Hummingbird and Butterfly Gardening: Early spring nectar plants/trees for Hummingbirds?, 1 by tabasco

tabasco wrote:
Scutler--thanks for all the good insights on how you attract early hummingbirds. I confess I haven't tried souping up the recipe, but that probably makes some sense, especially during our cold early springs. We have loads of Sapsuckers around here, so, now all I have to do is find out where they are making their sap 'fountains'!

Gardengram, I am trying to get early hummingbirds here so I put my feeders out first thing in spring. I think the Cincinnati Birding group generally says late April - early May is about right in southern Ohio. We did see two HBs in our neighborhood April 15, so I know they are around.

My Ohio buckeye trees are blooming now http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.c...

so I am hopeful we will get some HBs nesting here soon. They say the HBs love them.

(Although I understand the red buckeye is really their favorite 'buckeye'.

Does anyone have an observation on this?

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/view_question.php?id=862

They say red buckeyes are easy to grow from seed.

This is my feeder set up for right now. I put three red ones in one tree out in the open with some red Lobelia--trying to attract 'flyovers'. Later in the spring I will spread the feeders out around the yard. And my usual hummingbird plants will be in full flower. I haven't had the nerve to lay out a red tablecloth, but I did put some fake red flowers around a feeder in the backyard.

Good luck everybody. t.



This message was edited Apr 24, 2006 6:05 PM