I didn't know that safflowers were thorny until I inadvertently touched one and felt a prick while visiting a safflower field last week in Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture. I was also surprised that ...

In fact, some of the bothersome bully birds out there—grackles, starlings and blackbirds—actively avoid safflower seeds. Field editor Ken Wellnitz of Davenport, Iowa, says, “I have had good ...