The evening primrose almost fluoresces in the early morning light and its heavy pollen coats the hummies' beaks. Sitting above a stiff pale, Upright Verbena whose small flowers were visited regularly all summer, a good little bloomer. The flowers reflect the light strongly as soon as there is any and then they close for the day to reappear in the evening.
And I wondered what I would choose for # 13 or whether I would skip it alltoghether and the next one just fell into this appropriate spot. It is the lovely but unfortunate Salvia Luteua African, or beach salvia. It is prone to mildew when the clovers and everything else susceptible gets it. But I might like to grow it again for its unusual colouring and how it kept fooling my eye to think that there was a hummy present when there were none.
Oh yes, Strelitzia grows extremely well here in the ground. I have plans for a bunch more in my yard. It's defiantly a local go-to plant for tough locations. I've even heard it referred to as invasive, which doesn't make sense to me as it is fairly slow growing even here. You have a point with yucca - I don't think I have ever seen hummers at the flowers. I may have seen them rest there, as yucca is a big favorite with a lot of birds for perching on. Great action shot, as usual.
The fuchsia is the perennial hummy favourite, these two, in my yard. The mini ,which seems as tho it may be hardy in the ground here, I haven't experimented enough with it to know for sure but one made it thru last winter which was harsh but it was a good spot. I have gradually grown more of them in baskets, a few more cuttings each year, now one more big one into the ground this year in another good spot. Last winter I had them in baskets in the protected patio area, one near the light bulb which I'd leave on in the mornings to warm it up out there, thus the bottom warming. So much easier to get any sort of good shot with a video cam. Even then, it can sometimes take a bit of looking to get one or two really clear stills out of a clip of film. They move so fast that they are more often out of focus once stilled. If it was too easy it wouldn't be as alluring! D
The magellan alba, the pink one, was not seen as a food plant until the second year it was in the yard. Funny how these things go. They do not go for the red epiphylum x's either tho one year one did. All three are still blooming. The magellans with a few at the tips of each branch. They seem not too harmed by all the rain. The little ones are mostly in baskets with some over hanging protection but it sure has rained an awful lot here lately!!!
How hummy is keeping dry and warm these days with all the rain I am not sure. They seem not to avoid it to a degree but i has been extreme lately tho I see the back fence still has some dry areas on it. Enough trees and other cover will keep some places dry. The Jasmine Nudiflorum is taking over as the prime feeding plant here now.
The lovely and mildly scented Abelia is a lovely and graceful relative of the Escalonia that I grow in my mixed hedge. It was hard hit by the last harsh winter but returned very well without loss of its larger branches as did her sister. It begins blooming in the summer and goes on til the frosts don't stop, making a great feeder plant for hummy and shelter for small birds from the visiting hawk on occasion. Hummy's colours blend in well with the colours of the foliage of the Forsythia. Winter hummy does not appear to be too, too thin.
Wow, that hummy does look rather plump. Might just be feathers. I watched a hummer on one of my strelitzia's (bird of paradise) for at least a full minute yesterday. The birds really to like the birds! Too bad I was just carrying a watering can and not my camera. I also planted three more strelitzias in the front yard yesterday, as well as an additional aloe (I think that makes an even 20 aloes). Welcome hummers!
Good Morning Larry, Do you have them visiting now? So typical to have the wrong thing in hand! I'd take my camera with me and hang it on a line only to remember it much later. One simply must take camera in hand and take the time! Simply must sit still in a good spot, even tho there seem a hundred things that need doing right now! Watering can indeed. Sounds as though there are going to be some marvelous pics coming from you ! I look forward to it. I don't know why it took me so long to find out about hummy's love affair with salvias and I hope sharing what they like will help wean people away from the idea that they need to feed them those concoctions sold in stores. If you simply must please don't use the red-dyed varieties as they move to fast for me to film then ! They are quite hyper speedy enough already without the extra chemical fix. I don't have any pics of the all red hummy except while bathing which I will likely start another thread for, with just a few more pics to share. D
Hi, Dana & Larry & all hummingbird lovers! Two weeks ago, I briefly became a "flower hummies like!" Stepped out into near-freezing weather and was immediately "attacked" by a pair of loudly scolding hummers!They hovered in front of me and darted at me for several minutes before perching on a nearby wire and continuing to demand food! I ran in & made food right away, but had to let it cool before putting the feeder up again - hadn't seen a hummer since midsummer so we had taken it down. I can only assume this couple was migrating south! What an experience!
Hi Ann, I saw one two days ago at the jasmine. I had thought it gone as I had not seen it for a few days when it froze here for a while but saw it again on the 21st after it had warmed up again. It is said that they do not all fly south anymore as the weather has shifted enough for them to remain overwinter here now and in fact, I have seen them for three winters in a row. Some of the shots above are from winter 08/09 which was severe at this time last year, as I recall. Others have reported the same thing locally and people are starting to keep feeders out in the winter too. I still do not but rely on the flowers I grow to sustain them or not, naturally. The Viburnum is starting to blossom now too tho I have not seen one visited by hummy, yet. Does sugar water freeze? Where do they go when it gets so frozen out? They don't come here then and I think they may move over a bit closer to the ocean front to a slightly warmer area than mine, a place called Nanoose which has people reporting them in the paper over winter. Gotta ask Ann, what were you wearing? Or do they just know you? ;)) D
Hi Dana, sorry I missed this when you wrote it. We do have hummers year round here in San Diego. While I'm not planting specifically for hummers, I do seem to have many things that they like. The aloes are a big favorite, as are bird of paradise, both of which I'm adding more of. I'm also adding a lot of sedum, so I'll be interested to see if they like those flowers. It seems as if they like slightly bigger flowers. Oh well, at least the bees will like them. No photos yet. I think I'd need to take my slr out and set it up on a tripod and wait.
