Are you looking for one last really really good Christmas gift for the gardener in your life? Here it is – a birdbath heater. Ok, so maybe its one last really really good gift for the birds in your yard. Either way, the gardener, non-gardener, and the birds will enjoy this one for years to come.
Let me introduce you to Phil. You know, Phil the birdbath. Much of our garden is named. We have the ‘back 40’ for the part of the yard you need a horse to reach. We have ‘Raymond’, because Everyone Loves Raymond. The birdbath is appropriately named Phil since you always have to Phil the birdbath.
The heater is lurking behind the rock in this birdbath. This heater allows us to keep water in the birdbath all winter long. Operative words – keep water in the birdbath all winter long. Without a heater, water in a birdbath can freeze and thaw, freeze and thaw, freeze and thaw. You get it. The birdbath will likely crack by spring. When we aren’t using a heater, we take the top of the birdbath off and lean it against the base. (We being Mike.) Decorative, though no longer functional. With a heater, you’ll need to Phil the birdbath, or turn the heater off when there isn’t any water. A heater running when there is no water in the feeder is a bad thing.
We move our birdbath closer to the house in winter. (We again being Mike.) That allows for the cord to reach, and for us to see the birds. We have feeders nearby (Christmas idea!). There is also shrubbery there as the birds need a place to perch and to hide. Give them an environment and they will come.
This is an installment in the OhWhatAWednesday series, where I dare to take on the task of finding something in my garden that looks good even during a Chicago winter.
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