What's Happening To Your Boston Fern?

About This Episode

The Grumpy Gardener advises a reader on how to keep house finches from nesting in a hanging Boston fern. Plus, Grumpy’s gripe of the week.

Question Of The Week

Any advice on keeping house finches from nesting in a hanging Boston fern?

Grumpy's Answer: I suppose you could put something else on top of them, maybe some netting or something, but I don't think that would look very good. Just let them nest. And we have hanging ferns on our front porch, and my husband just waters around them, and those birds don't care.

Gripe Of The Week

May marks the height of the planting season, and with it, gardening scams. Among the most egregious I've seen this spring, is the multicolor butterfly bush. You know something's up when only the shakiest mail-order sources offer it, and their descriptions vary greatly. One touts colors of lavender, pink and magenta, and another has colors of white, red and purple, and the accompanying photo is always garishly retouched. You know, Photoshop at its finest.This is not how it's going to look in your yard. Three different colors in one pot will not grow uniformly, and one will always dominate the others. So, don't fall for this organic fertilizer.

About Ask Grumpy

Ask Grumpy is a podcast featuring Steve Bender, also known as Southern Living’s Grumpy Gardener. For more than 20 years, Grumpy has been sharing advice on what to grow, when to plant, and how to manage just about anything in your garden. Tune in for short episodes every Wednesday and Saturday as Grumpy answers reader questions, solves seasonal conundrums, and provides need-to-know advice for gardeners with his very Grumpy sense of humor. Be sure to follow Ask Grumpy on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen so you don't miss an episode.

Editor’s Note: Please be mindful that this transcript does not go through our standard editorial process and may contain inaccuracies and grammatical errors.