Show your butterfly and hummingbird gardens/plants

[Gardenboy]

The picture posted in #18 is incorrect. My son sent the wrong picture. I just posted the right variety that I have. Sometimes I get an ALL WHITE flower. Not sure why!! Fruit and vine are all the same. Only fruit will grow on NEW growth so keep your vines trimmed and manageable. It also supports a playground for several butterfly larvae.

[SpookyShoe]

Thanks for the tip. I bought the caerulea a couple of months ago and it is growing really fast, but no blooms yet.

[SpookyShoe]

In the years since I've been trying to attract hummingbirds, I've never had many during the spring migration. Some years I've had zero. About a month ago, one showed up but didn't stay....it wasn't even interested in the feeder. A few days ago another showed up in the back yard, so I put the feeder out again. I think it's a female Ruby Throat and she's been at the feeder many times. This morning, in the rain, I saw her in the corner hummingbird/butterfly/bee area feasting on the David Verity cuphea and the Indigo Spires, Wendy's Wish, and Skyscraper Pink salvias. I'll try to get a picture of her on the plants if it ever stops raining.

Excellent, I’ll bet she enjoyed those natural nectars.

I think it’s the same female Rufous that comes back every year and nests in the big oak out front.
She won’t let me get close enough for a picture and yells at me (well, squeaks really loudly) if I hang out in the garden when she wants to feed. The babies are a riot when they fledge.

[SpookyShoe]

I've never seen baby hummingbirds. What do the mothers feed them in the nest?

Originally Posted by SpookyShoe

I've never seen baby hummingbirds. What do the mothers feed them in the nest?

She pumps the contents of her crop down them, so basically whatever she’s eaten. They catch and eat a ton of small bugs like fruit flies too.
Once the babies learn to fly they charge all around chasing each other while mom scolds and yells. They would much rather play tag than learn about which flowers are best to eat from. It’s highly entertaining; I hope you get a chance to see it sometime.

[GoDawgs]

That's a hoot, Jane! I hope I get to see it sometime. This has been the first off year for hummers in I can't remember. We usually get a bunch in March and April and then they head north. Then the summer hoards appear in June and stay until fall.

This year only a couple arrived in March and they didn't hang around long. Yesterday I heard a hum in the garden and saw a male busy with the red honeysuckle blooms. Hopefully the regular hoards will arrive in a while! I sure do miss watching them zooming around and bickering.

[SpookyShoe]

I get very few birds when they come through here on their spring migration. Then they head north to God knows where. I don't see any hummingbirds the majority of the summer. They won't return to me from the north until the fall migration which occurs starting about the middle of August. So I'm birdless for the next several months.

[SpookyShoe]

This can be a large shrub or even a small tree. A hummingbird favorite.

[SpookyShoe]

One of it's host plants....no blooms on it yet.

Lovely! I have the reddish-orange version. Very drought-tolerant and easy to grow.

[GoDawgs]

Originally Posted by GoDawgs

This has been the first off year for hummers in I can't remember. We usually get a bunch in March and April and then they head north. Then the summer hoards appear in June and stay until fall.This year only a couple arrived in March and they didn't hang around long.

They're BAAAAAACK!
Maybe one hum was hanging around yesterday morning. All of a sudden after lunch there were at least ten around the feeders! Welcome back, little ones! I've read where a lot of hums actually do return to where they were the year before so I'm hoping these guys are last year's "regulars" and hang around all summer.

Originally Posted by GoDawgs

They're BAAAAAACK!
Maybe one hum was hanging around yesterday morning. All of a sudden after lunch there were at least ten around the feeders! Welcome back, little ones! I've read where a lot of hums actually do return to where they were the year before so I'm hoping these guys are last year's "regulars" and hang around all summer.

Excellent! They are no end of fun to feed and watch.

[GrowingCoastal]

Sometimes they swarm through here but the regulars who are returning go straight to the feeders. Amazing for such tiny brains.

Tacoma stans ‘Bells of Fire’ and Salvia ‘Heatwave Brilliance’.