We had hummingbirds in the front and back gardens. I noticed them fleetingly on the Butterfly Bush and the Bee Balms.
As I wrote before, I shifted from seed feeders for the birds and squirrels when the rodent Mafia took over the feeders and created destructive messes in order to have it all.
The hanging of one hummingbird feeder in the kitchen window led Ranger Bob to setting up another in the rose garden. The front porch faces the front yard, which is all roses, herbs, and beneficial insect hosts. Sassy and Mrs. Ichabod join the men on the shaded porch for coffee, coconut crackers, and history.
The sun is on the garden but behind the house, so we enjoy view, breezes, and shade. The feeder has certainly leverages our hummingbird views. The birds not only have natural food from the plants, grabbing spiders and small insects, but also the nectar in the feeders.
This is a fascinating article about hummingbirds.
Yesterday, one hummingbird flew toward us in his head-up, tail-down position. That seems to be their way of scoping their surroundings, especially in looking at us humans. He got closer and closer. We are id-ed as good guys now, all for a little extra work in giving them extra food.
A group of them, four at the most, make regular trips to rose garden feeder, but they also work their way around the garden.
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| Most of my Bee Balms are blue. |
I have sworn off autumn bargains in gardening, but I got a good one last year. (I am still addicted, but now - at least I am aware.) One company offered a large number of Bee Balms. It was a steal really. I thought they never would never make it through the winter. But they just kept coming up here and there and are still sprouting new plants, perhaps just from clumping growth. However that happened, they attract all kinds of insects and the hummingbirds.
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| Mountain Mint is attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds. A butterfly plant is a hummingbird plant and a beneficial insect host. Gardening centers and catalogs mesmerize gardeners with this incantation - "Pollinators love this plant." |
