Vines for the Hummingbirds and Butterflies. New Feeder and Job One for the Garden

Honeysuckle - Scentsation - Lonicera.

The time has come to try various vines. I know the trees will be trimmed to give more sunlight, so I have two living tree candidates, one dead tree (best of all for sun), and one baby tree. I have no idea what the last one is - one of those tall but useless plants that appear in untended yards.

I was tempted to saw it down, but then I saw the plant as a living trellis, much cheaper than buying one, much easier than building one.

The three best guesses are pictured here, and I ordered them. Trumpet vine was the easiest first choice. I have seen it growing and climbing. Everyone names it as a great hummingbird plant. I was looking for two others that grow well, make butterflies happy, and attract hummingbirds.

I like the baroque complexity of the Maypop flower. Honeysuckle vine has a good reputation for attracting birds and butterflies. In Phoenix we had a Honeysuckle bush that produced orange flowers and hummingbirds all the time, growing from a sprout to a 9 foot tall bush.

Diversified planting helps because blooms develop at different times and favored species like a variety of food.

Some others in this category (but not vines) are Butterfly Bush, Butterfly Weed, dill, Bee Balm, and various herbs like borage.  Queen Ann's Lace is officially a weed, but I like its dill-like flowers and appeal to bees.

Maypop or Passion Flower - Passiflora.

Trumpet Vine - Campsis.

Some of you fill hummingbird feeders. I grow them.

New Bird and Squirrel Feeder
I found a filing cabinet to replace the free one I got from LI. The pull out drawer struck me as a good device for bird and squirrel feeding. The top level keeps seed dry. The drawer tempts the squirrel inside for additional treats.

They took to the new feeder at once. Starlings, blue jays, and cardinals are happily feeding every morning, along with chickadees, doves, and some other species.

Peas - Plant for the Cold
The bulbs are not even peeking out of the soil yet, reason to plant snowflakes, snowdrops, or crocus, to build up gardening self-esteem.  But I did not, so I need to plant some peas. Rain will be coming but insects are not inclined to come out when nights are near freezing.

So I will plant peas today, God willing, and have a new set of plants to watch. At the very worst I will be adding nitrogen to the soil and softening it for beans, but I imagine it will be more like, "Do you want some peas?" Mrs. I "No! Not another pod until next year."