?

This message is intended to be informational, not a commercial; sorry if it seems more like the latter!

Mike Donahue
Seattle