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| A baby Hummingbird landed on our bird swing, but left when I moved to get the camera. Source of photo. |
I set up a second bird swing near the kitchen window. The birds are quite used to sitting on the narrow metal bar that rests between two chains that hang from screw hooks. Recently I added an upper storey, because the kitchen area has few roosts for the birds as they jockey for a place on the feeder.
A baby Hummingbird sat on the bar and looked around for a minute or two. My neighbor and I have plenty of flowers that appeal to Hummingbirds, from Bee Balm to flowering Hosta. The little bit of work that I do for the birds was rewarded by that sight. The tiny one was wary. As soon as I moved to get the camera, he was gone.
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| Salvia from Bluestone Perennials. |
One way to judge the bee-friendliness of plants is to visit them at Walmart's gardening center. I saw a large number of weak Salvia plants in the gardening section and watched as Bumble Bees worked them over. The plants were on clearance and not in the best shape - except for buying. I was sold on them, so I got two. I had to explain to the cashier that I could revive them by soaking them in rainwater. This revival concept was a total mystery to her, how I gathered rain and used it to revive weak plants.
I soaked them in the rain-barrel a few hours and they looked great.
Looking them up - I noticed they belong to the mint family. They should do well in the Hosta Garden in the back.
