Hummingbirds - Plant It and They Will Come - Feeders Add To the Attraction

I am prepared to transplant this autumn, when the weather is cooler. Last year I left the newly transplanted Hostas alone, and they began their leap year in 2019. The leaping includes stalks of flowers the hummingbirds love, tubes to sip from.

I also planted a wild number of Bee Balms, thanks to an autumn sale. Rain-drenched, they reached five feet and were all over the driveway side of the garden. Most of them are blue, but the color does not matter as much as the pollen and nectar. They are great for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.

Ranger Bob, Sassy, and I sit on the front porch in the afternoon, enjoying the shade, the breezes, and the hum of activity. One hummingbird checks us out each day.

The backyard began getting hummingbirds first, because I had some scarlet Bee Balm (floppy and quick to run wild) and Hostas. Once I learned how much hummingbirds love Hosta flowers, I began transplanting some from Mrs. Gardener.

 Crepe Myrtle - Picotee

I bought a feeder and hung it under the kitchen window. Thanks to planning and planting ahead, I now have a Crepe Myrtle blooming at eye level, outside the window - picotee, white and red flowers. The feeder seemed to be ignored for two weeks (normal for wary birds). Now I see a tiny hummer flitting over for a sip each day.

The Crepe Myrtle will be a good place for hummingbirds to rest before making a feeding run.

The squirrels have lost 95% of their feeding privileges for tearing up bird feeders and the Jackson EZ Bird Swings. They were well behaved for the longest time, with juveniles sitting on the window sill to get seeds, reluctant to work for their supper. The mature squirrels saw the baby fat on their offspring and decided to cash in on sunflower seeds.

Squirrels are vindictive. I shut down the supply for one, who came into the garage in New Ulm and feasted on the barrel of sunflower seeds. When I shut the barrel tight, he tore up the area and left a dropping on the very top of the barrel lid. That message was easy to translate.

Anyone can pick a bird and marvel at God's Creation, so evident in the colors, habit, and nesting of that evolute creature. The hummingbird is tiny, like a flying leaf, brave, and friendly. I used to give them showers with the hose in Phoenix. They would fly near me to get my attention, their wings sounding like electrical hum.

After going over hummingbird and butterfly books, I concluded that Joe Pye Weed was the best investment. JP is perennial and gains strength each year. My oldest plant reached seven feet this year, but I also planted knee-high Baby Joe Pye Weed, which bloomed at the same time.

The flowers that expand in clumps (daisies, Cat Mint, Mountain Mint, Hosta, Bee Balm) are easy to divide and spread around the garden. They provide a constant supply of flowers for butterflies and hummingbirds.

Similar to broadcasting the Word, something is going to happen when we plant many types of flowers at once. The surprises never end.

No, I have not given up on roses. The June Bug season is over and so is our mutual destruction of rose blooms. Every time I caught a promiscuous pair in their rosy love nest, I smashed it with two books brought together with great force and wrath. They had already spoiled the bloom, so I spoiled their honeymoon. Each pair can produce 60 more of the vile beetles, which also gnaw at the roots in the grub stage.

 Joe Pye is named Weed, but is an herb.
So faithful Christians are labeled obnoxious, troublesome, and worthless, but they are taught by the Spirit in the Word and bear the cross.